Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

Spice Road is the first novel in a series to be written by Maiya Ibrahim, an Australian, who has set out to create a magical world imbued with the Arabian culture of her ancestry. So for diverse readers, it will be a joy to read of characters dressed in sirwal, eating a felafel sandwich, and drinking a special spiced tea.

Imani has grown up in the privileged world of the Sahir. She has excelled in her training as a Shield warrior, and has learnt how to use the magic of the misra tea to transform the force of her dagger into a sword or a spear. She is bound to protect her country and guard the secret of the Spice tea. It is only when she ventures out on a quest to find and bring back her disgraced elder brother Atheer, who has supposedly broken his allegiances and shared the magic outside of their country’s border, that she starts to build a broader picture of the wider world and the people within it. She comes to question everything she has been told as a child, and has to adapt her thinking to the new experiences that impact her. This is the most compelling part of Ibrahim’s novel – the depiction of a closed, almost xenophobic mind, gradually opening up and reassessing her belief system. Issues of privilege, class and prejudice are explored from many angles.

All of this is set in an ancient mystical world, with djinns and monsters to overcome, each of the challenges revealing some new understanding as the characters grow and develop. There is romance, but the two potential love interests each have their barriers to trust and friendship, and are another puzzle for Imani to gradually work out.

All in all, Spice Road is an exciting fantasy adventure. The Kingdom of Alqibah is beautifully described and the reader is easily carried along through scenes of crumbling ruins and desert sands. The quest become one of finding one’s heart or true values, learning to see beyond the sheltered home world to embrace affinity with others who live a different life, part of a wider humanity. The ending is a satisfying conclusion, but the threads are there to pick up again, as Imani has yet to face the return home and make a decision about what to do with her new knowledge. Readers will no doubt eagerly await the sequel.

Themes: Fantasy, Quest, Magic, Identity, Diversity, Classism, Privilege.

Helen Eddy