Sand Daughter

by Sarah Bryant

It is the time of the Crusades, the Islamic world is divided and the Franks have captured the Holy Land. As the mighty Saladin struggles to unite the warring clans of Arabia against the invaders, Khalidah, a young Bedouin woman finds herself the pawn in a deadly plot involving her feuding tribe and the Templar Knights.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Middle East, Fantasy, Adventure, Own

506 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

Sarah Bryant (born 1973 in Brunswick, Maine, USA, is a contemporary British based writer.

She attended Brown University in Rhode Island before moving to Scotland in 1996 to study creative writing at the University of St. Andrews. She settled in the UK after meeting her husband and now lives in the Scottish Borders region where along with writing she doubles as a teacher of Celtic harp, and occasionally triples as a printmaker.

Reviews

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I undertook this because it’s set on the Muslim side of the Crusades. Mostly in Crusades fiction we get only a cursory glimpse of the societies I’m more interested in and that’s frustrating. Here it’s the Franj who are only seen from the inside now and then. So, I loved the setting straight away, as we are plunged into Bedu tents, where the adventure starts. I’d call this an adventure, more than a war story. With Bilal we spend our time in Salah ad-Din’s camp, but with Khalidah we travel through Persia to the Hindu Kush, in search of the legendary Qaf.

I guess it isn’t straight hf, since she makes up the land of Qaf – as she tells us in her note, from Pashtun, Kalash, Mongolian and Tibetan cultures. Then again I might argue that Hidden Lands proliferated in the time and place – from Prester John to Shambala. The Crusaders expected Prester John from these parts... here it’s the Jinn who turn out to be not demon desert creatures but a human force who come in aid of Salah ad-Din.

The adventure is increasingly thoughtful, with heroism and idealism sadly misguided, and victory proved sickening. For an end to crusades, she puts on the title page, and she doesn’t write to excite.

It’s nicely written, with lovely description. I felt it fell into stockness now and then. Khalidah’s love story is quite low-key, but when it is at the fore, she seems to drop five years in age. Perhaps you do. Bilal’s was more overt, and boy-meets-boy – the Sultan’s son (a sixth son and unimportant). This one was a bit soppy for me. However, boy-boy wasn’t uncommon and you don’t find it often in the fiction – like Crusades from the Muslim side.

Khalidah is an independent sort who fights. So do the girls of Qaf. I see people shake their heads at girls who fight as our 20th or 21st century intrusions, and so, I’m going to put this in the witness box: The Adventures of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan: An Arab Folk Epic. It says at least there’s nothing modern about the love of such stories.

It’s terrific to have this novel, amidst your usual Crusades fare. For me there were rougher patches, for which I gave four stars.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book. It was a little long in some spots, but the story unwound and revealed different layers in some unexpected ways. Reading about the Crusades from the Muslim perspective was interesting, too.

While there were some totally predictable developments, I was pleasantly surprised to find some completely unexpected. And the ending, although bittersweet, seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. Anything too rosy wouldn't have fit with the story.

[Allison Koenke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this perspective. While I don’t know that much about the culture, I feel it was a decent representation and am going to look more into the books she used for research and inspiration. The ending I was not expecting. Beautiful journey through love, heartbreak and finding one’s place in the world.

[Marlowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part historical fiction and part fantasy, Sand Daughter is the story of Khalidah, born of a Djinn mother and a Bedu father.

I had just picked it up without knowing what it was about, and the first portion read like a standard historical fiction, so I was taken rather by surprise when the story veered off into fantasy territory. That’s not to say that it was unpleasant. Bryant managed to combine the two in a way that worked, inserting magic into real history while still keeping a good hold on the novel’s verisimilitude.

The storytelling was quite good, making the book very readable. This is always a plus, especially in longer works!

Another aspect that I quite enjoyed was the inclusion of a homosexual romance as one of the subplots. It’s lovely to see homosexuality dropped into a story without it being the story, normalizing it as just another possible pairing, undeserving of freakshow attention.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. There are aspects of the history that I could argue with, but that seems unimportant in the face of a good story. Recommended for fans of both historical fiction and fantasy, but not for purists in either genre.

[JHM · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but after a few chapters I couldn't shake the feeling that the primary characters were simply cardboard cut-outs running through a familiar script in an exotic locale: headstrong daughter of mysterious mother flees unwelcome marriage with the assistance of mysterious stranger and finds out she has a secret destiny.

There's nothing *wrong* with that plot, per se, but if you're going to do it, you need to have strikingly original characters and/or vivid dialogue and action in order to make it worth reading. Unfortunately, I found neither in this book and had no desire to finish it.

[Carolyn Lessard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected something a little more romantic and action packed, but it was a bit flat.

The "Sand Daughter" tells two stories, one of a tribal princess who flees an arranged marriage with her cousin to solidify peace between tribes ruled by brothers.

