 |
A girl, a genie, a few demons. Would
could go wrong?
|
I am thrilled today to introduce you to Setara, the clever and adventurous girl from Marva Dasef's new novel, Setara's Genie. This young adult fantasy will be released from Muse It Up Publishing on Friday, August 17, but please note, you can pre-order the e-book by August 16 and save 20%.
Marva kicks off her blog tour for Setara's Genie today. Be sure to leave a comment with your contact information to be eligible for prizes during the tour.
Now it's time for Setara to share a bit about her exciting story.
Setara Speaks
At first, all I wanted was a little
romance in my life, just the slightest bit of adventure. Was I seeking danger?
Did I wish to consort with demons? Heavens, no! I will have to admit, though,
the idea of being the future wife of a rich merchant was highly unappealing.
When the mountain raiders kidnapped me,
I thought that I’d have neither adventure nor much future at all. Especially
when the raiders threw me into the cave as a sacrifice to the demon who
supposedly ruled within the mountain.
I’m happy to say that Basit wasn’t a
demon at all, but a genie in search of a new master. I wondered what happened
to his old master, and he assured me the man died of natural causes. I also
wondered why Basit wasn’t in a bottle or lamp as the legends say. Again, he
assured me that only the stupidest of djinns would get themselves caught in
that manner. Genies choose their
masters, and Basit thought that having a female master—a mistress, so to
speak—would be a nice change of pace.
Once he forced me to figure out how to
get out of the cave, he continued to be of little help. Well, that’s not
entirely true. He did change a camp dog into a sheik (a handsome one, of
course) when I asked him to, but that didn’t work out entirely. It seems that
Basit prefers to have his charge (that’s me) figure out how to rescue herself.
Sheik, when returned to his dog self, became my close companion from then on.
So, something good did come from my wish for a rescuer. It just turned out not
to be as romantic as I first believed.
Once I had tasted freedom and a touch
of adventure, I hungered for more. It occurred to me that some other poor soul
might be thrown into the cave for the demon to eat (even though there never was
a demon), and it was up to me to rescue them.
I wasn’t sure how to get Basit’s
attention, since he simply disappeared once I was safely home. It turned out
that calling him worked eventually. I’ll have to say he sometimes takes his own
sweet time to answer my summons. Not a very obedient djinn. I got used to him,
though, and we enjoyed many adventures together. But our first adventure (after
my initial rescue) turned out far different than I imagined. There was, indeed,
a lost soul within the cave, but not exactly what I expected.
Blurb:
Abu Nuwas sits in the bazaar on his
threadbare rug; a cup and sign proclaim him a teller of tales. For one small
coin, he bids passers by to listen. A poor girl, Najda, sells spices from a
tray. Would he, she asks, trade a tale for a packet of spice? Abu Nuwas agrees
and begins the epic adventures of a girl and her genie.
As did Scheherazade before him, Abu
leaves Najda hanging in the middle of each yarn to keep her coming back.
Between stories, he questions the girl about her life. He discovers that she’s
been promised in marriage to an old man whom she hates, but she must wed him to
save her sick mother’s life. The rich bridegroom will pay for the doctors the
mother needs. Meanwhile, Najda sells spices in the market to earn enough money
to keep her mother alive.
He relates the adventures of the bored
daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and her genie, Basit, as they encounter
the creatures of legend and folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a
flying, fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for his
family; an evil genie hunting for the man who put him in a lamp; and a merboy
prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.
The cave looked much the same as the month before. Shrubbery
partially covered the mouth, but someone had shoved most of it to one side. It
didn’t look like anyone had been here since they escaped. Still, they continued
cautiously to the opening and stood for a few moments considering whether to
just go in.
Setara tapped her finger on her chin. “Oh, I’ve got it.
Change Sheik into a mouse so he can enter quietly to see what’s inside.” Basit
performed the transformation, and the tiny brown Sheik-mouse scurried into the
cave.
A shrill scream emanated from the cave’s depths. Sheik came
tearing out as fast as his little mouse legs could carry him. He stopped in
front of Setara. “Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak-squeak.”
She looked at Basit, who shrugged his big shoulders.
Setara rolled her
eyes. “He needs to be able to speak
human language.” She thought it obvious.
Basit waved his hands.
Sheik said, “Squeak, squeak, squeak-squeak,” but in a human
voice.
“What does that mean?” Setara was just about fed up with
Basit’s tricks.
“Well, I can only assume a mouse’s squeaks translate to more
squeaks, not to any actual words.”
“We’ll have to go in, then.” Setara did her best to sound
brave. “First, change Sheik back into a dog.” Basit transformed Sheik yet
again.
“After you,” Basit answered, sweeping a deep bow.
Setara hunched down and frog-walked through the low opening
of the cave. Once inside, she stood up and peered into the dark depths. She saw
two red, glowing eyes staring at her from across the cave. She jumped back,
nearly tripping over Sheik, who had followed close behind her.
Suddenly, the eyes disappeared, and the sound of running
feet came from the depths; then a tremendous thud echoed through the cave. A
moan; then a groan; then silence.
Setara stood still, straining to hear anything else, but the
cave was now quiet. Basit appeared next to her in a puff of smoke looking as
puzzled as she did. Sheik whined deep in his throat, seemingly unsure whether a
growl was justified.
The three adventurers took a step forward as if they shared
the same thought. Perhaps the cry came from one of the poor souls kidnapped by
the raiders. The captive might run if he or she thought they were the
kidnappers, or even the mountain demon the raiders believed lived in this
cavern.
Slowly, they wended their way down a tunnel that led deeper
into the caverns. Basit flicked a flame alight on the tip of his finger,
holding his hand high, so they could see beyond the shadows. Sheik sniffed the
air, turning his head left and right to catch a scent. At least they could rely
on the dog to find the source of the cries.
It did not take long before they found a figure huddled on
the floor of the tunnel. Basit stuck out his foot and gingerly rolled the form
to expose its face. Setara crouched to look, but immediately lurched backward
and fell away from the body.
“What is it?” Basit whispered.
“A, a demon.” Setara’s voice trembled at the sight of the
face staring blankly toward the ceiling. It certainly looked like a demon: the
open eyes glowing red, the gaping mouth exposing long fangs overlapping the
sharp row of teeth in the bottom jaw, the broad proboscis more snout than nose.
Setara could now see the fallen creature was larger than she first thought,
almost as big as Basit.
Sheik drew his lips back and snarled; the first time the dog
had ever shown any bravery.
The red eyes slowly came to life. The three friends found
themselves transfixed in the stare of a horrible demon.
“Don’t hurt me,” a deep
voice begged. Then, the demon began to cry, at first a few sniffles, then
launching into full-scale sobs and wails.
* * *
About Marva:
Bio: Marva Dasef is a writer living in
the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a fat white cat. Retired from thirty-five years in the
software industry, she has now turned her energies to writing fiction and finds
it a much more satisfying occupation.
Marva has published more than forty stories in a number of on-line and
print magazines, with several included in Best of anthologies. She has several
already published books and the Witches of Galdorheim Series from her super
duper publisher, MuseItUp.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
