Flame

By Hilari Bell

This is the first book in the Farsala/Sorahb trilogy.  The best feature of the book is that it combines the perspectives of two different sides during the war...even if they come together at the end.  Each chapter follows one of three characters:

• Soraya:  A spoiled deghass (female member of the upper class), she is sent into hiding because the temple priests have demanded that her father sacrifice her.  Her father, High Commander Merahb, negotiates to have her "sacrificed" by exposure, then has his men take her to a remote cabin to live with a peasant family.  While there, she befriends a Suud tribe and begins to learn to talk with the spirits of objects in nature, such as fire.
• Jiaan:  Soraya's half brother.  Against custom, he is allowed to serve as a page rather than a servant.  He is trusted with the task of taking Soraya to the cabin.  In the battle against the invading Hrum, he is surprisingly chosen as the standard bearer after almost stopping 21 Hrum who were meeting with a traitor.  He eventually realizes that the traitor was Kavi.
• Kavi:  A peasant who began as an apprentice to a metalworker.  He was forced to become a peddler when he tried to prevent a deghan from taking the best sword from the shop, ending in a cut that crippled his hand.  He begins the story selling fake gold.  Commander Merahb catches him and offers to allow him to supply Soraya instead of turning him over to the magistrates.  He is later captured by a Hrum band and bargains for his life by becoming a spy.  At the end of the book, he vows to prevent the Hrum from keeping his people as slaves.

Throughout the book, the chronicle of a legendary soldier, Rostam, is traced.  He falls in love and spends one night with a lady, Tahmina.  Her father picks a quarrel with him and he is forced to leave, though he leaves behind a gold amulet.  Her family moves to Kadesh and, to appease Tahmina's father, the child (Sorahb) is raised with the belief that his father was killed by warriors of Farsala.  Sorahb eventually duels his own father in battle for three days, but is eventually killed.  When Rostam tries unsuccessfully to save the life of his worthy opponent, he sees the amulet and grieves so deeply that the god Azura promises that when Farsala needs him, he will give back Sorahb's life.