Squire by Nadia Shammas, Sara Alfageeh
Published by Quill Tree Books
Illustrator: Sara Alfageeh
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Comic Book
Genres and Categories: Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Authors, Brown Characters, OwnVoices Representation, Knight Characters, Physical Disabilities, Historical Fantasy, Miscellaneous History
My Rating:
Published on: 8th March 2022
Pages: 336
Disability Representation: Missing Limb
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
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Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It’s the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. Ravaged by famine and mounting tensions, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again, so Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program. 

It’s not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu background. As the pressure mounts, Aiza realizes that the “greater good” that Bayt-Sajji’s military promises might not include her, and that the recruits might be in greater danger than she ever imagined.

In this breathtaking and timely story, Aiza will have to choose, once and for all: loyalty to her heart and heritage, or loyalty to the Empire.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Squire instantly caught my eye as a graphic novel about a girl who wanted to become a Knight, but it’s about much more than that. As members of the subjugated Ornu people, Aiza and her family struggle every day to survive, and a path to full citizenship would end that struggle. One such path can be found as a Knight, and Aiza is determined to succeed. Squire is a beautiful fantasy graphic novel that tackles some long-overdue topics as we join Aiza on her journey, not just towards Knighthood but to understanding her true place in the world.

Squire is a beautiful graphic novel in more ways than one. Wonderfully detailed illustrations tell the story of Aiza, her family and her friends as we follow Aiza’s journey to become a Knight in the Bayt-Sajji Empire. The art corresponds well with the writing, giving shape to the emotions behind the words and bringing to life the struggles, desires and worries of the characters of Squire. You can feel the heart-wrenching anxiety of Aiza’s parents as they accept that they can’t stop their daughter from following her heart’s desire to become a Knight, and have to talk to her about hiding her Ornu heritage by wrapping cloth around her Ornu tattoo. They want her to be safe, they tell her, that people should get to know her without judgment. It’s only the first of many difficult scenes that exist in Squire.

Aiza’s relationship with her parents is a great example of how realistic and complicated the relationships are in Squire. Alfageeh and Shammas do not shy away from the hard truths, like having to talk to your daughter about what people think of their people, or letting her leave home, knowing how dangerous it is to be an Ornu in the Empire. This is especially true when, later in Squire when Aiza begins to question her place in the Bayt-Sajji army, and her friends make comments about Ornu, not knowing her real identity.

In other works of fiction, I’ve seen authors try to justify it, try to make their characters not seem too bad. One of them will always try to stop the others, to play the “good guy”. In the scene in Squire, everyone is making racist jokes about the Ornu, and everyone believes the same rumours that have been spread by the Bayt-Sajji Empire. When Aiza questions Husni about it, he argues the point with her multiple times. It’s “just military humour”, he tells her, and then gaslights the Ornu further by stating that other groups have integrated better. There is zero shame in his behaviour; however, he does deflect several times by complaining that she is never around because she’s too busy. It infuriates him further when she then storms off to train some more.

While Squire explores these themes of war and colonisation, it is very much an OwnVoices story that focuses on identity and what that means to us as individuals. It’s not just Aiza that faces the question of identity, and I loved the variety of characters that Alfageeh and Shammas introduce in Squire. There’s the son of a famous military commander who is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, and the amount of pressure on his shoulders is something many readers of all ages will recognise. A girl who comes from a large family, who works hard but cries when she writes a letter home. Then there’s Doruk, the groundskeeper whom the trainees admire because he was once a Knight. In reality, he represents the darker side of war; he survived, but he’s disabled. He lost his sword hand in battle. He acts as a balance to the wide-eyed trainees who only see him in their periphery, a reminder of the reality of war.

Each of the characters and their stories feeds into a plot that doesn’t appear to be that complex to start with. It’s a slow burner until about sixty per cent when the General of the Knights sends them on an exercise on the Ornu/ Bayt-Sajji border. From there, Aiza and her friends are thrown headfirst into a situation that will change everything. In a split second, Aiza makes a decision, aware that things will change afterwards for her, but completely unaware of just how much. Things are happening that she has no knowledge of, and when she does become aware of them, she realises that her dreams of becoming a Knight were built on a flawed ideology. The “greater good” that the Bayt-Sajji Empire promotes didn’t include people like her; it didn’t include the Ornu. Is the citizenship she dreamed of obtaining to help her family by becoming a Knight worth it if it’s at the cost of her own people?

Squire also reminded me a bit of Tamora Pierce’s books, specifically the Protector of the Small quartet. Fans of that series will probably recognise that this graphic novel also shares the same name as one of the books in the quartet, and yet that wasn’t what made me draw the comparison. It’s a scene in chapter two where Aiza meets her best friend Husni for the first time. Husni makes a dramatic entrance in which he laments about sitting in a cart full of hay while wearing silk pants. The driver points out that it’s the only way up the mountain; he can either get in or not. Once the cart starts moving, Aiza and Husni start to bond over their love for the stories of Knights, and their desire to become a Knight, to become a hero too. There was something familiar about these two young people bonding over their desire to achieve the same goal, with Aiza being stubborn and Husni having a flair for the dramatics. As I continued to read Squire, other similarities appeared, such as a ragtag group of friends joining together to help one another.

While the Protector of the Small quartet tackled topics such as bullying, the way in which Squire takes on themes of race and colonisation by incorporating them into a fantasy setting provides a platform for young adults to discuss topics of race and prejudice. While Squire is about Aiza and how events affect her, Alfageeh and Shammas have also included a scene between two of her friends where they discuss their racist attitudes and what that means for Aiza. It’s a scene that opens up the possibility of discussion for young people amongst themselves.

The age group guideline listed on Amazon for Squire is 14 to 17 years old, an age that I remember bringing with it a lot of questions and uncertainty. In the last few years, race has become an increasing topic of discussion and debate in the media, and there is a good chance they have overheard adults in their lives talking about it.  The problem is that many adults don’t feel comfortable talking about race; it was not discussed when they were children, or if it was, it was in the form of active racism. Likewise, while a young person may instinctively seek answers online, the abundance of opposing arguments might not help them find a useful (or healthy) answer. Books and graphic novels, such as Squire, provide a safe environment for young people to interact with the topic, to see the harmful toxicity of prejudice played out in a fictional situation, and to be able to discuss it with their friends and learn from it.

One thing I can’t fully comment on is the artwork in the book. I mentioned how good the illustrations are, and for the most part, that is based on an advanced reader copy (ARC) that was predominantly in black and white. Only the first chapter was in colour, which is understandable due to printing costs; however, it does mean that I have not seen some of the gorgeous fight scenes in full colour. They look amazing in black and white, so I can only assume how good they will look in full colour. There is a huge battle towards the end of Squire, which blew me away with its detail.

Squire is a monumental publication in many ways. It’s a book about a character from a poor family and actually shows the struggles that Aiza and her family go through, rather than glossing over them. Written by two women of colour, Squire is described as their love letter to fantasy, and personally, I’d agree with that statement. It embodies the classic elements of adventure, of amassing a party and completing a quest. Alfageeh and Shammas have utilised the fantasy genre to give a voice to Aiza and everyone who is/has been in her position. This is a graphic novel that people of all ages will gain something from reading.

Thank you for reading my review for Squire. It is out now and available to buy from any of the links in this review. If you’ve read Squire please share your thoughts in the comments!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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