Literature & Fiction
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We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya, 2)
A New York Times bestseller!
The second book in the Sands of Arawiya duology by the masterful Hafsah Faizal―the follow-up to the smash New York Times bestselling novel We Hunt the Flame.
Darkness surged in his veins. Power bled from her bones.
The battle on Sharr is over. The Arz has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan's Keep, determined to finish the plan Altair set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, finally bringing magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night's return.
As the zumra plots to overthrow Arawiya's darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power, to wield it against not only the Lion but his father as well, trapped under the Lion's control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat―it hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dares not unleash. In spite of everything, Zafira and Nasir find themselves falling into a love they can't stand to lose . . . But time is running out, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.
Lush and striking, hopeful and devastating, We Free the Stars is the conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology by New York Times–bestselling author Hafsah Faizal.
The second book in the Sands of Arawiya duology by the masterful Hafsah Faizal―the follow-up to the smash New York Times bestselling novel We Hunt the Flame.
Darkness surged in his veins. Power bled from her bones.
The battle on Sharr is over. The Arz has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan's Keep, determined to finish the plan Altair set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, finally bringing magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night's return.
As the zumra plots to overthrow Arawiya's darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power, to wield it against not only the Lion but his father as well, trapped under the Lion's control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat―it hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dares not unleash. In spite of everything, Zafira and Nasir find themselves falling into a love they can't stand to lose . . . But time is running out, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.
Lush and striking, hopeful and devastating, We Free the Stars is the conclusion to the Sands of Arawiya duology by New York Times–bestselling author Hafsah Faizal.
Editorial Reviews
"Each achingly raw character arc is fully realized, delivering a satisfying close to the zumra's story. Faizal's craft continues to evolve as she demonstrates a facility with language and literary technique, drawing readers into a fantasy world and into the lives of characters that feel impressively real. Moments of humor and edge-of-your-seat action easily balance the book's dark, tragic depths, creating a memorable story at the height of the fantasy genre." ―Booklist, starred review
"This Sands of Arawiya duology closer will not disappoint readers with its plot twists, banter, tormented romance, and multiple betrayals and reveals. . .Faizal's prose truly shines in creating effective action scenes and dialogue. . .A satisfying conclusion." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Faizal continues the lush world building that marked the first of this duology, expanding upon the Persian-inspired setting and guiding readers through all of Arawiya, introducing new cultural aspects and making the stakes clear; especially deft here is the portrayal of trauma on a mass scale. . .Those who were left breathless by the previous installment will heave a sigh of relief." ―Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for We Hunt the Flame:
"Drawing inspiration from ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame gives exquisitely detailed insight into a cultural experience; this debut, about identity and unlikely allies, features subtly nuanced and deeply reflective characters. Layering high-stakes action with moods ranging from casual humor to raw anguish, Faizal bends fantasy tropes to her will to tell a fresh and gripping story about love, honor, and self-discovery that will leave readers scrambling for more." ―Booklist, starred review
"Faizal matches a sweeping, ancient Arabian setting of shifting sand dunes, crumbling ruins, and fickle magic with an engrossing tale of political intrigue and human and divine warring powers. That sense of epicness, however, is carefully grounded by her deeply flawed, morally conflicted, and endlessly fascinating characters; as individuals, they are each interesting, but it's the developing dynamic among the group that is truly compelling. . .Fans of Bardugo's Six of Crows or Chokshi's The Star-Touched Queen will be thrilled with the book's impressive world b...
"This Sands of Arawiya duology closer will not disappoint readers with its plot twists, banter, tormented romance, and multiple betrayals and reveals. . .Faizal's prose truly shines in creating effective action scenes and dialogue. . .A satisfying conclusion." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Faizal continues the lush world building that marked the first of this duology, expanding upon the Persian-inspired setting and guiding readers through all of Arawiya, introducing new cultural aspects and making the stakes clear; especially deft here is the portrayal of trauma on a mass scale. . .Those who were left breathless by the previous installment will heave a sigh of relief." ―Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for We Hunt the Flame:
"Drawing inspiration from ancient Arabia, We Hunt the Flame gives exquisitely detailed insight into a cultural experience; this debut, about identity and unlikely allies, features subtly nuanced and deeply reflective characters. Layering high-stakes action with moods ranging from casual humor to raw anguish, Faizal bends fantasy tropes to her will to tell a fresh and gripping story about love, honor, and self-discovery that will leave readers scrambling for more." ―Booklist, starred review
"Faizal matches a sweeping, ancient Arabian setting of shifting sand dunes, crumbling ruins, and fickle magic with an engrossing tale of political intrigue and human and divine warring powers. That sense of epicness, however, is carefully grounded by her deeply flawed, morally conflicted, and endlessly fascinating characters; as individuals, they are each interesting, but it's the developing dynamic among the group that is truly compelling. . .Fans of Bardugo's Six of Crows or Chokshi's The Star-Touched Queen will be thrilled with the book's impressive world b...
