Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Bloodprint: Book One of the Khorasan Archives
    The Bloodprint: Book One of the Khorasan Archives
    The Bloodprint: Book One of the Khorasan Archives
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Bloodprint: Book One of the Khorasan Archives

    Written by Ausma Zehanat Khan

    Narrated by Jenny Bryce

    3/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    The author of the acclaimed mystery The Unquiet Dead delivers her first fantasy novel—the opening installment in a thrilling quartet—a tale of religion, oppression, and political intrigue that radiates with heroism, wonder, and hope.

    A dark power called the Talisman has risen in the land, born of ignorance and persecution. 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 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. Foremost among them is Arian and her apprentice, Sinnia, skilled warriors who are knowledgeable in the Claim. This daring pair have long stalked Talisman slave-chains, searching for clues and weapons to help them battle their enemy’s oppressive ways. 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. Though they will be helped by allies—a loyal ex-slave and Arian’s former confidante and sword master—both Arian and Sinnia know that this mission may well be their last.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 3, 2017
    ISBN9780062791009
    Author

    Ausma Zehanat Khan

    Ausma Zehanat Khan holds a Ph.D. in international human rights law with a specialization in military intervention and war crimes in the Balkans. She is a former adjunct law professor and Editor-in-Chief of Muslim Girl magazine, the first magazine targeted to young Muslim women in North America. She is also the award-winning author of The Unquiet Dead and The Bloodprint, the first book in The Khorasan Archives. A British-born Canadian, Khan now lives in Colorado with her husband. 

    More audiobooks from Ausma Zehanat Khan

    Related to The Bloodprint

    Related audiobooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      'Dread Nation' Is A Rollicking 'Gone With The Wind + Zombies' Adventure

      Apr 20, 2018

      But don't underestimate the latest YA novel by activist Justina Ireland – it's also a biting commentary on contemporary race relations in America.

      3 min read

    • Article

      On Uppermost Winds

      Mar 1, 2024

      On Uppermost Winds
      5 min read

    • Article

      Crescent City

      Dec 1, 2021

      Crescent City
      5 min read

    • Article

      Ursula K. Le Guin

      Jun 15, 2018

      He was thinking of Lookfar, abandoned long ago, beached on the sands of Selidor. Little of her would be left by now, a plank or two down in the sand maybe, a bit of driftwood on the western sea. As he drifted near sleep he began to remember sailing t

      15 min read

    • Article

      In Love And War

      Jun 10, 2021

      April 1943 - Krakow, Poland Irena was bent over her needlework, stitching the frayed seam of her skirt when she heard a single gunshot ring out. She jerked and then scowled. After four years of war, she ought to be used to it. Why, the other night a

      11 min read

    • Article

      The PRIDE

      May 1, 2023

      The PRIDE
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Air You Breathe

      Aug 20, 2018

      The Air You Breathe
      23 min read

    • Article

      Not Quite MR DARCY

      Aug 10, 2022

      Not Quite MR DARCY
      6 min read

    • Article

      Run, Baby, Run!

      Sep 25, 2023

      Run, Baby, Run!
      7 min read

    • Article

      Are You Lonesome Tonight?

      Aug 8, 2019

      Are You Lonesome Tonight?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Berber Vodka

      Sep 10, 2021

      Berber Vodka
      3 min read

    • Article

      The little NIGHTINGALE

      Dec 28, 2022

      The little NIGHTINGALE
      9 min read

    • Article

      To Save Arrhinsal

      Nov 1, 2021

      Tolin lives on Arrhinsal, an island that floats in the sky two miles above the land below. One day, while hunting in the maze of tunnels that run through the island’s thick hedges, he encounters a girl who, her sword raised, has turned to face a huge

      6 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      The little NIGHTINGALE

      Dec 7, 2022

      The little NIGHTINGALE
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Island (catullus 64)

      Mar 1, 2022

      Back then the evergreens tumbled downriverfrom the glaze-white runoff to the boot-stirred puddlesof amber young men who fulfilled our destiny,who clambered into ships, on horses, and in wagonspainting the newfound landscapes ours.Our calling was nobl

      9 min read

    • Article

      From Our Archives: A 1981 Interview With Toni Morrison

      Aug 7, 2019

      The award-winning author Toni Morrison died Aug. 5, 2019. We're reposting this 1981 interview conducted shortly after her fourth novel, "Tar Baby," was published.

