"Never once," said Sardeet, "did he ask me my name." [chapter 5]
I started reading this expecting a novel: it's a novella, the first in Goddard's 'Sisters Avramapul trilogy', featuring the three daughters (Sardeet, Pali and Arzu) of the Bandit Queen of the Oclaresh. This is the story of how Sardeet became the bride of a powerful spirit, the Blue Wind, and how Pali and Arzu rescued her. It's a version of the Bluebeard story with an Arabian Nights flavour, intense and poetic.
I think I would have liked it better if Sardeet (later to be known as the most beautiful woman in the Nine Worlds) had been older, but she's fourteen when the Blue Wind makes her his bride -- and yes, she's consenting and happy (or thinks she is), but I couldn't help thinking of her as a child.
I'm looking forward to the other two novellas in the trilogy, though. Possibly I will like Pali more if I read about her youth: and I know so little about Arzu, the Weaver...
For the 'A book with an adjective in the title' prompt of the 52 in 52 (2025) challenge. Blue!
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