This book is SO RICH with complicated histories of colonialism and gender expression and whole magic systems and refugee struggles. It is a LOT to pack into a little book, and there were parts of it that felt a little clunky to me, but I was always fully motivated to keep reading, to find out the mystery, to see what became of Firuz and their loved ones. The afterword about Jamnia's influences and intentions regarding the complicated history of her Persian heritage really added value to the text — don't skip it! ( )

Not my usual cup of tea but I really enjoyed. The writing itself was poetic and the story was really unique. That ending had me ( )

I have never read a medical fantasy before, but I do think that aspect was good here, but the world-building had many gaps and afterthoughts. ( )

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/hugos-2023-the-astounding-award-for-best-new-wri...

This is a story in an alternate history Persia, dealing with the consequences of Arab invasions which worked out differently than in our timeline, with magical medicine and a very liberal take on gender. It’s pretty heavily loaded with colonial and other tropes, but I think it does manage to carry that burden with a very believable protagonist. The Persian contribution to the Islamic Golden Age is a topic that has long fascinated me, and this is a worthy fictional treatment of it. ( )

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:

As listed on the author’s website:

Medical racism
Ethnically motivated violence
Former colonization/empire
Descriptions of a refugee/migration crisis
Mentions of genocide
Discussions/handling of a plague
Child death
Disordered eating behavior
Mostly mild self-harm (for magic reasons)
Body dysmorphia from gender dysphoria (and related medical transitions)
Discussions of trauma, including past (childhood) physical abuse (for magic reasons)
Implied child neglect
Body horror, including graphic descriptions of corpses


I was fascinated by the concept of a book where illness was a centre point rather than a something that was hidden away under the carpet like a dirty little secret. The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia doesn’t shy away from illness at all, and has been described as medical fantasy.

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia follows Firuz-e Jafari from the start of their time working at a free healing clinic that provides help to refuges flooding into the city-state of Qilwa. Firuz is a refugee themselves, a Sassanian blood magic practitioner and fled their homeland when blood magic practitioners were being persecuted. Blood magic is not openly practised in Qilwa, and Firuz practises another form of magic to heal people, subtly using their blood magic when no other option is available. Their blood magic studies are incomplete as they had to flee while in the middle of them, and in Qilwa there is no one to continue their studies.

That is a problem when they come across an orphaned refuge girl who has exceptionally powerful blood magic. Someone has to train her otherwise she is going to hurt herself or someone else, and the only person who can do that is Firuz. Firuz is also determined that their student will not go through the same cycle of abuse that they went through when they were taught blood magic.

As Firuz secretly teaches blood magic to their student, Afsoneh, they begin to identify a new disease that is appearing in patients. Using their blood magic they are able to identify that it is related to blood magic, however, due to the way blood magic is perceived they can’t talk to anyone about it. The Bruising of Qilwa follows Firuz’s investigations, as well as their personal journey through reliving complex trauma and struggling to juggle their duty to family and the people of the city.

There is a lot of happening in this book, especially for a novella. That being said, I personally don’t think it was too much, and the book felt very well paced. Everything was balanced well between personal life, family life, culture and the overall storyline that affected the entire city. I liked that Firuz was not all powerful, as so often characters with magic are in fantasy. They were also limited with what they were able to do due to realistic circumstances, and Jamnia does a brilliant job of showing the heartbreaking consequences of this.

Firuz’s brother is non-binary transgender and blood magicians are able to perform a type of spell called alignments which change a person’s physical body, allowing them to transition into a body that they feel more comfortable in. Firuz was able to go through alignment before they fled their homeland, however, their brother was too young and has been growing more frustrated and desperate since puberty began. Although the novella is from Firuz’ perspective, Jamnia shows both sides of this situation and relationship through their interaction. While Firuz is desperate to help their brother, they are terrified that their limited studies will result in them harming him. At the same time, they remember being in a body that was changing and being unable to control it as it became something they didn’t want.

This is a very emotive book, and it is also filled with stunning exploration of the body, biology and blood. I hesitate to call it medicine because what the characters are practising is magic. This is nothing like medicine as we know it and Jamnia has cleverly adapted their own medical knowledge (they used to be a neuroscientist) to fit into a fantasy world. This isn’t a book where someone lays their hands on a body and voilà someone is healed. Rather healing is a delicate process more akin to surgery with such surrealism that you’re never in doubt that it’s magic.

There was a lot to like in The Bruising of Qilwa, including the twist I never saw coming, however, I’m afraid this one just didn’t quite do it for me. I can’t pinpoint why exactly that is, so I am going to just chalk it up to just not quite being my cup of tea.

For more of my reviews please visit my blog! ( )