The Weavers of Alamaxa by Hadeer Elsbai

[profiterole_reads]

The Weavers of Alamaxa by Hadeer Elsbai was amazing! It's the sequel to The Daughters of Izdihar (and the end of the duology), about people who can use elemental magic in an Egyptian-inspired world.

Something I really loved is that the first tome was more focused on activism for women's rights in front of the Alamaxan Parliament, while the second tome is more focused on actual fighting against the tyrannical royals of the neighbouring kingdom. Responses need to be balanced according to the scale of the issues.

There's major f/f, as well as a minor queer male character.

Comments

[ragnarok_08]

That sounds pretty neat!

[profiterole_reads]

<3

[birch]

This duology is on my to-be-read list! I'm glad to hear you liked the sequel! ♥

[profiterole_reads]

Go for it, it's a wonderful duology! <3

[spryng]

Ohh, I missed that the sequel came out! I really enjoyed the first one.

[profiterole_reads]

Yes, I'm reading March releases right now, so that's when it came out.

[haebin]

...about people who can use elemental magic in an Egyptian-inspired world.
Uh, that sounds nice and interesting!

[profiterole_reads]

Definitely! <3

[haebin]

I absolutely ADORE the many, many ideas of Indipendent Authors. Their world are so full and rich of amazing ideas. <3

Spoilers!!

[tabular_rasa]

I really enjoyed the first book with its great worldbuilding and feminist themes, but this had less of the community organizing and sisterhood (a strong point for me in the first one) in favor of individual heroes, and I was disappointed with how this one resolved in a Deus ex Machina. I felt like Georgina's special gift wasn't foreshadowed enough and the Tetrad actually speaking to her seemed forced and out of nowhere.

I hope Elsbai writes more books in this world. Even if I was disappointed with how this one resolved, she has some top tier worldbuilding and I'd love to see her continue to use the setting! Maybe learn more about the other kingdoms, including characters who have spent their lives there. Or just give me a whole story centering on Malak!

Re: Spoilers!!

[profiterole_reads]

It was a different book from the first one, though there was still some interesting activism/politics here and there, especially at the end.

I wouldn't say no to more of this world, but I'm also interested in seeing what other genres/subgenres she might write.