DEMONOLOGY
Demons are
horrible, ugly, and cruel, right? Minions of Satan (or Shaitan since
we’re talking middle-eastern mythology here), they’re purpose is
to create havoc and torture souls. Pitchforks, red skin, fangs, and
other nasty features depending on a person’s cultural background.
Also, according to Islamic tradition, Shaitan employs jinn to do his
dirty deeds. Well, I couldn’t have that since one of the heroic
figures of Setara’s Genie happens to be a jinn. I turned that
traditional view on its head, so why shouldn’t I also mess with the
concept of demons?
Two of
Setara’s best friends happen to be demons. Azizah and Kairav are
blue demons, which are generally nice beings who go about their
business and don’t harm humans. Azizah is a cave demon, and spends
her time (yes, demons have gender) tending to caves. She keeps the
caves neat (in her own manner) and even builds new caverns using her
magic with rock. Kairav is a water demon who cares for all types of
water—pools, rivers, lakes, and streams.
They don’t
usually buddy up with people either, so old tales paint all demons as
evil. There are bad demons, true. For example, the blue demons are
enemies with the purple demons.
In another
of my middle-eastern books, a character points out that blue demons
are good and purple demons are bad, so I’ve maintained a consistent
view of demons within my tales, even if I’m at odds with the rest
of humanity in that regard.
Blurb
Abu Nuwas
sits in the bazaar on his threadbare rug; a cup and sign proclaim him
a teller of tales. For one small coin, he bids passers by to listen.
A poor girl, Najda, sells spices from a tray. Would he, she asks,
trade a tale for a packet of spice? Abu Nuwas agrees and begins the
epic adventures of a girl and her genie.
As did
Scheherazade before him, Abu leaves Najda hanging in the middle of
each yarn to keep her coming back. Between stories, he questions the
girl about her life. He discovers that she’s been promised in
marriage to an old man whom she hates, but she must wed him to save
her sick mother’s life. The rich bridegroom will pay for the
doctors the mother needs. Meanwhile, Najda sells spices in the market
to earn enough money to keep her mother alive.
He relates
the adventures of the bored daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and
her genie, Basit, as they encounter the creatures of legend and
folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a flying,
fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for
his family; an evil genie hunting for the man who put him in a lamp;
and a merboy prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.
Excerpt
Setara
is traveling with Azizah as they search for a home for the demoness.
Along the way, they chance upon a beautiful pool in a forest glade.
This excerpt shows the introduction of the two demons, Azizah and
Kairav, to each other.
Basit frowned when he
heard the voice and then snapped his fingers. “Kairav, is that
you?”
The water dropped back to
the surface, and an enormous form stood up out of the pool in place
of the towering water. Clearly, this was another demon, although a
lovely shade of light blue, almost a match for his pool if the sun
were shining. The figure rapidly shrank to a more reasonable size, no
larger than Basit.
With a booming voice, the
figure cried, “Basit, you old dog! What have you been up to?”
Then, more subdued, the demon continued, “Why I haven’t seen you
since, when was it? Oh, yes, when old Shairan got tricked into the
lamp by that Aladdin boy.”
Kairav stepped out of the
pond and gave Basit a big hug, lifting him off his feet. Basit
laughed and pounded Kairav on the back, which swooshed a wave of
water over Setara, Azizah, and Sheik. “Oh, sorry!” Kairav said
with a laugh. Sheik shook from head to tail tip, splashing even more
water on Setara. Despite the soaking, she couldn’t help but grin at
the happy reunion.
Finally, they broke apart,
and Basit gestured to his comrades. “This is my mistress, Setara
the Fair.” Setara felt her cheeks glow at Basit’s compliment.
“Her fine dog, Sheik.” Sheik woofed a greeting when he heard his
name mentioned. “And lastly, but certainly not least, the lovely
cave demon, Azizah. We’re helping her find a new cave.”
“Ah, Azizah, eh?
Are you not the mate of Petros? A fine demon, him.”
Azizah sniffled. “Yes,
but I’m sad to say he passed on to the great cave in the sky a few
seasons back.”
“I’m sorry to
hear it. He was a good demon. Took care of his cave and never blocked
up the streamlets running through it. That’s important to us water
demons. Too many thoughtless demons blocking up the waterways. Should
be a law against it.”
“Pardon my
rudeness.” Kairav rubbed his hands together. “Please, take your
ease.” With a flip of his hand, the water ran back into the pool,
leaving the rocks around it perfectly dry.
Basit
looked around the pool with more interest than he’d shown before.
“Nice place you’ve got here, Kairav. Can’t say I’ve ever seen
a more lovely setting for a demon pool. The waterfall is a nice
touch.”
The demon puffed out his
chest. “Thank you. I’m rather proud of it.”
Basit rubbed his chin.
“Say, Kairav, what’s under the waterfall?”
“Nothing. It’s
just a rock wall. I diverted quite a few small streams to get the
waterfall flowing. I worked for a couple of months on that alone.”
Kairav surveyed his little realm with a satisfied look.
The genie and the demon
continued to chat about past experiences and common friends. Setara
listened closely, fascinated by the accounts of the private lives of
magical beings. She noticed Azizah looking glum, so she went to the
side of the she-demon and touched her arm. “Are you all right,
Azizah? You look a little blue. Oh, I mean, sad. Of course, you look
blue.”
“Kairav reminded
me of how much I miss Petros, that’s all. It’s the past now, so I
need to move on, but it still makes me sad to think of him.” The
dark blue she-demon smiled bravely, which, if one didn’t know her,
could be quite frightening.
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I have discontinued the Win the Book promo since I'm not getting sufficient comments to have a fair contest. I'll see about giving away a free copy of the paperback and ebook editions at a later date. Maybe for Christmas or something.
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Where to buy Setara's Genie:
Amazon Print http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484975588
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