ALINA BOYDEN
Alina Boyden is a trans rights activist, author, and PhD candidate in cultural anthropology. As an ACLU client, her case secured healthcare rights for transgender employees in the state of Wisconsin. Her work in cultural anthropology centers on the civil rights struggles of transgender women in India and Pakistan, and consequently she divides her time between the United States and South Asia. When she’s not writing, traveling, or working on her dissertation, she spends her free time indulging in two of her childhood passions – swordplay and flying airplanes.
GIFTING FIRE
Ace Penguin, 2021
The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning.
Although at long last Razia Khan has found peace with herself and love with her prince, Arjun, her trials are far from over. In order to save her prince and his city from certain destruction, Razia made a deal with the devil–her father, the Sultan of Nizam. Now the bill has come due.
Razia must secure the province of Zindh, a land surrounded by enemies, and loyal to a rebel queen who has survived her father’s purge. But when her old tormentor Prince Karim invades her new home and forces her into a marriage alliance, Razia finds herself trapped in the women’s quarters of a foreign palace, with her beloved Prince Arjun exiled from her side.
Now, in order to free herself, and her province, from Karim’s clutches, she must call upon all of her training as a royal princess, a cunning courtesan, and a daring thief to summon new allies and old friends for a battle that will decide her fate, and the fate of an empire.
STEALING THUNDER
Ace/Penguin, 2020
Protecting her identity means life or death in this immersive epic fantasy inspired by the Mughal Empire.
In a different life, under a different name, Razia Khan was raised to be the Crown Prince of Nizam, the most powerful kingdom in Daryastan. Born with the soul of a woman, she ran away at a young age to escape her father’s hatred and live life true to herself.
Amongst the hijras of Bikampur, Razia finds sisterhood and discovers a new purpose in life. By day she’s one of her dera’s finest dancers, and by night its most profitable thief. But when her latest target leads her to cross paths with Arjun Agnivansha, Prince of Bikampur, it is she who has something stolen.
An immediate connection with the prince changes Razia’s life forever, and she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous political war. The stakes are greater than any heist she’s ever performed. When the battle brings her face to face with her father, Razia has the chance to reclaim everything she lost…and save her prince.
“STEALING THUNDER was immersive from the very first page. Razia is everything you want in a protagonist.”—Peter V. Brett, New York Times bestselling author
“A breakout novel any way you choose to look at it, STEALING THUNDER features an appealing young dragon-loving heroine sure of who she is but still figuring out where she belongs. Between Razia’s capers, romances, and political intrigues, Boyden weaves fantasy threads into a fascinating tapestry… I loved her fresh take on dragons and their riders.”—E.E. Knight