Rebel of the Sands

How it reads

Rebel of the Sands is young adult (young-adult desert fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are identity, survival and power and politics. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It opens a series. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 316 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.