Sunbolt

By Intisar Khanani

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. Betrayed and captured along with her charges, it will take everything Hitomi can summon to save them—and herself.

Fans of Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce will love this action-packed story of one girl fighting monsters both human and not. Pick up Sunbolt now and set off on a high-stakes adventure through the gorgeously diverse world of Intisar Khanani’s Sunbolt Chronicles.

**Sunbolt is being re-released from Snowy Wings Publishing in September 2023. If you purchased a previous edition of Sunbolt, you do not need to pick this one up—they are the same! Look out for Book 3's release in 2024.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Intisar Khanani
• Release date: Sep 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781958051245

Intisar Khanani

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters. Intisar is also the author of Thorn. To find out what she is working on next and connect with her online, visit www.booksbyintisar.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1

A Future Foretold

Crow

"M geni! Stay a moment; I have your future for you."

I grin, turning toward Mama Ali. She sits beneath the cloth shade of her market stall, her husband’s catch heaped on the wooden counter before her: mounds of sardines, glinting silver bright in the sun. Today there’s also a single little octopus that must have gotten tangled in his nets, its fleshy body turned over to show the white of its tentacles.

With her wide smile and heavy girth, Mama Ali is a well-known fixture of the fish market, her laughter booming across the crowded aisles, and her penchant for sharing people’s futures indulged in even by the locals. Her son, ten years old and shrewder than a hundred-year-old owl, perches beside her, watching me.

You can keep my future, Mama Ali, I reply. It will probably do you more good than me.

My words draw laughter from the surrounding fishmongers. The market stalls are packed tightly together, every counter offering up the bounty of the sea, scenting the air with salt and fish. Above the stalls flap brightly colored cloth shades, protecting both the women and their goods from the sun’s heat.

I hear someone ask what she missed and a woman replies, calling me mgeni again. My smile slips a notch. I may have adopted the traditional, brightly colored long skirt and tunic of the local women, as well as the tightly wound head wrap, but my sand-gold skin and the shape of my eyes will always mark me as someone else. Mama Ali uses the term as an endearment, but the echoes I hear now brand me as an outsider.

Mama Ali holds out her hand imperiously, a queen demanding tribute from the riffraff that forms her court. Come, my friend, keeper of secrets, let us see what we can.

What will you give me? I ask, hoping keeper of secrets is just a phrase she uses on potential customers. Regardless, I don’t have the coin to pay her, so I may as well be clear I won’t be giving anything.

Give you? Your future, muddle-brain! And, because you are always admiring my wares, I will give it to you for free.

Oh, very well. I acquiesce none too gracefully, offering Mama Ali my hand. With her palms clasped around my hand, I wait, trying not to fidget too much. I may be running a little late, but there’s no reason to think the meeting will have started on time. Besides, since I wasn’t invited in the first place, no one will miss me. Don’t tell me I’m going to meet someone new, dark of skin and⁠—

Short, Mama Ali agrees.

I nearly choke. Short?

She drops her voice. Well, if I want to be sure it happens, short is so much more likely than tall, isn’t it? At least, she nods her head to suggest the market, as well as the rest of the island, here.

I laugh. I think this must be why Mama Ali and I get along so well. Right. Short and dark.

No. She pulls a frown. For you, something different.

I glance toward the sky, gauging the angle of the late morning sun. Magic is one thing, but divining the future? Not so much. I really have to⁠—

You are going somewhere, Mama Ali intones, closing her eyes. I glance at her son in disbelief. Ali grins wide, his teeth showing pearly white against his earth-brown skin.

I was before you stopped me, I agree.

Mama Ali heaves a theatrical sigh, squeezing my hand rather painfully. Somewhere important, she clarifies. She tilts her head as if listening. And Mama Ali hears a lot — she has her pulse on the happenings of Karolene. Maybe there’s something she knows. Has she gotten news about the League? Or the Ghost?

She drops my hand, sitting back with a gasp. Run!

What? I glance over my shoulder, instinctively looking for signs of danger. The market is busy, filled with people laughing and bargaining over the night’s catch. There are dozens of stalls crammed together, aisle upon aisle, but nothing and no one seems out of place. There’s no sign of either the sultan’s guards or hired mercenaries.

"You are late," Mama Ali cries.

