Shawna Ayoub moves "beyond a book review" in not only recommending great books by diverse writers but highlighting a technique to apply to your own writing practice.
Blood Over Bright Haven, by M.L. Wang
Queer writer M.L. Wang is a Chinese American fantasy author whose bio identifies her as a martial artist and recluse with a parakeet named Sulu. Her book Blood Over Bright Haven is one I found on Libby and listened to rather than read. I’m a big fan of listening to fantasy. I find the process immersive. I use audiobooks to wake up in the morning, keep me on task when doing chores, and when I’m commuting around the North Carolina Triangle. The performance of Blood Over Bright Haven was spectacular. It kept me engaged and interested, but the deeper I got into the story, the more I found myself thinking about the necessity of revolution.
This book follows the ascension of the first female admitted into the High Magistry in Tiran. Sciona is scorned by her colleagues, but adept at her craft. She is assigned a janitor as a lab assistant. Thomil, who is from a tribe of nomadic hunters all but wiped out due to mysterious Blight, recognizes her talent and where other men fail to, treats her with respect. While Sciona expects his deference, she also finds herself drawn to it because it is rare. What ensues is a tenuous friendship through which Sciona discovers she has opted into a system that only serves the few. Despite that she had to claw her way to the top because she is a woman, she is one of the privileged few. As such, she is part of the problem.
Sciona’s burgeoning awareness of her complicity in the oppression and genocide of the Other in favor of her fellow Tiranish folk forces her to make a choice: she can either stay the course, or she can expose the High Magistry’s hidden agenda.
Privilege and nuance
In short: A privileged white woman thinks she’s underprivileged until she witnesses oppression in action. She then realizes she’s an oppressor and has to choose whether or not she wants to protect her privilege or revolt.
Tough call, right?
I’m not being facetious. Wang does a phenomenal job of truly showing how and why this revelation is difficult for Sciona to accept and why she isn’t sure what to do when she finally faces reality. By rebelling against the patriarchy, Sciona stands to lose everything she’s worked for. Not to mention her family and her life. There’s nuance here. I’ll leave the ending a surprise in hopes you’ll read (or listen to) this book. It’s worth it.
A writing exercise
In the meantime, let’s consider what we would do. For our writing prompt, write for 20 minutes in response to the following question:
You discover your company is contributing to the deaths of strangers. Maybe you work at a coffee mega shop and your company cares more about its alliances than the families whose deaths it funds with a percentage of every drink purchased. You are the only higher-up who seems to be disturbed by this information, and you are in a position to make this knowledge public. Do you do so? If not, why? If so, how?
Really take the time to get into your motivations here. If your answer is no, are you motivated by fear? Apathy? Income? If it’s yes, what would life be like for you if you didn’t speak up?
As always, check in with yourself about how this writing made you feel. Scan your body for any tension. Take notes on if this is writing you’d like to come back to. And congratulate yourself on your revolution, or not!
If this book sounds intriguing to you, consider preordering your own copy of Blood Over Bright Haven at Bookshop.org and supporting independent bookstores across the U.S.
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