But all that changes when Darius meets Sohrab, a Bahá’í boy, in Yazd. When he arrives in Iran, learning to play the Persian card game Rook, socializing, and celebrating Nowruz with a family he had never properly met before is all overwhelming and leaves Darius wondering if he’ll ever truly belong anywhere. He’s mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn’t speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. Nathan’s harrowing quest to build a father-son relationship will compel readers to the sequel even if the slim romantic subplot and looming threat of the Council do not.ĭarius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. A cliffhanger indicates that the arc of Nathan’s emotional trajectory will continue. Readers will hope for Nathan’s sake that the fantasy father he’s built from stories he’s heard and his own imagination won’t let him down. Green propels Nathan forward with the help of often underdeveloped secondary characters, who are overshadowed by the imaginary relationship Nathan builds with his father it is this that keeps both Nathan and readers going. After a palpably grueling ordeal in the cage, Nathan finally, too easily, escapes and resolves to find Marcus.
Nathan knows that as a Black Witch, he’ll die if not given three gifts on his next birthday by a blood relative Marcus is his only hope. Viewed by the Council as both a threat and a key weapon against Marcus, Nathan is caged by his 16th birthday. By age 11, he’s been designated a Half Code due to his mixed parentage, a status met with fear and disgust by most. Nathan Byrn grew up hearing tales of how his father, the famed Black Witch Marcus, murdered his mother’s husband and caused her to commit suicide. A teenage witch persecuted from birth must find his father, the most notoriously evil witch alive, or die.
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