She escapes with a mysterious musician and embarks on a long journey to a secret land. The journey lasts an eternity. Dialogue is wordy, always involving a long story to explain the simplest questions.

I was not able to finish it.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning: SPOILERS

It's kind of tough to rate this book because I enjoyed the parts pertaining to historical fiction but I was not enamored by Khalidah or the constant incorrect references to Christians and Muslims praying to a different God.

Starting with Khalidah, I can see why a lot of people would love her character, but for me she was a distraction from an otherwise enjoyable read. Maybe it was because her character seemed too perfect or 'Mary-Sue' in an unrealistic manner - she has never fought in a battle or been a part of an army, but after getting trained for 3 weeks, she is able to successfully lead a small contingent of elite mounted archers into battle against Turkish Archers and Templar Knights (the elite type that guard the King of Jerusalem) and survive with barely a scratch...more than once. She gets ambushed by men who are sent to kidnap her home (she's run away from having to marry her very obviously evil cousin), and suddenly she's an elite warrior, coming from a long line of amazons, swishing her sword about and felling her enemies...after only being trained in secret, probably with a sole attacking instructor. I don't mind strong women in literature, by all means, please give me strong women, but I guess I'm looking for more varieties of them without so many surprising skills all neatly boxed into one package in a tempestuous 16 year old.

That being said, I liked everything else about her story - she travels across the Middle East to find her mother and in so, learns about (and teaches the reader) a little bit here and there about the history of these Kingdoms, their mythology and beliefs before they were Islamic and the presence of other civilizations. Her travel companion is Sulayman, a minstrel, who educates her on how every civilization begins with invaders - maybe the Europeans have invaded this land, but before they did the Muslims took it from someone else, who took it from someone else, who took it from someone else...and the list goes on. These parts are informative and revealing, and I wish that they were delved into more.

The other character this story follows is Bilal, Khalidah's childhood friend and fellow outcast. The background is that they are Bedouins, but have foreign blood. Khalidah's mother comes from an unknown land beyond Persia where everyone has gold eyes (that she has inherited) and Bilal has blue eyes thanks to his not so mysterious European father. Well these eyes get Bilal into trouble, and I can actually believe his side of the story more than Khalidah's somehow...maybe it's because his character flaws and development is more apparent. He's a very different person at the end of the story (she less so). His eyes lead him to be used in the deadly politics around the Kingdom of Jerusalem, to Saladdin's war camp, and finally into the heart of one of the Sultan's younger but more capable sons.

While Khalidah's journey was into history and even myth, Bilal's journey was into the realities of politics and war.

My major annoyance comes from the depiction of Christianity and Islam as two completely different religions that pray to a different God, despite one reference to both faiths being 'Children of the Book'. Maybe it's also because of the news, maybe it's an irrational pet peeve, or even my education, but in the places where I grew up, one of the first things we learned in the religion segment of my elementary school was that those who follow Judaism, Christianity and Islam pray to the same God, but they follow different prophets and therefore, interpretations of that same God's teachings. The latter causes debate and conflict, but the former is generally agreed upon. In my history classes from around the same time, this seemed to be something that was generally understood back then, which was why under Muhammad's unification of Arabia, Muslims, Jews and Christians paid less taxes than the other non-Book believers. Even if the taxation system ended by Saladdin's time or if the continuous conflict with Crusaders brought an end to that understanding, it's written in the Qu'ran, so the Muslim characters should at least remember that.

This very fundamental understanding is not really touched upon in this book at all. Khalidah always thinks of the Crusaders as praying to a different God, wondering how their God would prefer things to play out. There is one conversation between Bilal and Salim where they wonder if maybe the reason why their holy lands are the same (and therefore why they keep fighting over it) is because their religion is actually the same. This conversation is left as soon as it is started because Bilal correctly observes that it does not matter if their religion is the same because the war was never really about religion in the first place. Point taken but if the message of this book is also about ending crusades forever (which is what it says in the beginning), why not drive home the point with a hammer that yes...we're talking about and praying to the same God here. It's even written in the Qu'ran that Allah is the same God that the Jews and the Christians pray to.

With that interpretation, I could maybe understand a Christian character mistakenly believing that Allah is a completely different God and that's why Islam is a different religion (and hopefully, since this is a book, being corrected on that assumption), but I can't understand how every single character in this book is living off that assumption. Fine, maybe Khalidah and Bilal cannot read the holy book (they only learn how to read halfway through this story) and maybe they were taught by an ignorant party. Salim however, has absolutely no excuse for such ignorance - he is Saladdin's son, and therefore a Prince who has been afforded the best education, imams, scribes, tutors and thinkers available in the Islamic World to learn from, and I'm sure that he's had to study and read his holy book and pick up a few things from it, even if he didn't like studying. Something as big as 'same God' can't be overlooked. And yet...there he is...wondering 'hey, I just thought about this and it really disturbs me - could it be that our holy places are the same because...our God is the same? We are the same?'...a little late on the uptake there aren't you Salim?

