Wish

by Scott Hungerford

Shea is the daughter of Nia, a scholar and reformed temple thief, and Eve, an assassin in the service of the Sultan of the majestic city of Emerald. Late one night, after a calamity shakes the city of Emerald to its core, a powerful djinn visits Shea in her bedroom and bestows her with the gift of qissa, which allows her to read the stories of people’s lives from beginning to end with just a single touch.

Even as Shea adapts to her new gift, an usurper deposes Emerald’s beloved Sultan and claims rule over the city for himself. To complicate matters, even as the new Sultan begins turning Emerald upside-down, he kidnaps Shea, her best friend Chloe and five hundred other women for his personal harem. Suddenly trapped within the maze of palace intrigue, harem politics, and the Sultan’s deadly madness, Shea will have to tread carefully if she is to overthrow the tyrant before he either kills her or destroys everything she loves.

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2013

About the author

As a bit about myself, I've been writing stories professionally for about the last twenty years, whether writing by day for the companies I work for as a game designer, or writing by night on the novels and stories that spring from my heart. Of Raven, I've been writing stories about him for over a decade now, and have had no end of fun researching everything from ancient gods to the nature of steam-powered riverboats from the 1860's.

As a writer, I've been publishing on Amazon off and on over the last few years, including stories like Goblin Girl, Wish, and The Fire Cage. I've pulled these down for the moment, as I want to get new covers for them and do clean-up passes with my new editor. But in time they will be back, along with other novels I've been saving for just the right occasion.

Ever since I sold my first game to Wizards of the Coast back in the early nineties, I've been working in gaming as either a game designer, producer, or storyteller. Over the course of my career I've been hired to work on more than fifty board and card games, currently have more than thirty published titles for PC, Xbox, Facebook and VR, and have touched the lives of ten million people world-wide with my creativity.

But at the end of the day, my novel writing defines me, keeps me sane, keeps me out of trouble. With the Raven trilogy locked and in the can, I already know where I'm going with a number of upcoming urban fantasy, young adult, and epic fantasy novels. I can tell you that I'm very proud of the work I've done on this, and I really hope you will take a bit of time to sit down and let me share Raven's world with you - as it is an amazing trip!

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decently entertaining despite being rather weak on the worldbuilding. When, how and why did Seattle turn into some place called Emerald that is essentially a rather iffy Arabian Nights-esque orientalist fantasyland? If there was any sort of explanation in the book, I must have missed it. 2.5/5

[Lisa Godina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for an adult just starting to read sci fi/adventure. I was captivated into the story finishing the book in one sitting. An easy read. The story had me at the get go as I enjoy a strong female character coming into their own power plus the fact that Shea was a red head endured her to me even more.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

M'eh. There are some good things about this book, but more that just bother me. I finished it, but it really wasn't what I was hoping for.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The city of Emerald (formerly known as Seattle) is like something out of the Arabian Nights. Communication is done through a form of Skype that uses talking mirrors. Getting around the city is not done with cars or buses, but with flying carpets. The Sultan (the absolute ruler of Emerald) has been deposed in a coup. The new Sultan is a young man named Cassim. He is known to Shea, and her scholar father, as an arrogant, elitist jerk. Several magic rings give Cassim the power to, among other things, command an army of stone soldiers.

Few people know this, but Cassim started his reign by marrying his sister (without her consent), taking her to his bedroom, and, the next morning, ordering the disposal of her headless body. The stone soldiers spread out throughout Emerald, gathering up 500 young women, including Shea, and her best friend, Chloe, to be part of Cassim's harem. The previous night, Shea was attacked by a djinn who forced on her the ability to know a person's complete life story, including when they were going to die, just by touching them. Inside the palace, a sprawling complex of unimaginable luxury, the other women dream of being Sultana, but Shea knows that they have a very short life expectancy. Cassim finds out about Shea's abilities, and orders her to read anyone he wants, and tell him their story, especially the violent and sexual parts.

After being forced to read Chloe, the two manage to get Cassim's magic rings away from him, and help many others to get out of the palace with help from Shea's mother, Eve, a professional assassin. It's now a race to a cavern deep inside a mountain to get a magic lamp, the ultimate source of Cassim's power. It just happens to be guarded by a very large dragon. Do Shea and her parents get to the lamp first? Is Cassim the winner, and does he consolidate his tyranny?

This belongs in that large gray area of Pretty Good or Worth Reading. The story gets better in the second half of the book. Even a small explanation as to how Seattle became Emerald would have been appreciated. Teens will enjoy this book, and adults will like it, too.