Bradley’s last book, Twelve Kings (UK) / Twelve Kings in Sharakhai (USA), was one of my highlights of last year. In this short novel, made up of three linked novellas, we return to the Great Shangazi Desert and, in prequel mode, discover more adventures in the life of Ceda, the youngest pit-fighter in the city of Sharakhai.
In the first tale of the three parts, Irindai, we are introduced to a young fifteen year old Ceda, possibly just before the events of Twelve Kings, and read of her life at that point. When an item Ceda is delivering for Osman is claimed to be poisoned, Ceda is summoned to a meeting with the item’s recipients. It soon becomes clear that there is more to this situation in that the poison was an attempt to kill Ashwandi, the princess lover of Rumayesh. Rumayesh herself appears to be a highborn lady but in actuality is an ehrekh – an ancient creature that preys on humans – and in this case is also a drug lord who holds exclusive clandestine meetings for Sharakhai’s lords and ladies, passing on a drug that steals others memories. Rumayesh now wishes to claim Ceda for her own.
What this section does so well is show us from the start the main characteristics of our story. Ceda is shown to be agile, skilled and loyal to her friends, a threat to those who oppose her, whilst Rumayesh is appropriately vampyrric in nature. In addition, the reader is shown the darker elements of Sharakhai’s social order. There are things that are both magical and unpleasant out in the desert and the city, things that the ruling classes require for their continued existence.
In the second section, Born of a Trickster God, we find Ceda haunted by what has happened in the first part and as a result having to find Rumayesh in order to stop her uncomfortable dreams. There are consequences as a result of Ceda’s actions, and one which she regrets.
The third and final part, Bright Eyes and a Wicked Demon Grin, brings the novel to a close in telling of the ultimate showdown between Ceda and Rumayesh. A dazzling gemstone is used as a lure to show how Rumayesh can interfere with Ceda’s family and friends as well as her own life. This persuades Ceda that she must deal with Rumayesh once and for all.
I was surprised how quickly I settled back into this world, and what a pleasure it was. Being written so quickly after his last novel has meant that Bradley has maintained the style and tone of Twelve Kings. It would work as something to read as an introduction to the series before picking up the heftier Twelve Kings, which I guess is partly its point. You do not need to have read Twelve Kings to understand this one, but it should make you want to go and read the bigger novel straight away.
What Of Sand and Malice Made also does is tell us more of the background to the world of Sharakhai, the strange magics that live there and the desert cultures that intertwine there. There is more of the grand city of Sharakhai, from its golden palaces to its grubbier gutters. I always get a Weird Tales kind of vibe from this, something that Clark Ashton Smith would have been pleased with. (For more recent work generating the same kind of feel, see also Howard Andrew Jones’ Desert of Souls and Saladin Ahmed’s Throne of the Crescent Moon.)
The characterisation is as good as before. Ceda is clearly young and still learning who she is and will be. There are elements of her life that are touched on in greater detail in Twelve Kings but are given enough here not to impede the delivery of a shorter story. Her friends and her loyalties are paramount.
This characterisation also showed me how much Bradley has managed to capture the essence of Twelve Kings in a shorter form. The action is as good as before, both in the pit and out of it. Ceda is not invincible and there are times when things do become a matter of life or death, which kept me reading.
Of the more practical elements, the cover of this small hardback is lovely and deliberately echoes the UK Twelve Kings cover. The maps of The Great Shangazi Desert and the city of Sharakhai by Maxime Plasse are detailed and nicely done. Sadly, the reproduction of the interior illustrations by Rene Aigner are disappointing, being too dark to show the original detail of the drawings (see examples left and right.) They change what were originally lovely into something that is too murky to recognise easily. This is a shame.
This quibble aside, in summary, Of Sand and Malice Made is not a read that you must have before Twelve Kings, but it is an ideal start to the series. I suspect that anyone who hasn’t read Twelve Kings already will want to rush out and buy it. For the rest of us it is just a pleasure to revisit Ceda in her world and know a little more of her thoughts and history. As before, the characterisation and the world-building is impressive in a short tale that creates a great impression and doesn’t outstay its welcome. It makes me want to read the next novel all the more.
Of Sand & Malice Made by Bradley Beaulieu
Published by Gollancz, September 2016
230 pages
ISBN: 978 1 473 21845 1
Review by Mark Yon
