Bloodprint

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Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. A dark power called the Talisman has risen in the land, born of ignorance and persecution.

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Led by a man known only known as the One-eyed Preacher, it is a cruel and terrifying movement bent on world domination—a superstitious patriarchy that suppresses knowledge and subjugates women. And it is growing. But there are those who fight the Talisman's spread, including the Compa A dark power called the Talisman has risen in the land, born of ignorance and persecution. But there are those who fight the Talisman's spread, including the Companions of Hira, a diverse group of influential women whose power derives from the Claim—the magic inherent in the words of a sacred scripture.

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Foremost among them is Arian and her apprentice, Sinnia, skilled warriors who are knowledgeable in the Claim. Now, they may have discovered a miraculous symbol of hope that can destroy the One-eyed Preacher and his fervid followers: The Bloodprint, a dangerous text the Talisman has tried to erase from the world. Finding a copy of The Bloodprint promises to be their most dangerous undertaking yet, an arduous journey that will lead them deep into Talisman territory. Paperback , pages. The Khorasan Archives 1. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Bloodprint , please sign up.

Hi can you give me any idea when this book will be sent to me? I won it and it hasn't arrived, I know it may or may not be in print yet, we are told to ask the authors when we don't receive a book, thanks. Smith Did you get it? See all 3 questions about The Bloodprint….

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Review of The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Aug 08, Melanie rated it liked it Shelves: ARC provided by the publisher via Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. This book is a good blend of magic and religion and everything in-between. And ultimately this story is about breaking slave chains ARC provided by the publisher via Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.

And ultimately this story is about breaking slave chains, which is something that I will always support and get behind. The Bloodprint itself is a dangerous text that the Talisman has tried to rid the world of. Many people even believe it to be just a myth. The Companions of Hira is a group of women, who have developed magical powers from reading sacred scripture known as the Claim, and they fight against the Talisman every day.

The Talisman is led by a man that is known as the One-eyed Preacher, who is also leading and is responsible for a lot of the slave trafficking in this world, along with many other horrible things. Arian, who is a very beloved and well-respected member of the Companions of Hira, has been trying to rescue as many humans as possible from the slave trades over the years. Yet, her new mission is to locate the Bloodprint, which can destroy the One-eyed Preacher, and the Talisman people who follow him, once and forever.

But Arian is still struggling and suffering from many events that took place in her past. To capture the stone of heaven. Symbol of the Eternal Blue Sky. Like, from the very start to the very end. So please go into this book using caution if that is something that bothers you while reading. I feel like this book was sold to me as a diverse feministic fantasy novel, but I never truly felt the feminist elements, sadly.

Yes, this world is very patriarchal and gross things are done to woman throughout, but I was really struggling to find the feministic undertones, especially since there are so many male characters that further the story along constantly. Also, there is a bit of an annoying romance that never had me truly swooning. But ultimately, she kept relying on him over and over again, when all I wanted was for her to rely on herself.

I think this story would have benefited without a tragic love story past, while being forced to watch an inevitable rekindling of that love. I also feel like this book has a very unforgiving learning curve. Many times, I felt a tiny bit confused about what was going on. You have a lot of information thrown at you, and the information quickly builds upon itself. This book does a lot of telling, and not enough showing, in my opinion. This is the start of a four book series, and I am very curious to see what Ausma Zehanat Khan does next, because I do believe there is a lot of potential here. But be warned, the ending does leave on quite the cliffhanger.

View all 9 comments. This is also an important book as it also deals with so 2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https: Despite her clear talent for writing elegant and lovely prose, something still felt missing. The opening sequence, for example, which introduces our protagonist Arian and her apprentice Sinnia as justice seekers who fight against the oppressive rule of the cruel organization known as the Talisman, should have been stirring and heroic as the two women ambushed the enemy and shattered their slave-chains.

But instead, all I felt was indifference and boredom.

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Ausma Zehanat Khan can write beautiful sentences and fill the page with detailed descriptions, but in the end she does a lot more telling than showing and the writing itself lacks heart and soul. Still, I pressed on because the ideas in the story were promising and I wanted to see where they would lead, plus admittedly I was curious to know more about the characters.

