Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dauntless path

some sketches of the mother dragon from The Tears of a Dragon by Intisar Khanani

Ah I loved the characterization of the dragons is this little story! How the mother knew she was flying towards her own death but did so anyway for just a chance of saving her child. How she doesn't kill the mage ONLY because killing him will set twelve of his associates upon her in the future. How she is hunting cows because her natural prey is being hunted too much by humans, AUGH! Such a short tale made me feel so much!!!!!

#dragons #my art #dauntless path #the tears of a dragon #Intisar Khanani #booksbyintisar #a darkness at the door #the theft of sunlight

"That's what family does: we save each other every day of our lives."

~A Darkness at the Door by Intisar Khanani

#quotes kelly likes #a darkness at the door #dauntless path #intisar khanani #ya lit

I finished this a mere 7 hours after it arrived, and a good hour or two of that was making dinner. I have a very bad case of All The Feels now, so if you want me I’ll be screaming at the void for the next foreseeable future

#a darkness at the door #dauntless path #a dauntless path #intisar khanani #reading #book

He looks up, blinking as he focuses on me, and smiles. There is neither mockery nor flattery nor cruelty in it. It is the quick, instinctive smile of a man whose gaze alights on something he likes. It shocks me to my core.

Alyrra & Kestrin | Thorn, Intisar Khanani (underappreciated book 16/?)

This one is for @brambleberrycottage, who introduced me to this series. ^^

#Intisar Khanani #Dauntless Path #Thorn #primarily a ship graphic though with a little broader focus than the average i guess #The final result is a lil tame but I'm satisfied .. . I think #The girl in the center can be both Valka and Alyrra (post-enchantment) hah #there's an ominous owl and the misty gorge could be when Alyrra gets lost on the plain and Kestrin & co find her #OR it could be when they're trapped in the magic wasteland - and this duality is on purpose :))#another duality is the soft forest floor - from when they met years ago or from the courtyard forest Kestrin had made #underloved books #mine #brambleberrycottage #I've previously done Sunbolt and have most of the pieces for a Rebel of the Sands graphic! <3 #I was /this close/ to doing a regular book graphic but for the life of me I couldn't find anything to properly represent Violet & family

One of the things that interests me about “The Goose Girl” fairy tale is that the princess’ magical horse, who is murdered but continues to advise his mistress as a severed head, is very specifically named Falada. In fairy tales, people are often just “the princess” or “the witch” or “the beast”, but Falada gets a name.

The decapitated magical horse speaking from beyond the grave is such a strange element that I wonder if it doesn’t come from a different, perhaps earlier folkloric strain -- which might account for why the horse has its own identity. This is just a wild guess though.

The fairy tale isn’t as well known as some others, but Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl and Intisar Khanani’s Thorn are both really interesting re-tellings -- which preserve the name Falada. Both are also the first books in series.

#the goose girl #horse #falada #fairy tale #shannon hale #intisar khanani #the books of bayern #dauntless path #2021 #sketch #eraserless chaos #decapitation #animal death #goose #bird #mythologyhistoryfolklore

@fictionnet event 08 - favourite book.

“I believe going to court is rather like going to war: one must wear the appropriate armor, or expect to be stabbed through and trampled underfoot.”

the theft of sunlight.

#dauntless path #the theft of sunlight #book edits #lit edit #fictionnet #event 08 #i actually like it a bit?#my perfectionism has not ruined me completely yet #anyways this is one of my favourite books!#bookedit #litedit #kaela's designs

A Darkness at the Door - Intisar Khanani (Dauntless Path #3)

Only Rae knows the extent of the corruption at the heart of the kingdom of Menaiya, from the noble lord who betrayed her, to the Circle of Mages whose wards protect the slavers from discovery. Injured and imprisoned on a slave ship, Rae’s options are quickly running out. When a desperate escape attempt goes terribly wrong, she finds herself indebted to a terrifying Fae sorceress. Now Rae will not rest until she has rescued her fellow prisoners and freed her land from the darkness that has taken hold. To succeed, she’ll need every ally she can find—including Bren, the thief who may have stolen her heart. But Bren is hiding his own bloody secrets, and the curses that encircle Rae have sunk their claws into her mind. With her debts coming due and time running short, all the truths in the world may not be enough to save her kingdom, or herself.

tw: child abuse, human trafficking/slavery, memory loss, violence

#a darkness at the door #intisar khanani #dauntless path #snowy wings publishing #july 21 2022 #poc

Book Review - Thorn (Dauntless Path #1) (🇲🇦 Morocco)

(image source: Piotr Arnoldes @ pexels)

YA World Challenge Review for: 🇲🇦 Morocco (*inspired)

Thorn

Author: Intisar Khanani

This is mainly a fantasy world, so I am stretching a bit by categorizing this book into a real-world country. According to the author, the prince’s land is “lightly based on North African (and specifically Moroccan) culture”, if you “squint enough”. So let’s squint a little.

There are 3 books and a few short stories in this world - Thorn is the first and stars Alyrra (a European-ish girl betrothed to a foreign prince), and after that is a duology told from the point of view of a Middle Eastern-ish girl.

Review

This review is for Thorn. The story is meant to be based on the fairy tale of the Goose Girl, which I actually know nothing about (and I didn’t read it first, in case of spoilers). We start with Alyrra, a princess of a small backwoods European-ish country who is despised and abused by her mother and brother for being “stupid” and “honest”. (We learn her infamous “honesty” came from a specific incident of snitching on a court lady to save a servant from being blamed.)

At first the storyline seemed pretty standard - kind, misunderstood princess is betrothed and sent to unknown, scary land with undercurrents of intrigue and magic. And then we get....

BODY SWITCHING.

And Alyrra goes “Yes! I am free! I can live my own life now!” and I love this reaction. She’s just gonna run off with this other girl’s body and live the life she’s always dreamed of. And this is what she must struggle with for much of the book - for as much as she would like to quietly start a new life, she can’t be left alone.

So though there is little action through the book, there is quiet character development mixed with intrigue and evil sorceresses.

I liked how her relationship with the prince never jumped right into romance or even attraction. I thought the prince was a well-developed character, being neither the snarky asshole or the ‘nicer than those other nobles’ tropes, but somewhere in between.

I appreciate that Khanani weaves the PTSD of Alyrra’s brother’s abuse into her reactions and personality, making it feel real, as well as the quiet inclusion of prayer-as-meditation that was always very personal and not religious.

Recommended for: Those looking for a quiet fantasy with an intriguing premise and themes of justice.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 stars

Other reps: #no romance

Genres: #fantasy world #magic #royalty

Read it at: Bookshop.org | Scribd | Kobo ebooks

Content warnings at Storygraph

#book review #morocco #ya world challenge #bookblr #booklr #fantasy book #intisar khanani #dauntless path #no romance #fantasy world #magic #royalty #africa