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The Bruising of Qilwa (2022, Tachyon Publications) 4 stars

In this intricate debut fantasy introducing a queernormative Persian-inspired world, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of …

The Bruising of Qilwa

4 stars

Absolutely lovely book, 100% recommended.

It creates a beautiful, highly interesting Iran-inspired setting. The fantasy medical mystery is not quite the hardest to solve, but the book remains a very fun read. Learning more about its queer-normative society and the land's history kept me turning the pages. Not to mention that some very interesting thoughts about imperialism are expressed through the world building.

The audiobook version is also recommended, the reader does a very good job portraying the different characters, and it is really nice hearing all the non-English words pronounced properly (as far as I can tell, at least).

I urge anyone who feels like venturing outside western fantasy settings to give this a chance.