Thrilled to share with you the gorgeous US cover of #TheBladebone, the conclusion to my epic fantasy series, coming this fall! Designed by the amazing Chris Cocozza, it captures the spirit of my heroine, Arian, and the landscape of #TheKhorasanArchives beautifully.

I should tell you more about this feminist fantasy series, featuring the Companions of Hira, in case you haven’t discovered it yet. Let’s start with #TheBloodprint, the first book in this 4 book series. US & UK covers: Lex Maudlin & Steve Stone/Micaela Alcaino artists.

Little did I imagine that I would be able to interest a publisher in a fantasy series about the history & mythologies of the diverse, vibrant Muslim world, on a journey that spans Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Arabia, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, and Jerusalem.

Or that Qur’anic verses would spill across the pages of these books. Particularly, the Verse of the Throne. Sheer poetry on the page. Also frankly terrifying.

I *did* know that my spine-chilling encounters with the Uthman Qur’an would be transformed into #TheBloodprint one day. Yes. I wrote a four book series about the Uthman Qur’an, real and mythical. Hazrat Uthman was one of the leaders of the early Muslim community.

3rd of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in the Sunni tradition, murdered while reading this Qur’an, as the legend holds. His blood stains the pages of the Qur’an he was reading—hence The Bloodprint. I thought about the title of this book forever. Ultimately, it came to me in a dream.

And as a Pathan, I wanted to write about the Taliban – and the impact of their laws on the women and girls of Pathan/Pashtun communities. So some landscapes you encounter in #TheBloodprint are the Citadel of Herat (Hira in this series), the Minaret of Jam, the Bamiyan statues.

On a less spiritual level, I may also have had a fascination with Afghanistan’s lapis lazuli mines and the arts of lajward/lajwardina.

As my characters make their way from Hira to the Cloud Door to the Wall, their search for the Bloodprint leads them to historic centres of Islam like Bukhara (Black Aura, city of the Authoritan). You’ll visit Samarkand's Registan, the tomb of Tamerlane & the Samanid Mausoleum.

Take a look at the Tilla Kari—the Gold House—once a house of worship, now a place where the Khanum’s doves are trained in the arts of pleasing the Authoritan’s soldiers.

And witness the labyrinth of the Hazing, or the Shah-i-Zinda, where the Basmachi resistance prepares to defeat the tyrant who rules the Wall. Elena and Larisa Salikh are just as fierce in their resistance as Arian and Sinnia, Companions of Hira, and my main characters.

Aaaaand here’s the actual Tower of Death in Bukhara that humbled Genghis Khan. When he looked up at the tower, his hat fell off--he found that so impressive that he decided to spare the tower his wrath. The Mongols have also left their imprint on this series.

There's also a place I love called the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. Zerafshan and his warriors govern the Wandering Cloud Door. (I like wordplay. And tinkering with languages.)

Then we move on to Iran with #TheBlackKhan, to Ashfall, the great capital of the west. The Black Khan is a moody, duplicitous prince whose empire is at the brink of war. These gorgeous covers are designed by Lex Maudlin/Steve Stone and Micaela Alcaino respectively.

I’m married to an Iranian so I’ve been dwelling in the beauty of the Persian civilization for 2 decades. My wedding gift from his parents was a Qur’an of exquisite beauty & a collection of poems by Rumi & Hafiz. They’re in Toronto so I can’t share photos. Random beautiful pic.

But I resurrected some beautiful locales in Iran for this series. Esfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan square, aka Ashfall.

The Pink Mosque of Shiraz is Ashfall's great scriptorium.

Omar Khayyam’s tomb in Nishapur (Nightshaper)--where my characters Arian, Sinnia and Daniyar, the Silver Mage, find a moment's respite after being pursued by the Authoritan's soldiers.

Being me, I also resurrected the Crown Jewels of Iran to decorate my handsome, scheming, often idle Prince of Khorasan--Rukh, the heir to an empire. The Kiani Crown, the emerald belt (175 carats!), the Shahi sword, the Peacock Throne.

I do think Rukh's rather stark and unadorned general—Arsalan, Commander of the Zhayedan Army, may be sexier. What? I love him. They’re in a love triangle with Rukh’s sister, the Princess Darya, whom Arsalan is betrothed to, but doesn’t want to marry.

Rukh. Arsalan. Darya.

Then on to #TheBlueEye, cover designs by Chris Cocozza and Micaela Alcaino respectively. I love seeing Sinnia as the fearless and powerful warrior she is. And of course, I love the gorgeous artwork on the UK cover with its nod to Islamic art.

In #TheBlueEye, my heroines, Arian & Sinnia embark on a quest to find the Sana Codex—a collection of ancient Qur’anic fragments discovered in Yemen. This was great fun for me because when it was first discovered in Sana'a, I wrote to the UN asking for a sneak peek. No answer.

The Blue Eye mattered a lot to me because I wanted to write about the spiritual journey of women & the erasure of women from Islamic history. Part of Arian and Sinnia’s journey includes the hijra to Abyssinia. (For which I named Sinnia.)

What an honor and privilege it was to write an echo of the hijra for Arian and Sinnia by including the original story. Don’t know if this map is accurate. I just liked it a lot.

And Sinnia completes the Saee between Safa and Marwah, in search of the Well of Zamzam, while Arian, lost in her recollections of the holy searches for the Paradise Stone/Black Stone. This series also reflects my long overdue reckoning with Wahhabi Islam.

For Shelob fans, there’s this mountain and this cave: Jabal Thawr, Cave of Thawr, and spidersssss, aplenty. Our spiders are cooler is what I’m saying. (Who among us has not spared the life of a spider, lol?) Little nod to my fearless friend, Rim-Sarah, in this book too.

Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania all have presence in this book—you’ll find the Kebra Negast (Glory of Kings) here, along with the librarians of Timbuktu, and the city of Shinqit. The other location I wish I could share would be a huge spoiler so I will try to restrain myself.

Which brings us to the conclusion of #TheKhorasanArchives—The Bladebone, coming this fall! Beautiful UK cover design by Caroline Young. Also my favorite color!

As Arian, Sinnia and Daniyar undertake the Night Journey and the Ascension (Israa e Miraj—the historic journey of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem), they’re looking for anything that might help them in their fight against the One-Eyed Preacher.

The enemy, Najran—the Iron Glaive/Bone Shadow/Angel of Blood—is in pursuit, and an epic battle between Arian and the Preacher is forthcoming. Some of Najran's weapons: the Dimashq sword, the tabar, the Iron Glaive, the emerald dagger.

But ultimately, it comes down to love of the written word: of knowledge against ignorance & justice versus oppression, as told through the lens of Islamic history, with an examination of a present moment of crisis and decline. Because as we know, I like to keep things light.

If you enjoy epic fantasy, #Islamichistory, travel to magnificent lands, and the idea of women achieving autonomy and empowerment by reclaiming their tradition for themselves, I hope you’ll visit #TheKhorasanArchives.

And just in case—though you probably already knew this—I am a believer in epic romance which you will find plenty of in this series. So as Arian says to her true love Daniyar: “I will be your garment just as you are mine.”

That’s it, that’s the thread. Find out more about the books here! Just click on the covers. https://www.ausmazehanatkhan.com/fantasy.html 

And of course, a huge thank you to my incredible editors who saw this series’ potential! @PomericoD @Vickylm09 @NatashaBardon Thank you too, to all the amazing people who worked on this series, including @mspriyanka & @Shailyn_T. Who says dreams can’t come true?