Saara El-Arifi

The Final Strife

In the first book of a visionary African- and Arabian-inspired fantasy trilogy, three women band together against a cruel empire that divides people by blood.

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.

Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.

Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But dust always rises in a storm.

Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution.

As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.

Publisher: Penguin Random House and HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-0593356944

“The Final Strife is the real deal: epic fantasy turned on its head in the most compelling way imaginable.”—Kalynn Bayron, bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead and This Poison Heart

Available for order:

AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND

With a DNA profile that lights up like a satellite photograph, Saara El-Arifi's heritage is intrinsically linked to the themes she explores in her writing. She was raised in the Middle East until her formative years, when her family swapped the desert for English hills and she learned what it was to be Black in a white world. The Final Strife is Saara El-Arifi's debut novel and sold in two six figure deals to Del Rey (US) and HarperVoyager (UK). The novel is the first part of an adult fantasy trilogy inspired by Ghanaian folklore and Arabian myths.

https://www.saaraelarifi.com/

Tags: Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Sapphic, BIPOC