      11 min read

    • Article

      'Let Us Descend' Follows A Slave On A Painful Journey — Finding Some Hope On The Way

      Oct 24, 2023

      Jesmyn Ward's narrative forces readers to look at our country's ugly past and face the lingering effects of history — but it also tells a story of perseverance and the power of the spiritual world.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Black Spider

      Nov 28, 2019

      The Black Spider
      22 min read

    • Article

      Bound

      Apr 10, 2022

      I came fully awake as I sat up and cracked my head on the thwart of my upturned canoe. The pain cleared my head. I felt under my bedroll for my knife, hoping I hadn’t made enough noise to attract the attention of whatever—whoever?—had waked me. I did

      17 min read

    • Article

      Alma’s Hands

      Jan 1, 2023

      Alma’s Hands
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Dragon Of The North

      Sep 7, 2022

      The Dragon Of The North
      5 min read

    • Article

      Timeless Movement

      Jan 30, 2018

      Timeless Movement
      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Bloodprint

    3/5

    23 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      3.5/5 stars
      The Bloodprint was a unique, fun fantasy story and I quite enjoyed it, though I had some problems with it. I enjoyed the world created and how Khan built a magic system around words and a language. I felt there could have been more explanation of this magic system - but at the same time - the people practicing it, don't really understand it either, because their written word has been destroyed. It was quite intricate and I liked that there were different verses and phrases that could evoke different things in people depending on how you said it and your intention behind it. The world of the Khorasan, was actually really desolate. The Talisman are conquering and destroying the written word, they are undoing progress made with women and children, they are persecuting people who don't fit into their definitions of a righteous person. It's brutal.

      The characters were pretty well rounded - I enjoyed Arian, except for the fact that all men were basically falling at her feet. That got annoying - it was like a harem anime but with a woman at the centre. I also liked Daniyar at first, and then he got weird and possessive. I found their relationship and love a little too dramatic for my liking. It totally could have been toned down a little. I really enjoyed Sinnia as a character, she was badass, loyal, and overall a cool chick. She definitely could have been more developed. I would have liked to see part of the book from her perspective. Hopefully in the next book we get to see that. Wafa was also intriguing, but again, I needed more character development from him.

      I enjoyed the writing. I found it easy to follow, it flowed well. The sentence structure was good. I found this easy to read and fast paced.

