Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley Beaulieu

I don't tend to read a series of books one after another.  After 600 pages of exploring a fantastical world, I'm usually ready for something else before continuing on with more books in a series.  After finishing Bradley Beaulieu's Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, within 5 minutes I had acquired the next book in his "Shattered Sands" series because I couldn't wait to learn more.

Sharakhai is a shining city in the desert, and a center of commerce and power, its history magnificent and literally the stuff of legend.  But, as in so many things, a closer look reveals that not all is what it seems.  Ruled by twelve immortal kings, who wield absolute power and dispense swift and cruel retribution against all dissenters, the city both bustles with activity and trembles with fear.  

But after long centuries of oppression, multiple factions have begun questioning the status quo, each with vastly different motives.  And far from the palaces in the opulent heart of the city, in the winding alleys of the slums, lives Ceda, a young woman gladiator who scrapes a living off the earnings from her bouts in the Pits and from running occasional nefarious errands.  One night each month, on Beht Zha’ir, the Kings have decreed that no one shall venture forth, and during that night the monstrous Asirim roam the streets and take carefully selected victims.  Caught out on this night trying to help a friend, Ceda has a terrifying encounter that sets her on a journey of discovery not only of herself and the mysterious and horrific death of her mother at the hands of the Kings, but also, if she can live long enough, of the truth that will shake the foundations of Sharakhai.​  Beaulieu's vivid desert world is brutal and cruel, yet not needlessly so.  Characters act for a reason, even if it's not immediately obvious.  I was also struck by the fact that gender is very rarely a motivator for people to be treated differently.  Genders are always recognizable, but in the world of Sharakhai, even though it manifests as something of a medieval Arabia with subtle but powerful magic, the boundaries around gender roles are tenuous in an unexpected and welcome manner.   Female characters are powerful elements in this story, sometimes in roles that are stereotypically male.  Also very few characters are one-sided.  Heroes have faults and villains have complexities and motives.  Quite a few characters are difficult to classify as to whose side they are truly on.

Taking place in a richly imagined desert environment, the depth and details that bring the tale to life don't bog it down, but unfold naturally along the way. The book tells multiple stories at once, through different chapters occurring at different points in history, which grow closer together and more intertwined through the book, a mechanism that I found intriguing but occasionally mildly confusing.  However, I belatedly realized that the seal at the start of each chapter is a clue as to which plot line and time period the chapter pertains to in case it is not immediately clear.  

The author himself aptly describes Twelve Kings in Sharakhai as a mix of Arabian Nights and Game of Thrones.  It captures the feel of an epic tale, where it begins with small, barely significant moments in the lives of ordinary people, and builds, slowly, inexorably, as lines converge, conflicts build, tensions rise, and past and present align, to a tremendous conclusion.  I found it a highly satisfying adventure and look forward to the next installment.