Arian and Sinnia are part of a group of women who called themselves the Companions of Hira, their power deriving from as sacred scripture known as the Claim. They have dedicated themselves to fighting the Talisman, whose ideology of spreading hatred and fear goes against everything the Companions of Hira believe in. But then one day, Arian and Sinnia come upon a piece of knowledge that can help turn the tide. Legend tells of The Bloodprint, a dangerous text that the Talisman has tried to erase from the world because they know it would lead to their downfall. Now our heroines must embark on a quest to find The Bloodprint, a task that would lead them into many dangers deep in the heart of enemy territory.

I wish we could have gotten more background information into the Companions of Hera and the Claim, considering the hazy explanations given into the connection between their religion and magic. The characters also felt lifeless to me. The result is a distance between Arian and her friends, making her interactions with Sinnia feel somewhat stilted and her romance with her love interest Daniyar the Silver Mage feel very unconvincing.

I probably should have listened to my instincts and set this book aside as soon as the first few chapters failed to hook me, but curiosity and hope prompted me to continue, and unfortunately things did not turn around for me in this case. View all 6 comments. Sep 08, Nafiza rated it it was amazing Shelves: Before I begin what essentially will be a panegyric, please go and read the interview Ausma did with us. Now, I could tell you what the book is about or I could give you the official synopsis. I will opt for the latter because it does a far better job than I ever will be able to.

So here it is: Led by a man known only known as the One-eyed Preacher, it is a cruel and terrifying movement bent on Before I begin what essentially will be a panegyric, please go and read the interview Ausma did with us. But let's begin at the beginning and work our way from there. The prose is masterful; the writing seeks out the details and finagles out the emotion in them. A startled cry rose from the long line of women, robed in the sorrowful blue of dusk, their pale eyes tasting light for the first time that day. Arian and Sinnia are two women against the world but what I most loved about their companionship and the world in which they exist is that their gender does not automatically make them weak no matter how much the enemy wants it to.

This particular brand of feminism is different from the kind the West is used and has a lot more layers and is much complex containing as it does both the feminine mystique and, the more expected, strength both mental and physical. Arian's strength comes from her position as the first Oralist of the group she belongs to and her ability to recite the Claim. Which brings me to the next thing I loved about this book.

Islam is very much pilloried on a global stage and often by people who know little to nothing about the religion and allow their own prejudices to form uninformed opinions about it. That said, this book presents facets of the religion in interesting ways that you may have not considered. It explores how people can take the same text and form two different and often diverging conclusions based off it. It shows how people can take a religion hostage and exploit it to fulfill their own greedy agenda and much more sinister ambitions.

This gives a story an additional depth and a deeper flavour. It has pain and shows the brutality human beings are capable of. At the same time, it has pockets of uncomplicated happiness that is flavoured by sadness for the brevity of their duration. Arian, Sinnia, Daniyar and Wafa are all such complex characters who, no matter their power, still seem helpless against the world they are rebelling against.

You should read it. View all 3 comments. Feb 14, Zoe Stewart yerabooknerdzoe rated it really liked it Shelves: I didn't have high hopes for this after the first 50 pages or so. It's wasn't quite info dumpy, but so many new terms were introduced without much explanation that I wasn't feeling it. I'm so glad I kept going though! I saw some of the twists at the end coming a mile away, but some of them I wasn't quite expecting. I'm really looking forward to the next one!

Aug 16, Beth rated it really liked it Shelves: With two strong female characters, battling to free woman slaves in a world filled with mysticism and tyrannical religious beliefs. There is strong political messages tied into the plot with detailed world building and character depth that rival the best epic fantasies out there. With its unusual feminine leads, The Bloodprint is an epic fantasy that should not be missed.

The Bloodprint

This is my honest and voluntary review. The Bloodprint is set for publication October 3, Ausa Zehanat Khan Series: The Khorasan Archives Book 1 Paperback: Harper Voyager Publication Date: October 3, ISBN Epic Dark Fantasy Itunes: Apr 12, carnovalesque rated it did not like it Shelves: Actually, physically painful, and I am so disappointed. This book was one of my most anticipated releases of the entire year. I actually pre-ordered this book! Paid money for it because I was sure I would want to have it on my shelf forever to read and reread!