      Overall, I enjoyed this, and will probably continue with the series. Hopefully some of the harem style situations become less, and we get to see more of Sinnia.
    • 3/5
      I’m not quite sure what to make of this one. the Bloodprint is set in a dystopian future where a destructive war of not-quite-Armageddon proportions has apparently destroyed most of the world outside Central Asia and the Middle East; there things have returned to quasi-medieval technology. The people of Khorasan (roughly corresponding to eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia, according to a map in the front matter) are followers of The Claim, a holy book; written versions of The Claim seem to have been mostly lost and it is now transmitted by oral tradition. (A central verse of The Claim is There is no one but the One. And so The One commands, just in case we weren’t sure what holy book The Claim is supposed to represent). Similarly places and things in Khorasan are not very thinly disguised actual places and things; the cities of Hira, Candour, Maze Aura, Marakand, Black Aura, and Ashfall are more-or-less Herat, Kandahar, Mazar el-Sherriff, Samarkand, Bokhara, and Isfahan; and the evil cult trying to destroy literacy and subjugate women in the name of their misinterpretation of The Claim is the Talisman. So far, so good.The protagonist is Arian, a First Oralist of the Companions of Hira, a group of women dedicated to preserving the true message of The Claim. In addition to being an accomplished warrior, Arian has magic powers; she can recite verses of The Claim that stun or kill enemies, destroy buildings, raise fogs, and so forth. Arian finds herself on a quest for the Bloodprint, an ancient written copy of The Claim. She acquires and loses various friends and companions in generic heroic fantasy fashion.The heroes and heroines are all suitably heroic; the villains are all disgustingly villainous. Arian is adequately conflicted by having the power to kill with the spoken word. Every few dozen pages Arian and friends are captured by miscellaneous baddies, who never kill them outright, instead making the classic Evil Crazy mistake of imprisoning them – usually kinkily gagged and chained - to await hideous tortures (or, in the case of the women and the young boy, the Fate Worse Than Death). Unexpected rescue always shows up, and they always escape. (At the end of this novel things look pretty bad, but I expect once again rescue will come at the start of the next in the series). As you may guess from the above, I don’t find The Bloodprint very well written. Still, there are some things of interest and attraction here. For one thing, it’s refreshing to find a fantasy novel based on something other than Northern European tradition. Another is the handling of romance; Ausma Zehanat Khan does interesting things with love scenes. There’s nothing even remotely explicit by modern standards; instead there’s description of the genuine erotic frisson that can come from seemingly casual glances and touches in a culture where personal and physical contact between the sexes is more restrained than ours. When the hero and heroine finally get as far as a kiss the narration of the event is actually more exciting than if they were busy with organs and orifices.So a mixed review; I want to see what happens so I’ll track down the other novels in the series.
    • 5/5
      I truly don't have words eloquent enough to do this book justice. AZK said she loved writing it and the power of that love and care shines through like the power of the Claim. The world building is deftly woven into the story itself without large, clunky info-dumps. The writing is beautiful. The characters are well-developed and nuanced. As it is the first of the series, it doesn't resolve anything, and ends with a gut-wrenching cliff hanger. My heart is a lump in my throat. I cannot wait for the next book. It's official-I will read anything AZK writes. She's incredible. She's gives such depth and strength to her characters and her stories. Read this now. I need others to suffer the wait for book two with me.
    • 1/5
      I got about halfway through and quit reading. While I thought the concept of the plot was interesting, the characters, and how it was written didn't fulfill the plot's potential.
    • 3/5
      The Bloodprint is the start to a new epic fantasy series with Middle Eastern cultural influences.Arian’s homeland has been overtaken by the Talisman, a new organization that promotes an ideology of fear, ignorance, hatred of difference, and misogyny. As Companions of Hira, Arian and her friend Sinna are some of the few who openly fight the Talisman. They’ve spent the last decade traveling Talisman territory and freeing women from slave chains, but their efforts have not been enough to slow the Talisman’s rise. Then the leader of the Companions of Hira gives Arian a new quest: to locate and retrieve the Bloodprint, an ancient text that has the power to defeat the Talisman once and for all.The heart of the Companions of Hira’s power lies in their knowledge of the Claim, the magical words of a sacred scripture. However, I kept wishing that I knew more about the Claim and the religion and magic of the world. For a book where the religion is so central to the plot, we sure don’t know much about it. For instance, who even was Hira? Where did the Companions come from? I’d guess that the author has much of this worked out, but it didn’t come across while I was reading The Bloodprint, which created problems with the world building. Another example would be how the narrative casually mentions about halfway through that the Companions of Hira are supposed to be celibate. This was after we’d already seen at least two Companions of Hira having sex. Why didn’t we find this out earlier?Structure wise, The Bloodprint is basically a treasure hunt. Treasure hunt plot lines can be a ton of fun, but I generally think they need pretty snappy pacing. The Bloodprint dragged for over the first half and didn’t really pick up until Arian and her friends were beyond the Wall and in the dangerous lands beyond. I also kept feeling like Arian wasn’t driving the plot but was being driven along by it; she kept being manipulated and directed by other characters. Ending on a cliffhanger didn’t help the issues I had with The Bloodprint‘s structure, and it prevented the book from feeling like it had a plot arc of its own. I feel like this is part of a larger manuscript which was cut into pieces to make individual books.On the topic of structure, I needed for The Bloodprint to have a stronger emotional heart. I would have liked to see more focus on Arian’s relationship to her missing sister (which is a major factor of her character motivation) or with her friend Sinna. Or how is her forming a friendship with Sinna disrupted by the trauma of her missing family? The Bloodprint had a lot of potential for a strong, emotional heart to the story, but I felt like none of them were ever fully developed. The closest it came was with the romance subplot.I did not like the romance subplot. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you’ll know that I’m a hard sell when it comes to romance subplots. Often I’m just indifferent to them, but I hated this one. The love interest was so controlling! And he keeps saying that Arian “betrayed” him but then it turns out her “betrayal” was that she wasn’t willing to give up her position as a Companion of Hira. I was so done with this guy.But back to the topic of Sinna. I had some concerns about her character. She’s basically Arian’s sidekick and she’s the only black character in the novel. I was sort of worried that she’d fall into the stereotype of black best friend/sidekick and never move beyond that. I wanted her to have her own distinct character arc and a tangible effect on the plot. She had neither. In fact, she disappeared towards the end and Arian didn’t seem to care much? It felt like everyone kind of forgot about her. In addition, this reviewer has some thoughts to add about Sinna’s depiction.There were also a couple of minor villains who fell into stereotypical tropes. One’s an evil albino, although there’s a couple of other (even more minor) albino characters who aren’t portrayed in a negative light. Another is a man who molests and murders boys. I really hope the idea behind him is that “gay people = child molesters” but with the lack of queer characters, it’s hard to tell. Anyway, it gave me flashbacks to Dune and not in a good way.One of the most interesting elements about The Bloodprint was how the Talisman had parallels to the Taliban; I don’t think it’s an influence I’ve ever seen in fantasy before. I do love how this story is centered around a female character who’s resisting patriarchal authority, although I did chafe at reading about such a violently patriarchal world where the heroines were under the constant threat of rape and brutalization.Probably the most frustrating thing about The Bloodprint is that I could see the shape of a truly great fantasy novel within it, but the story wasn’t quite there yet and might have benefited from another round of edits.I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.