Fantasy Book Critic: Interview with Maiya Ibrahim, author of Spice Road

Thank you for having me! I’m an Arab-Australian author who was born and raised on Gadigal Country (Sydney), where I earned a Bachelor of Laws. When I’m not reading or writing, I like to play video games, collect trading cards, and binge on random history documentaries. SPICE ROAD is my debut novel.

I noticed that SPICE ROAD pays homage to well-known fantasy works, while still telling an engaging new story. What are the books you read in your formative years, and who are your writing influences?

I was obsessed with the Goosebumps series as a kid, and in my teens, I devoured anything by Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, which is probably why I have an abiding love for horror, suspense, and weird cosmic dread. One of my earliest introductions to fantasy was through Isobelle Carmody’s The Legendsong series, and Tolkien’s works inspired my passion for epic, sweeping quest stories. I did enjoy science fiction just as much as fantasy, especially H.G. Wells.

The book has multiple characters forced to work together for their own ends. Who do you relate to the most, and why?

There’s a bit of me in almost all the characters—Imani’s determination, Taha’s objective-focused approach to things, Amira’s devotion to her siblings—but being the author and holding all the cards when it comes to the ‘big picture,’ I probably relate most to Qayn. Make of that what you will :)

This book doesn’t just contain a colourful cast of characters, but there are a lot of legends, as well as magical creatures. Are there any in particular that you think a wider audience would be unfamiliar with, and can you tell us about them?

One of my favourite scenes in the book features a giant called Hubaal the Terrible, inspired by the Sumerian figure Humbaba from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Humbaba is a kind of demon-giant who was appointed guardian of the cedar forest of the gods, which some historians believe might have its real-life geographical equivalent in Syria, and in some myths, Humbaba’s roar alone is so mighty, it’s said to have created Lebanon.

This book deals with a theme I wish to see more often in fantasy: siblinghood. Was this a big part of the story when you drafted it, and do any of the sibling relationships in portrayed has something in common with your personal experiences?

Siblinghood has been at the heart of SPICE ROAD since the earliest drafts. It’s a theme that’s close to me, growing up as the youngest child with two older brothers. We were and still are very close, as families tend to be, particularly in Arab culture. I suppose that might be why it surprised me as a kid to realize that my brothers had lives outside of the ones we shared together as siblings. Obvious, I know, but I think it’s less so for kids growing up in cultures where family and being involved in each other’s lives is at the heart of everything. That experience is, in part, what inspired the central conflict of Imani learning that her brother was leading a secret life with strangers, as well as her anxious attempts to stop this new, frightening outside world from intruding upon the stability of home.

What can readers expect to be the same, or different (ofc without spoilers) in the next entries, and do you have WIPs that are very different from this series?

With much of the story’s groundwork laid in SPICE ROAD, the sequel has been my opportunity to delve into the magic system, lore, and the worldbuilding of the Sahir and beyond. Readers can expect the world to open up with even higher stakes, the magic to feature prominently, and certain characters’ motivations to be explored. As in the first, the sequel is action-packed and full of twists, reveals, new monsters inspired by Arab and Southwest Asian mythology, and of course, romance.

Aside from the SPICE ROAD trilogy, I’m working on a dark adult fantasy that I’d pitch as The Talented Mr. Ripley in a Peaky Blinders world with spooky magic. It’s been great to work on something so different from this series, and I’m very hopeful that I can one day share it with readers!