Blood Over Bright Haven

Thomil and Sciona face different kinds of bias in Tiran. Sciona, a single highly-educated woman, is a victim of sometimes violent misogyny, and Thomil, a member of the Kwen ethnic group, faces brutally repressive racism. At the same time, the narrative explores the intersectionality of intolerance. As a Tiranish person and a mage, Sciona is part of the oppressive ethnic elite and a direct contributor to the suffering of the Kwen people. These harmful prejudices are portrayed as systemic: They are the product of Tiranish culture, and the power structure that created these unfair norms also benefits from and enforces them. To keep their social and political status, Tiranish men prevent both women and Kwen people from acquiring equal rights and realizing their own potential.

Tiran oppresses women by keeping them from higher education and from the ranks of the ruling class of mages. Only one woman per generation is allowed to even test to become a highmage; the test then is rigged to induce failure to prove that women are unsuited for the role. The mages couch this in the terms of paternalistic benevolence: Tiranish gender norms, which draw on women’s second-class status in 19th century England, characterize women as too delicate and innocent to participate in public life.