I kept reading and hoping for a few things - 1) Khalidah's character development. I kind of get it in the end but only with a stretch of my imagination. She's always very much the same girl that runs away from her tribe at the age of 16. The only difference is that she's a little war weary at the end of the book and is a little more open minded about how she thinks people can live. I guess Bilal makes up for it, from being restless, ambitious, stubborn and jealous to a fairly humble, experienced and likeable character. 2) I thought that all the obvious misunderstandings about religion would be cleared up in some way - maybe a wise old character commenting somewhere, or an epiphany that the characters get when they're essentially living in Eden......nope. As far as I can tell, they will die thinking that. I guess that's a realistic depiction of life, but since this is a book, and obviously a book that intended to educate, I was hoping that it would do that more on this.

It's tough to balance out historical fiction sometimes. Some readers get very bored with history, some readers only want the history. For me I suppose the Sand Daughter was too light on history. I loved what I did get, but I wanted more, probably to make up for Khalidah's superpowers.

[Zeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would say this story is more fantasy fiction instead of a historical-fiction story following actual events, because the author added a sorta Xanadu group of people called Jinn from a likewise fictional land called Qaf. In Sand Daughter, the Jinn became the deciding factor in Saladin's very real-life Holy Land battle of the Hattin against the Crusaders.

Early on, the heroine discovers she is Jinn and travels to Qaf where her mother is from. This discovery and visit to Qaf takes up much of the story, the final quarter of the book being the battle.

What bothered me most despite the rather dry storytelling was the heroine's sudden warrior skills and then battle leadership of the Jinn faction. It all seemed sorta MarySue-ish to me and though her love story was quaint, it felt rather tepid despite the sudden revelation of her love's paternity and resulting fall out at the end. The m/m tragic love story of her childhood best friend and his own star-crossed love was definitely more interesting and romantic too.

[Heather Wallace · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover blurb - crusades as told from the Arab side, and normal people at that, made me grab it. First chapter? Nice set up, quite interesting, Khalidah and her backstory look quite engaging, as does everyone.
And then there's an awful lot of not very interesting incident that keeps happening but no actual plot. The characters explain bits of backstory to each other because of the incident and new people appear but you still don't know any more about them than you did in the first chapter. The (very definitely evil) crusaders that appeared for five minutes near the beginning had more depth of character and were more interesting than our heroes. That's not good.
I ditched it at the halfway point because I'd ceased to care.

[Iona · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, this book was quite a find! When I cannot put a book down then I know I’m onto something good 😊 I think you may have to have a passion for this period, but maybe not …. I love the desert and anything to do with the Bedu culture anyway.
The characters are well drawn/expressed and if it flows as fluidly as the story did for me then it must be well written, I was never bored. It reminds me a little (though from the other side) of the film Kingdom of Heaven. I can well recommend this book to anyone drawn by that pivotal time in history,
I’m attempting not to give any spoilers here, I felll in love with a lot of the people, there is beauty here, and honour, soo much of which has been lost now as has the vastness of the desert culture without borders …
I’m now into a book called Desert by JMG Clézio.
Enjoy all who visit Sand Daughter 🐪

[Jennifer Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very different read to what I normally pick up. Beautifully written & brimming with lifelike and unforgettable characters, I loved this book. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it did lag in some places, bogged down with passages of description which I felt could've been cut down somewhat. I learned a huge chunk of history about the crusades, which I knew very little about, and found extremely confusing at first with all the different groups & people & beliefs, but once I had the jist of it, I really enjoyed the background info.

[Ellen Eveland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose Sand Daughter because I was fascinated by the idea of reading of the Crusades from the viewpoint of the "Saracens" and it didn't disappoint. I particularly enjoyed the many religious comparisons between the Muslim and Christian faiths. A strong story with characters who make interesting choices.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldnt get past the first few chapters. I liked the idea of this book but found the dialogue a bit unnatural/ too formal/ old worldey that I couldnt get into a flow and found the words every so often from another language a little bit irritating in trying to picture build.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel takes place during the Crusades. At first, there are so many different groups and tribes involved in the story, that one not familiar with the history of the Islamic world or Crusades or Templar Knights will have to do some googling. Once the reader figures out who is who, it is a decent enough story about a young woman named Khalidah. Khalidah was born into a nomad (traveling) Arab tribe and is a devout muslim. While the Franjs are waging war against the Sultan and those of his religion, Khalidah is escaping an unwanted marriage to her cruel cousin by drugging the entire camp and running away with a traveling singer.

