Rating 5/5 stars
Summary: A blend of Persian epics and Shonen Manga, ‘The Witcher meets Avatar: The Last Airbender’ in Medieval Baghdad. The story follows Khurafa, a young gardener grappling with the aftermath of the Mongol invasion. Convinced that the Servants, an ancient group of sorcerers, seek world domination, Khurafa, along with his mentor Shaykh Nariman and the perceptive Zakiyya, embarks on a quest for saintly aid amidst a world filled with monsters.

Review: I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review and finished half of it in a day because I couldn’t put it down! It’s a fast-paced, dark fantasy with dystopian vibes, drawing heavily upon Sufism and other historic, Islamic themes. “Vultures in the House of Silence” is an easy read and packed with beautifully crafted prose that blooms throughout.

The banter between characters often had me bursting into laughter and the plot twists had me on the edge of my seat! There were turns in this book I did not see coming, especially in the beginning when Khurafa realized that everything he thought he knew about his companion and mentor, Shaykh Nariman, was wrong. Zakiyya’s mind-reading adds a layer of humor and insight with each turn of the page, and just when I thought things couldn’t get darker, they did. The relentless conflicts, the enchanted book, Jinn, and encounters with monsters interwoven with the characters’ search for saints and holy relics kept me captivated and fully invested.

“Vultures in the House of Silence” is part of a series, concluding with a satisfying sense of closure and anticipation of more to come. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading the next book.

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