The Balloon Thief
by Aneesa Marufu· 2022
Featuring airborne adventure and wicked djinn spirits, Marufu's YA debut finds a sixteen-year-old fleeing an arranged marriage in a hot air balloon - and into a dangerous world of magic and curses. Ancient djinn, an adventure, and one girl's courage to seek her own destiny...
Burn the flame. Seek the night. For Khadija, the only escape from her father's arranged betrothal is the sky. When she spots a rogue hot air balloon fighting against its ropes, she leaps at the chance for adventure.
Khadija soon finds an unlikely ally in a poor glassmaker's apprentice, Jacob. But Jacob is a hari, and Khadija a Ghadaean. The hari are oppressed and restless - their infamous terrorist group, the Hareef, have a new fearsome leader. And the ruling Ghadaeans are brutal in their repression. Soon, a deadly revolution threatens their friendship and their world. The Hareef use forbidden magic, summoning jinn - wicked spirits made of fire - to enact their revenge, forcing Jacob and Khadija to choose what kind of a world they want to save...
The debut novel from Aneesa Marufu draws on the author's South Asian heritage and explores racism, misogyny and discrimination in a fantasy universe.
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Featuring airborne adventure and wicked djinn spirits, Marufu's YA debut finds a sixteen-year-old fleeing an arranged marriage in a hot air balloon - and into a dangerous world of magic and curses. Ancient djinn, an adventure, and one girl's courage to seek her own destiny... Burn the flame. Seek the night. For Khadija, the only escape from her father's arranged betrothal is the sky. When she spots a rogue hot air balloon fighting against its ropes, she leaps at the chance for adventure. Khadija soon finds an unlikely ally in a poor glassmaker's apprentice, Jacob. But Jacob is a hari, and Khadija a Ghadaean. The hari are oppressed and restless - their infamous terrorist group, the Hareef, have a new fearsome leader. And the ruling Ghadaeans are brutal in their repression. Soon, a deadly revolution threatens their friendship and their world. The Hareef use forbidden magic, summoning jinn - wicked spirits made of fire - to enact their revenge, forcing Jacob and Khadija to choose what kind of a world they want to save... The debut novel from Aneesa Marufu draws on the author's South Asian heritage and explores racism, misogyny and discrimination in a fantasy universe.