Instead, from the very first chapter I found myself struggling to get through it. This is a novel with great potential that was executed terribly. Let's go through the problems one by one: The Claim, ancient religious words inscribed with power, is clearly meant to be the Quran. Now, there is nothing wrong with any of this - in any other book I might have relished it - but here everything is so confusing and mashed up together that I had a difficult time following along.

The main character, Arian, is a First Oralist trained in the power of The Claim - and yet it is never exactly clear what precisely the Claim is or how its magic works or how Arian uses it against her enemies. Given that Arian's powers make up the crux of the plot, leaving it unexplained greatly hindered my understanding of the overall plot. This is not the only bit of worldbuilding that was left unexplained, or touched on only vaguely. Khan throws a lot into this book and very little of it makes sense until the very end. The narrative comes to a shuddering halt to explain something and not very well, either.

It's very jarring and is the mark of an inexperienced writer. There is just so, so much telling rather than showing, and it's not even a little bit subtle. From the first chapter, which should have been a harrowing, nail-biting scene as our protagonists endeavor to save a group of women from slavery, is dull. From the get-go I just Did Not Care. And I tried, oh did I try. I wanted to care, I wanted to like this book. But there were no characters I cared about Arian, the lead, is painfully, painfully bland and the stakes were established properly to get me to give a damn about anything that was happening.

The writing isn't technically bad, but there's just no spark to it. This book is lifeless. First of all, it took me a while to figure out it was omniscient narration, because the book at first gives the impression that it's in third person limited, with most of the POV given to the protagonist, Arian. But there are throwaway chunks and sentences that are in other characters' perspectives, even very minor characters, that just shove their way into Arian's thoughts. And then the narrative will flit back to Arian's POV. It's clumsy, messy, and confusing. It's taken me over a month to finish this book because it was just so damn boring.

I literally had to force myself to finish it. And not only was the overall plot uninteresting, but even the few scenes that should have been exciting felt empty because they were written so badly! Big, action moments that should have been exciting were barely given a sentence sometimes I barely even noticed that something huge had happened.

What should have been big reveals were not revealed properly, and so they didn't deliver any punches. Our two heroines spend the whole book ogling handsome men and having their fates controlled by them. Daniyar is introduced as Arian's love interest and an extremely handsome man, and the author won't let you forget it.

His beauty is constantly referenced, Arian's companion Sinnia is constantly talking about how desirable he is, and Arian herself is in love with him for reasons that baffle me, since he's very much an asshole. This obsession with handsome men and the women in love with them doesn't just feature with our protagonists, but with various minor characters as well, making the book not only borderline misogynistic but also shockingly heteronormative there are NO queer characters here.

The author doesn't let you forget this either. And she is the only black character. It was extremely fetishistic and made me very uncomfortable, especially given that Sinnia's entire existence seemed to be rooted in being Arian's loyal companion. We are given little to nothing of her backstory, her wants or desires, despite the omniscient narration. The author just couldn't make me care about anything in this book. The plot was a fairly straightforward journey, with little to no intrigue or suspense.

For me, this book only got mildly interesting in the very last ten pages, when there were two big reveals and twists, one of which I'd been expecting since the last third of the book. And then the book ended on a cliffhanger that I don't particularly care about because I don't care about anything in this book.

I don't have much else to say. I really disliked this book, I nearly DNF'ed it multiple times, I had to drag myself back into reading it, and I'm just so relieved to be done with it.

Feb 09, Mackey rated it it was amazing Shelves: If all fantasy was this well written I would be a fan of the fantasy genre! It is the tale of two marvelously strong women who are tasked with freeing enslaved women who have been captured by The Talisman. It is the classic tale of Good vs Evil but told in a cleverly written, marvelously detailed, surprisingly intriguinging manner. Khan is one of my favorite authors and what Just wow!