Of course I am; isn’t everyone on the island always late? That’s the way time works here.

She catches my arm, and I can’t tell if she’s acting or serious. No, listen to me, Hitomi. You must run now, and— she hesitates.

And?

Keep running, she says. She points down the aisle. "Run."

Run, mgeni! a woman from two stalls down calls, her voice bright with laughter, and then everyone starts shouting encouragement.

Laughing, I duck away from the market stall, zigzagging through the market. I keep up a steady jog. A sprint will attract too much attention and, without a clear enemy to escape, expend too much energy. And anyway, I can still faintly hear the laughter from the corner of the market I’ve left behind. Mama Ali must be enjoying her joke.

I hop over the tail of a tiger shark lying half-butchered in the aisle, eliciting a sharp word from the seller, and round the corner. The sounds of the market drop to a bare whisper. Not because I’ve left the market, but because walking straight toward me are a half dozen mercenaries, all with the feared black bands wrapped around their right forearms. They’re not just any mercenaries, but part of Arch Mage Blackflame’s guard. The sellers on both sides of the aisle are meticulously checking their wares, looking everywhere but at the armed men in their midst. Most of the buyers have already discreetly slipped away.

I stumble slightly, trying to drop into a casual walk. The leader of the guards looks me straight in the eye. His face is long and sharp, his eyes a little too small, too deeply set. His gaze skims my body before returning to my face. A mean, tight smile stretches his lips.

Damn. Damn damn damn. I drop my chin, glancing quickly around to get my bearings. There’s no escape down a side aisle here, the stalls packed tightly together. I’ve come too far to chance turning and running — because turning tail is an admission of guilt. They would be after me with their daggers drawn before I reached the corner. I’m not about to chance my speed against theirs unless I must. So I keep walking, keeping my gaze down, staying so close to the stalls on my left that I graze my hip against the chipped wood of the counters.

Look what’s here, the leader says, calling the other soldiers’ attention to me. My steps falter as they veer toward me, quickly closing the distance between us. What do you think she is? A mutt or a half-breed?

A half-breed they might not bother because those who are half-human and half-something-else often have a strength or ability that could cause more trouble than these men are looking for. Unfortunately for me, the secret I guard is fully human. I glance sideways at the fish seller in the stall beside me, wondering if I can count on her. She is young, no more than a handful of years past my own fifteen, her eyes wide with panic. No help there. I swallow hard, trying to ease the fear thrumming through my veins.

I begin to back away, offering a hesitant smile to the soldiers. A smile? What am I doing? I should run⁠—

But it’s already too late. Two of the soldiers have moved ahead of the others, circling past me. I’m surrounded.

Mutt, says one of the soldiers, taking in my features. I feel myself flush slightly. My parents may have been from different lands, but a good number of islanders have other blood in them, even if it dates back a few generations. How else did the noble women come by their sleek hair? Their problem isn’t with my bloodline. It’s with the fact that I’m a misfit — a foreigner in local dress — and I make an easy target.

Half-breed, two others posit, their boots sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet. No one wears boots in Karolene, not unless they’re soldiers.

Definitely a mutt, a soldier behind me says. He’s come to a stop a couple paces away, no doubt waiting for his leader to make the first move.

Well, girl, what are you? the leader asks.

I refuse to answer in the words they’ve afforded me. Human, I say. Sir.

He laughs, sauntering up to me. Human! Imagine that. What a mess of features you are. If the market aisle was quiet before, now it has gone silent.

I need to find a way out. My eyes flick first one way then another, tracking the guards, looking for an escape route — and fasten on a middle-aged woman across the aisle. She holds something up — a charm? — then points to the next stall down from the one beside me. How I’ll get to it, I have no idea, but I suspect I just need to follow her lead.

The soldier reaches forward and grabs my headwrap, yanking it off. I stumble, banging my hip against the stall, and the girl in the stall yelps with shock. The other guards laugh. I grip the counter tightly with one hand, looking him straight in the eye. I have to lift my chin, because unlike the local men, he’s tall. Probably a mainlander recruited for the job.

I’ll have that back, please, I say, trying to keep my voice even.

