An Evening with Sarah Mughal Rana - Nottingham

Join us in welcoming Sarah Mughal Rana to Waterstones Nottingham to celebrate the release of her new novel, Dawn of the Firebird.

The discarded daughter of an emperor, Khamilla Zahr-zad is raised with her mother’s nomadic tribe until a violent raid ends that peaceful life. Amid the chaos of death, the heavenly magic of nur awakens within her, granting her the power to wield a cosmic light.

Khamilla suddenly goes from outsider to weapon, finally accepted into her father’s court. Now worthy, she trains in combat and poisons, pledging loyalty to his throne. But tragedy strikes again and when her clansmen are defeated by a rival empire, Khamilla vows lasting vengeance as she escapes. However Khamilla is not alone – for something shadows her, feeding her darkness…

Hiding her identity, Khamilla infiltrates the enemy’s army academy. She studies jinn, magic, and martial arts from cutthroat mystic monks in a bid to bring down an empire from within. However, through her studies Khamilla begins to question her father’s teachings of war and rule.

With war escalating across kingdoms and a twisted magic spreading, Khamilla is torn between two impossible choices: revenge or freedom.

Sarah Mughal Rana is a Muslim author who graduated from the University of Toronto and is now pursuing her MPhil in Asian studies at Oxford. She works at the intersection of Human Rights and Asian Policy. She is a BookTok personality and the cohost of On the Write Track podcast. Outside of school, she falls down history rabbit holes and trains in traditional martial arts.

Sarah will talk about her new book before an audience Q&A and book signing.

For any queries or accessibility requirements please contact

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