The Bleeding of the Stone

Ibrahim Al-Koni

A deceptively easy read, stylistically, but grappling with some big issues. If you're into people's inner worlds, the beliefs that shape them and the links between people and the environment, and you look to your fiction to be more mythical than thriller, this could be for you. But be warned ... there are some gory bits!

Extract

The vow stopped the son from following his father in hunting the waddan; his father, after all, had died because he'd broken the sacred pledge. Vows are no light matter, and the waddan knows that. How could he not know it, when he's the spirit of the mountains? Spirits are from the spirit of God, and they see everything. They know what man keeps hidden in his heart, and that's why they're so utterly, amazingly sure of themselves.

Parallels