He ignores me, tossing the wrap to the dirt beside his boots. Scruffy as a dog, he says, eyeing my short, wavy black hair with disgust. The other soldiers hoot with laughter, and I have no doubt that in a moment they’ll take the dog analogy a step further. And what they’ll do after that….

Skreeeee!

The soldiers shout, ducking down. A small dark object whizzes past over their heads. I leap onto the counter and jump to the next stall from there before the soldier even realizes he’s lost me. The woman there grabs me by the waist and swings me down, using my momentum to shove me out the back exit of her stall. I stumble slightly as I hear her screech, My fish! You stepped on my fish! You better run, girl, or I’ll pull your ears off! You scared of soldiers? I’ll give you something to fear!

She’s protecting herself. Grinning fiercely, I sprint between the backs of two other stalls and emerge into the next aisle. The woman’s shouts have alerted everyone in the next aisle to my running. They are tense and quiet, watching me as I leap into the center aisle. The sellers bend over their counters to see; the customers turn to stare at me.

Mercenaries, I call. Blackflame’s!

"Here," a woman selling shrimp gestures to me. I race to her stall, the crowds parting and then closing back up behind me. I slide over the counter, dropping to a crouch. The guards tear around the corner after me, but they have to shove their way past the men and women in the aisle, granting me a few precious moments. Once more, I find myself careening through a back exit, this one nothing more than a bit of cloth tacked up over a gap in the wooden planks.

I sprint down the aisle, leaping over a broken crate, and duck through another back exit into a stall in the next aisle.

What? Who— An older woman this time, her face lined. A boy stands on the other side of her counter, a coin in his hand. He gapes at me as well.

Blackflame’s guards, I gasp out.

She yanks open a crate hidden beneath her counter and pushes me in, slamming the top down as soon as I pull my head in. I lie on my side, my cheek pressed against … smooth rocks? In the fish market? As my breathing slows, I take in the faint, woody scent of green coconuts. Of course. I’ve left the fish market, crossing the invisible line into the fruit and vegetable sellers’ section. Karolene’s local markets run together, bleeding into each other. It’s only the import and export markets, carefully regulated by the sultan’s palace, that each have their own special streets.

Curled on top of the fruit-seller’s wares, I listen for pursuit. I still have one weapon left: a secret I have kept and guarded my whole life. My friends think the charms and magical items I own come from a connection to one of the mage families living here. It’s not an unlikely scenario: that’s how most people get such things.

But the truth is that I’m a Promise, a young magical talent, trained in secret by my parents. At least until they died. While I’ve continued training on my own, I don’t know any defensive spells that would do me much good right now. I’d have to make something up, and that could endanger the people who have sheltered me. So I lie as quietly as possible, ignoring the pain of cramping muscles, and hope the soldiers don’t find me.

Twice I hear boots pound past. I hear shouts, but no one responds. No matter how many people saw me, and no matter the color of my skin, they will not betray me now. Not to these men.

Slowly, the market noises resume. I lie in the coconut crate, fuming, thinking of Mama Ali. Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies…. Run and keep running. Well. If I hadn’t started out running, I wouldn’t have needed to keep running.

The lid of the crate creaks open.

Come, it’s safe now, the woman says, offering me a hand. She helps me out, and I sit on the floor of her stall, blinking in the bright light.

Are you well?

I’m fine, I assure her. I may have lost my head wrap, but I only ever wore it to fit in better.

Your hands are shaking, she says, and taking me by the arm, helps me to her own stool.

I look down, surprised to see that they are trembling. I open and close them a few times, squeezing my hands into fists as