Readers Top Reviews
alicia nerdyBecky
Wow. This book.. this series. Love. I just.. I don’t even know what to say. I’m going to ramble. World building ✅ Three dimensional characters ✅ A villain you feel bad for ✅ Relationships ✅ So we start off where we left off. These characters are going through so much! Lots of revelations were revealed and now our zumra have to find a way to deal with those and also free magic. There’s deaths and betrayals. Heartache. Sympathy. I felt for the Lion. I can understand his actions. Was he still awful and made terrible decisions? Yes. But seeing certain things, I felt for him. Also, Lana..Zafira’s sister, absolutely adored her! So wise beyond her years. Nasir in this book.. behold my heart. Love him. Just love him. The growth he’s shown had me like a proud mama. The ending was beautiful. I’m so happy Hafsah went a certain way with one character. It made sooo much more sense. I lived for it and I loved it. Highly recommend this series. Read this in 2 days!
Joyful808alicia n
I liked the variety of personalities. Excellent world building. The redeeming value of each of the characters shined through in this second book. Following this completed series, Altair deserves a continued series of his own.
SapphireJoyful808
“Knowing you can lose something is what makes it more precious.” Totally fell in love with this story. It taught me a new way to love what is broken and to understand the value in it. It taught me to fight and never give up. It taught me to believe and hope till the end. An amazing continuation and conclusion to such a well written tale. I do not often fall in love with the supporting characters but I sure did in this book and that even included the Jarawat. Faizal wrote this story in an intriguing way and there were times I was mad, times I cried, times I was like “WHAT!!!” and I appreciate every single part of it that made up those moments. Shukran Faizal for sharing your heart with us as seen in this book. If you’re considering reading this book, please do. There’s a lot to learn from it.
Monica KhanSapphi
Initial Thoughts There’s nothing like reading 450+ books between the first and second book in a series to remind you how much you missed the world. I read We Hunt the Flame in May of 2019 and oh wow was I frustrated with the ending. I actually preorder my copy of this book in October of 2019 and here we are in 2021 just talking about it. Needless to say, I was excited to read this book. Some Things I Liked Stunning world building with lush descriptions. As mentioned above, I read a TON of books between books 1 and 2, but, all that did was mature my reading taste. While I might have rebuffed the poetic language in book 1, I craved it in book 2. Hafsah Faizal paints such rich pictures I felt like I could close my eyes and see what Zafira, Nasir, or any of my favorites were seeing at any given moment. That romance. Never have I ever been so tortured by slow burn romance and loved it so much. I probably had a moment every other chapter where I wanted to either shake Zafira or Nasir and be like “JUST SAY IT!” The tension that Hafsah created was nothing short of phenomenal. Altair. My heart hurt every moment he wasn’t with the zumra. He’s one of my favorite characters of all time. His wit, his smile in the face of danger, the way he mercilessly teases Nasir, I would read a million spin off stories about him. The ending. The build to the end was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was just what I wanted to see. Series Value I would love to read more books set in this world. Prequels, sequels, side stories, you name it. I’m very excited to read Hafsah’s next series, which is supposed to be set in the same world but about new characters. Final Thoughts I devoured this book. I read it all in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. This book was WELL worth the wait. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recommendations for Further Reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – if you want a book that will literally destroy you emotionally and make you feel all the feelings, try this completed seres. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – if you want more of this amazing world but also a little bit of Vampires and Arthurian legend, look no further than Hafsah’s next series.
TriciaMonica Khan
Hafsah Faisal has created a beautiful story filled with conflicting characters with motives and agencies of their own. At times I felt the emotions and realities of the characters’ situations were out of synch with how they spoke/reacted, but those were far and few between. I love how beautiful each sentence is and how wonderfully Faisal paints the images of her story. I love the Arab influence and rich culture she weaves into her story. This was a great ending to an amazing story. I will definitely be eager to read more of her work!