The traveling singer, Sulayman, means to take Khalidah back to her long lost mother's people, the mysterious Jinn tribe. Upon arriving in the strange and beautiful land of her mother, Khalidah must make some difficult decisions. Is she ready to lead her people? She is next in line for leadership. And if she does choose to lead the Jinn, will she lead them into war against the Templar Knights? If she leads them to war and aides the Sultan, will she also be leading them to their deaths? Meanwhile, a romance has bloomed with Sulayman. Does she plan to act on her strong romantic feelings towards the traveling singer?

UNFORTUNATELY, Khalidah's story is only half of the novel. What the summary fails to tell potential readers is that there is another story going on as well. Every other chapter is about Khalidah's childhood friend Bilal. Bilal is going back and forth among the Franjs and the Sultan's warriors. It is thru Bilal's eyes that the Crusades and the drama surrounding it is explained. While learning the history tho, readers must also read about Bilal discovering he is gay and in love with the Sultan's son. Those not interested in reading about same sex love affairs may want to skip this novel.

I simply skipped every other chapter to get back to Khalidah's story. It was rather slow tho as most of the novel is about Khalidah traveling to Quaf (land of the Jinn) and having dreams about her mother while the romance blossoms with Sulayman.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book which is well-researched and is one of those books that clearly defines the tag "historical fiction." The fictional characters hold their own against the historical personages and the story is a wonderful balance between the various characters. With Khalidah's story running parallel to that of Saladin's conquering of the Franks for possession of the Holy Land, the story never gets tiresome or ponderous. I have posted a full-length review on www.thebookbinge.com.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for Christmas and it is something I wouldnt normally read. I did really enjoy it though. I liked that the story was about two different people and the way it jumped from person to person was not confusing. The story itself was very interesting. I think if you liked the Kite Runner you will like this one too.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just picked this up at random in a book store in Bath and LOVE IT! I couldn't put it down. Well written, great plot, interesting characters, beautiful images...I have no complaints. Not a single one. I wished somethings had turned out differently but I don't think those things could have been helped so such is life. I hope to teach this book someday. WONDERFUL!

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. The book was slow to begin , but by the time I was on Part 2 i could'nt put it down . I really liked the character Bilal , surprising in many ways. Was surprised and overjoyed to see Balian , Sibylla , Guy mentioned and elaborated on. The ending was finished so smoothly , which I liked immensely.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book, the characters were vibrant and real and the twists and turns keep you guessing until the end. Though it can be slow at times, it is ultimately a fantastic read that captures the landscape of the middle east and the turbulent period of the crusades, where both sides felt driven by God to claim the holy land.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It's been a while since I read a book like this. I really enjoyed it, although the characters seem a lot flatter than those I have enjoyed more recently, but I think that that is the nature of the gendre. I especially liked the reference to the various horse breeds from the East, e.g. Arabians and Akhal Teke. This is an action packed adventure with a feisty young heroine.

[Amy Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a vividly written account of the crusades from the point of view of a Muslim girl and boy. Full of adventure and romance and beautifully acknowledges the great faith and human frailties of both sides. Sad that not much has changed in a thousand years. I really enjoyed this book, it's Well worth the read.

[Laura Moriarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful writing style, it's like poetry and song, making it flow like water and pleasant to read. The love stories are both melancholy, keeping me reading. The battle scenes are also beautifully done, rich in meaning.

[Jordan (jordan_nb) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was fairly good, not too many twists and turns but overall a good read. Takes a while to figure out all the different tribes and since it follows two Muslim characters set during the Crusades the events are fairly difficult to comprehend unless you have previous knowledge.

[Ghazala Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got into this book straight away. Its about the Islamic Crusade in the Middle East in the 12th century. Each character has its own journey and agenda. The struggle, journey, war and emotions are well described in this book.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love historical fiction, and this was a new one for me (I normally keep to English locals), so the historical aspect was a bit hard for me to grasp. But the story was very enjoyable and novel itself was very well written.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story revolves more around Bilal and his love affair with a prince (son of Sala-al-Din) than it does around Khalidah's romance with Sulayman. Definitely a well researched historical fiction about Sala-al-Din's victorious campaign against the Christians in Jordan.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sand Daughter" is cleanly written and does a lovely job of evoking the opulent east. Unfortunately about 2/3 of the way through I lost steam, probably because I was less interested in the Saladin angle than in the "searching for her mother" angle. Will try to finish this book again later.

[Nalini Tiwari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me, knows my love for female empowering characters. Khalida, Sandara, Zaynab, Brekhna were the epitome of my liking.

I was skeptical to read this as it was based on a religion and era I knew little of. But it didn't disappoint.

[Gail/Ladyvolz Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

set during 1100's during the Templars defense of Jerusalem and salah a-din's attempt to take control back. Told more from the Muslim point of view.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big adventure but such poor characterization that I quit reading it because I just didn't care what happened next.