Reviews for Sunbolt

[hcnewton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.---WHAT'S SUNBOLT ABOUT?We start with a chase scene through a street market that might as well be scored by Alan Menken (although Jafar or Genie is to be found anywhere in the rest of the book, Hitomi would have no problem with a Jafar). Our protagonist, a thief—and someone of a clearly different ethnicity to everyone around her—is scrappy and nimble, getting away from her pursuers (quasi-official mercenaries) with the help of some of the sellers in the market.We learn that this brash young woman is named Hitomi and she's allied (somewhat) with a group calling itself the Shadow League, which is trying to stand up to an increasingly corrupt and oppressive government. The government is backed by the Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame (who is just about to be running everything through puppets).Hitomi and some allies head out one night to save a powerful family from arrest and (likely) execution—and almost everything that could go wrong does. Hitomi and some of the family are captured. And then...well, this book about scrappy freedom fighters becomes something very different.THE WORLD BUILDINGAt the beginning of the book, Khanani provides a guide to pronouncing some of the names in the book—I always appreciate that kind of thing (if one was grading, I'd have gotten a low B, incidentally, on my own). In her lead-up to that, she mentions that the fantasy world she's created and the cultures within it "are primarily based on a variety of real-world historical cultures." I wish she'd have listed (at least a partial list) of those cultures just for curiosity's sake. I spent a little too much time wondering what X or Y came from after reading that. (and was very likely wrong 60+% of the time)But ultimately, it doesn't matter what those sources were, because she's made them into something new and fit for her world. And whatever the backgrounds may be, they work really well for this novel—perhaps better than it do in our own. It's familiar and yet foreign all at once. Khanani doesn't drown us in details or anything like that (thankfully), but you have the impression that everything has been worked out thoroughly (whether or not it has been) and that this a fully-developed world with a fascinating history and a future worth saving.We only get a hint of the magic system, but has a lot of promise. The variety of magical races (for lack of a better term) is great, and (again) familiar to a fantasy reader, but specific to Khanani's world. You can't help but want to learn more about both the magic system and the races, you get enough to carry you through the novel—but you want more.SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT SUNBOLT?Sunbolt is short. Freakishly short for the genre, really. But that brevity works so well for this story. Like a wizard and punctuality, this book is precisely as long as it needed to be. It tells the story it needs to in a satisfying manner and then is done. Yes, it prepares you for the second book in the series, but not in a cliffhanger way.I wouldn't have minded if the book was longer if it meant we got to spend more time with the characters—but that's what a sequel is for, right?There's a moment really early on that made me grimace—Khanani over-explained a moment robbing it of its power. And as I so often do, I murmured a silent plea (pointless since the book had been out for a decade) for her to trust her audience. But that was the only time that the book stopped me with something like that—most of the writing was subtle, nuanced, and smooth. I did have to stop a few times to re-read sentences because I liked them so much.Hitomi—fierce, independent, determined, and over-her-head—is one of those characters you gravitate to immediately and while you know she's making a blunder here and there, you can't help but root for her. Sadly for her, her blunders tend to work out better than some of her plans—a treat for her readers, however.I'm going to avoid a deep dive on the rest of the characters, although I think many of them deserve it. I'm not sure I trust everyone in the Shadow League, but they're all intriguing characters—and I'd gladly read a Shadow League novel tomorrow to get to know them better. The villains are some of the worst I've run across this year, and you can't complain about that. Then there's someone who becomes rather important to Hitomi in the closing chapters...I think they could go down as one of my favorites of the year (and easily become someone I despise in a future encounter).A well-paced story, with strong characters, and a great fantasy world to explore. That's all the makings of a winner in my book. Sunbolt is a quick, fascinating read that will make you want to click on the order button for the sequel as soon as you finish.

[avoraciousreader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book source ~ BBNYAHitomi is an orphan living on the streets of Karolene. She has magic but has to hide the fact she does. She belongs to an underground movement called the Shadow League. They work against the Arch Mage Blackflame who is corrupt. When a mission goes wrong Hitomi finds herself captured and alone. She must use all of her wits to survive and escape. Can she do it?I read this back in November as a judge for BBNYA2022 and I couldn’t put it down. I really should have written my review then, but things happen. In any case, what I remember is a lot of action, magic, and a badass in Hitomi. There were times I didn’t think she was going to pull off an escape yet she did and others where I thought, oh no. This is it. How could her story end here? But it didn’t! The pacing is quick, the characters great, and the world is so interesting! I look forward to book 2 which is out there waiting for me to pick it up and I’m itching to do so! I just need to find time. That’s such a me problem though. sigh

[isana-943166 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick read exciting from beginning to end

This book is so entertaining. It goes fast and exciting. Sometimes it feels a bit too fast but overall it's very good. The writing is filled with wonderful gems that just feel like you're rubbing against exquisite velvet (though sometimes it feels a bit awkward as well).

Hitomi is a very likable and cool character as are those she meets. Even the evil characters are fascinating in a way.
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I really suggest picking up this book because it is one of the best indie books that I have come across.

