All This Twisted Glory

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.

“‘Not everyone takes themselves as seriously as you do, sire. They have neither the energy nor the interest.’

‘Are you implying that I’m vain?’

‘I’m not implying it, Kamran. I’m delivering the statement to you directly.’”

The informal, casual exchange between Kamran and Hazan shows that Hazan is never afraid of speaking his mind; at the same time, it also suggests that Kamran is less imperious than he pretends, since he accepts Hazan’s criticism.

“Her thoughts churned as she gazed up into the pitch, where the thick of night was freckled all over by stars. Alizeh knew that fireflies, too, lived in Tulan’s atmosphere, and the shimmer was so dense this evening it blurred in places. It was as if a child had pressed a hand to the heavens and smeared its glitter across the sky.”

This passage is an example of Mafi’s lyrical writing, rich with literary devices. An example of a figure of speech is the metaphor comparing stars to freckles on the skin of the night sky; while the simile of smeared glitter also describes the firmament. The evocative writing adds to the world-building, making the novel’s landscapes come alive for the reader.

“Inch by harrowing inch Cyrus was made to ascend the stairs by way of dark magic, his own blood choking in his throat. He was half-blind as his severed bones scraped together, piercing organs and tearing flesh. It was a state of suffering so excruciating he’d lost consciousness over and over, only to wake up each time on the slick ground in a shallow pool of his own gore, and made to climb the stairs again.”

As this passage shows, if the text contains vivid descriptions of beauty, it also well illustrates horrifying scenarios. Iblees’s torment of Cyrus is often detailed in graphic terms to convey its intensity. Here, Cyrus is forced to ascend the stairs again and again in a broken state until his body heals. Visual images such as his lying in “a shallow pool of his own gore” and aural descriptions of his bones scraping together convey the degree of his suffering.