Hazim

by Ammar Al Naaimi

It has been near 6 months since Mishal Al Balushi’s final showdown with Bani Safi, a sorcerer organization tried to tame powerful jinn and take over the country.
Now, 16 year-old Mishal is the captain of newly formed team 14 at Sarim, the Public Authority for Anti Jinn Operations. He uses his power over fire to protect his team members, eager Salim and young Salwa, even when Mishal knows that they’re not yet ready to fight jinn on their own. When not fighting to protect Oman, Mishal bickers with Asaad Al Nabhani, who has been chosen as Mishal’s boss, and he seeks advice from Eman Al Lawati, who is achieving the remarkable as captain of her own team.
But when Mishal and Asaad discover that an ancient jinni is seeking to possess Asaad, the two vow to stop the possession from happening. Feeling uncertainty deep in his heart, Mishal finds himself confronted with a choice: Should he trust Asaad to take care of this jinni as always? Or will Mishal rise up to help his friend?

352 pages, Unknown Binding

Published March 3, 2023

About the author

Ammar Al Naaimi is trapped in a void in the middle of space, which devours most of his time without him even knowing where the time had gone.

When not struggling valiantly against the void, Ammar writes Fantasy stories about Arabs doing magical things. He also has a daytime job as an editor.

Reviews

[SMF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the amazing chance to read the book and give an honest review about it. This book deserves a 7.5/10. The story is an amazing sequel to the first book “ Sarim “ and the amount of new characters and build up this book made was perfect and astonishing. The only think that the book did poor from my point of view, is going through details in some unnecessary parts. However, the book built up an amazing ending for an upcoming book.

[Saul Balushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to SARIM.
I enjoyed this book more than the previous instalment; It took the foundations of SARIM and built up on that. The lore and world-building was excellent. As an Omani this hit all the right points. But most importantly, it was relatable.
I think HAZIM in some parts read like a historical fiction novel (it takes place in 2019 till 2020.) So it felt like historical-fantasy and that was fun to read.
Without going into spoilers, the last chapters, and one paragraph to be specific, read like a John Gwynne action scene. Mr Ammar unintentionally wrote like John Gwynne without even knowing it. I doubt Mr Ammar has read a John Gwynne novel but that one paragraph was surreal. I said "Hold on..."
But my favorite part is when Talal Al Shahri (radio presenter at 90.4 Oman FM) made a brief cameo in the beginnings of the book. I enjoyed that a lot.
Do read this book. Action fantasy in Oman. If you liked JUJUTSU KAISEN you will like this, too.

[Akshara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 1/3rd of the book was slow-paced. As someone who had read the first book, many of the explanations about Sarim and the exorcists were wasted on me. Perhaps a glossary would have speeded things up? After that however things pick up. We are told about the main conflict and it quickly becomes clear who is on which side. I especially liked how modern day need was woven into the story and Oman (and Muscat) seemed to be a main character secondary only to Mishal. I can't talk much about the ending without giving spoilers but suffice to say I'm now primed to read the final (?) book as soon as possible.

[Alaa Kadhem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, it keeps you on tur edge of your seat and you just can't stop reading because you want to know what's next! Big plot twists! No spoilers but I know you all will LOVE IT!!