May 27, 2025 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Bashir has spent the summer in Lebanon, hanging out with his best friend Farrah and putting up with his unpleasant cousin Wassim. When Wassim pushes him into the water, he finds a gold ring, which he keeps as a momento. On the flight back to the US, he is attacked by a flight attendant who is a witch. There is a jinn in the ring, Yani al-Kabir, who informs Bashir that all manner of demons and evil creatures will be trying to get the ring back from him. After his parents are taken from their Concord, Massachusetts home by Ali Adin, a demon who once possessed the ring and had Yani in thrall to him, Bashir must team up with Farrah as well as magi Alina and Ziad to get them back. Bashir is a particularly reluctant hero who struggles with anxiety and poor self esteem. The Magi are the two remaining members of the Council of magic who are fighting against Ali Adin's attempt to get all ten pieces of the Jewel of the Nile back so that he has a lot of power. An epic journey, complete with battles, ensues. The ending of the book leaves the story open to another volume, but this could also be a stand alone.
Readers who enjoy culturally based fantasies like Pahua and the Soul Stealer, Kagawa's Shinji and the Mark of the Coatl, or Hoang's The Crossbow of Destiny will enjoy Bashir's journey.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Fiora is apprenticed to her Uncle Randal, making robes for hard-to-please sorcerers in the unfriendly town of Barrowburgh, but after a run in with particularly nasty sorcerers, is sent to the Incorruptibles Academy to train with the resistance. Fans of Ursu's The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy, Alston's Amari books, or Perry's Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic will enjoy this fantasy adventure. I keep hoping for fantasy books where the magical world is a little more fun; there are clearly a lot of unpleasantries caused by the evil sorcerers.
From the publisher:
A girl joins the human resistance against sorcerer tyranny in this first book in the exciting upper middle grade fantasy series The Incorruptibles that’s Keeper of the Lost Cities meets The Marvellers.Fiora Barrowling lives in a world where sorcerers rule over humans. After surviving an encounter with The Radiance—the very worst of the sorcerers—she’s whisked away to the incredible Incorruptibles (“Inc”) Academy, a school for resistance fighters in training. But most of the other students think Fiora hasn’t earned her place there, and when things start to go wrong and it seems the sorcerers have a spy in the academy, all eyes are on Fiora. With all odds stacked against her, can Fiora prove that she belongs?
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