The HIGHLY anticipated We Hunt the Flame is almost here and this interview with author Hafsah Faizal is just the thing to get you in the mood to read this Arabian inspired debut fantasy. Check it out!

What makes Zafira and Nasir Fierce?
Zafira is a villager and Nasir is the crown prince, yet both of them have tremendous power in their hands, despite neither of them realizing it—at first.

If you could give Zafira and Nasir one piece of advice, what would it be?
You don't have to go at it alone. There are people who care, and there are people who will understand. You just need to find them. 

If you'd met Zafira and Nasir as a teen, would you have been friends?
I started my earliest plotting of We Hunt the Flame as a teen, so both of them were created with little pieces of me. So at first, I think I'd be frightened by the similarities we share, but I'd ultimately befriend them because they are pretty cool!

What's one fun fact most people don't know about you?
I absolutely hated reading until I had no choice but to turn to it.

What's your favorite part of being an author?
Everything. Reader excitement, publishing secrets, being able to hold my book in my hands. Most days, I still can't believe it's happening!

What's the most challenging part of being an author?
Funnily enough: being able to keep writing! There's a new sense of pressure I'm still trying to understand and overcome the rhythm of.

Which 3 fictional characters would you want as part of the zumra?
Hmm, Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone, because the gang could use someone winged. Nikolai from the Siege and Storm, because Altair needs some competition to quell his ego. And maybe Yasmine from my own We Hunt the Flame, because Zafira misses her terribly!

Describe your book in 3 words.
Assassins! Enemies-to-lovers! Darkness! 

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We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Start reading now.