[cmbohn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this one.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This a well done Juvenile Book - there are better out there, but this book hits all the right spots - plucky teenager alone in the world... a magic system that makes sense, a world that actually feels real, plus an interesting cast of characters. It isn't perfect, at times, the story was too easy - for example, the escape from the dungeon. I especially liked that there is consequences for Hitomi actions. This is a book I would have been obsessed with as a teenager, and while it is simply written, it is written with thought.

[souloftherose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sunbolt is quite short for a novel - more of a novella length - but it's an excellent YA story about a young thief, Hitomi, who gets involved with the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the corrupt local government. Khanani manages to dodge most of the YA fantasy tropes that can bug me - Hitomi is a strong and capable heroine but she cares about others, isn't particularly bad-ass or broken by traumatic events in her past and there's no love triangle (or really much of a romance aspect at all). This is a complete story but the ending does leave the reader wanting to know more about Hitomi's past and what's going to happen to her next. A longer (more novel-length) sequel, Memories of Ash was released last year which I am very much looking forward to reading soon. I think there's at least one more book planned in this series after that.

[imyril · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I seem to have mislaid my heart. That's what you get for reading about magical thieves, blood drinkers and soul stealers.Sunbolt is engaging, well-written, gripping and as full of Promise as its heroine Hitomi. It does just enough world building to hang together and tantalise, focusing instead on showing the strength of character of its young protagonist. I loved The Bone Knife, and Sunbolt cements Intisar Khanani as an author whose work I won't hesitate to read and recommend. More flailing.

[altheaann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been hearing good things about Intisar Khanani's writing and now, I can confirm that they're justified.

I loved this book. It's a pure and timeless fantasy. It mixes classic tropes with fresh and original ideas seamlessly. I especially liked how the many supernatural elements are introduced without fanfare, as they're known and accepted parts of this world.

The narrator, Hitomi, is a young woman, a foreigner on her own in a country that's recently been invaded. She's also a rather junior member of a resistance movement led by an intriguing young man called 'Ghost.'

When an operation to rescue the intended targets of a political assassination goes bad, our heroine finds herself captured and in serious trouble. Suddenly, her priorities are forced to shift in the face of unexpected personal revelations and the realization that she's in far more danger than she knew...

The plot is a YA theme: coming-of-age, with magic... However, this is well-enough done to attract readers of all ages. The setting is vivid; the characters appealing... and we end desperately wanting to know where Hitomi will go from here.

And... that's my only complaint. This book is too short; I wanted to spend much longer with it! However, since a sequel is on the way, no points deducted for that.

Until the sequel comes out, there's one more novel by Khanani, 'Thorn' - I'll be reading that one soon!

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book - as always, my opinions are solely my own.

[amelia_smith-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(4.5 stars, rounded up)

I picked up this book to read the night before I left on a big family trip, planning to read just the first chapter or two, but I couldn't go to sleep until I finished it. Others may complain that it's too short, but for me the length was just right. It's a fast-paced story with a strong leading character who also manages to have reasonable doubts about plenty of things.

My one quibble with the story is that towards the end, the pace flagged a bit, but maybe that helped with the sense that, in the end, Hitomi will go on to have more and even better adventures.

[pwaites_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sunbolt is the first in a planned series of novellas all following Hitomi, a street thief with untrained magic. The first installment was certainly part of a series – while the ending felt like a natural stopping point, the story has a whole had only just begun.In this case, the cover blurb gives a fairly accurate summation, so I’ll repost it here:“The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.”The above really only describes the first half of the book, which happens to be my favorite part. I found this section very original and interesting. I loved the setting of Karolene – there’s so many little details that add so well to the world building. Even though only a little is seen of Hitomi (this is a novella, after all) I highly enjoyed her as a protagonist and am excited to see where she’ll go next.The second half I didn’t enjoy so much, probably because it strongly reminded me of another book I’ve read, Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. Both stories have similar situations that play out in similar ways, but Sunbolt‘s version paled in comparison to Sunshine‘s. Do note that Sunshine is a long term favorite of mine, and that likely influenced my thoughts.I’d recommend this one to people who like the fantasy street-thief sort of hero. Beyond that, I’d want to wait and see where the sequels will go.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.