It's finally the holiday season, and although we can't travel to far-off lands in person, we can venture off in the pages of this month's Read Fierce Book Club pick. Getting lost in Hafsah Faizal's lush and magical world is truly the greatest gift we could give ourselves. We could go on and on all day long about how much we adore the characters, gasp at every twist and turn, and live for the unbelievable magic. Of course, the best person to tell us all the behind-the-scenes info about one of our favorite fantasy novels of 2019 is the author herself! Keep reading and check out our Q&A with Hafsah. What was your inspiration behind We Hunt the Flame? After a back-to-back viewing of Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games, I remember gardening the next day and asking my sisters, "What if the games were set in a fantasy world?" I needed to know more than they did, and so sparked the initial concept for We Hunt the Flame. I started writing the book then, but there was something that always felt off. Wrong. It wasn't until I took a break to sketch the story's map that I saw how closely it resembled the Mediterranean region, and it hit me: I'd spent years picking up books to lose myself when I'd heard over and over again from others that they read to find themselves. It was a concept so foreign that it felt impossible. This was my story. I didn't have to follow the norms preset by society. Here, I could write a world where I could both lose myself and find myself. I scrapped what I'd written and started afresh, this time setting it in a kingdom inspired by ancient Arabia. It felt special. It felt like coming home. The characters took on lives of their own as the setting slowly but surely became one closer to my soul, in turn, making the story feel a lot more dangerous than anything I'd done before. And when I'd finished writing it, I finally understood what authors meant when they called a story "the book of their heart." What is your favorite scene to write?  Without spoiling anything, I'm going to say my favorite scenes tend to be the ones where emotions are strung tight, whether this is a character death or one where hearts are laid bare. It's when my characters are most raw, and I love exploring those feelings!  If you could visit and experience any fantasy world, what would it be, and which character or characters would you bring with you? I spent a long minute trying to think of a fantasy world that isn't dire and dreary, but I'd love to visit the Shire. Second breakfast sounds good just about now, and I'll take the zumra with me because they need a break! Lastly, you came to work in the publishing industry in an interesting and different way. Can you describe your experience so far, and what is your favorite thing about working in this industry? My favorite thing about working in publishing is working with books! Those little transportive things of magic that have the power to change lives. I was a book blogger and designer for about eight years before I became an author, and it taught me a lot about publishing. Notably, I already had experience working with people in publishing through blogging and several authors through designing, so it made everything less of an enigma once I'd sold my book! I also had a sense of what worked and what didn't in terms of covers, marketing, publicity plans, and trends.  If you haven't read We Hunt the Flame yet, you can pick up a copy wherever books are sold. Be sure to continue the conversation with your friends and download the discussion guide.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived. Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira were exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be. War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.