Khan is one of my favorite authors and what I like most about her writing is her attention to detail, research and history. Although all of this is disguised in a fantasy format, it is still present and I appreciate that very much. You see this type of research in writings by GRR Martin and Gilbaldi and that attention to detail makes a book worth reading.

I also love the blending of magic with religion that is created in The Bloodprint. In the past that would have been called mysticism and all religions practiced that at one time.

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Too bad they still don't. I cannot recommend this book highly enough and already I'm anxious for the next in the series!! The writing is impeccable, the storyline is fascinating! I received this book as a giveaway from Goodreads but, of course, would have read it regardless as I have read all of her books. Aug 20, Sicily rated it really liked it Shelves: I have to process this one before I give it a full review.

I loved the breaking of slave chains Liked: The writing style but there were repetitive thoughts from characters that was unnecessary. Like i get you love each other already. I was indifference about the love story. The story lagged for me but I have a short attention span for epics. Where the story line seems to be going with Sinnia 3. Where the story line seems to be going with Sinnia. She is perceived as less desirable and her sexuality is juxtaposition ro Arian chastity. Which bugged me as Sinnia is Black compared to the Lighter Arian. Is this a commentary on colorism or a trope.

Hopefully it will be discuss more in the next book. I want a Sinnia backstory. I will read the future books cause I mad at that cliffhanger and I want to know everything. Aug 23, Jaclyn rated it it was amazing Shelves: Nov 22, Nadine rated it it was ok Shelves: DNF at of pages The Bloodprint sounds like such an awesome fantasy novel that revolves around kickass female characters and an in-depth use of religion all wrapped up with feminist tones. Within the first pages the magic system is not properly explained.

Their magic is derived from religious texts, but the connect between the two is never explained or how it came to be. The main character of DNF at of pages The Bloodprint sounds like such an awesome fantasy novel that revolves around kickass female characters and an in-depth use of religion all wrapped up with feminist tones.

Khan has created an interesting world in that the women are forced to become slaves and a group of women who call themselves the Companions of Hira are trying to liberate the women and the world. Unfortunately, the Companions of Hira are also poorly written. Their order, formation, rank, and traditions are hardly touched upon and only explained when they relate directly to the plot.

Khan wrote the Companions of Hira to feature a complex hierarchy with politics and infighting, however it all falls flat because of the lack of world building and character development. It quickly becomes apparent that this male character and the main character have a complicated romantic history. Khan tried to create sexual and romantic tension between the two, but, unfortunately, it also falls flat. This is due in part to the writing itself. Despite the very obvious feminist themes in the synopsis, the book has a hard time actually utilizing those themes and overtones.

This is further hindered by the fact that male characters are used to further the plot and save the main character every time she finds herself backed into a corner with no apparent way out. Overall, The Bloodprint is an absolute disappointment. I expected an intricate story about oppression, religion, and feminism, but instead received a poorly written novel with little to feminist tones and a boring main character.

The blurb on the front comparing this to N. Jemisin and George R. Martin is an insult to those amazing writers. Oct 07, Marlene rated it really liked it. Yes, I mixed my metaphors, but it feels correct. The Bloodprint is an epic fantasy that feels very definitely part of the grimdark movement. And although our protagonists are pursuing that one last ray of hope and light before all is extinguished, by the end it just feels as if all is lost.

The characters with agency are all female, and the defenders of the light are a female order of wise women and warriors. The story passes the Bechdel-Wallace test within the first page. And that seems fitting, because so many of the victims of the darkness that has taken over this world are also female. Women without husbands or children are automatically sold into slavery. Or how is her forming a friendship with Sinna disrupted by the trauma of her missing family? The closest it came was with the romance subplot.

I did not like the romance subplot. The love interest was so controlling! I was so done with this guy. But back to the topic of Sinna. I had some concerns about her character. I wanted her to have her own distinct character arc and a tangible effect on the plot. It felt like everyone kind of forgot about her. There were also a couple of minor villains who fell into stereotypical tropes. Another is a man who molests and murders boys. I think I liked this a little better than you did, although I agree there were a bunch of elements that could have been fleshed out more. I do think it has potential to improve.

But at the same time I love a good treasure hunt story, so who knows! You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review. Previous Post Author Interview:

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