Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent her childhood bouncing between Europe and Canada until her parents settled in France. She grew up in a small town there, which might have compelled her to burst randomly into the opening song from Beauty and the Beast were it not for her total tone-deafness. She instead attempted to read and write her way to new places and developed a weakness for fantasy and cross-dressing heroines. She left France for Cambridge University to study History of Art at King’s College, and then to London where she became indentured to an auction house. She has a bad habit of acquiring more hardcovers than is smart for someone who moves house quite so often.
Alwyn’s New York Times-bestselling debut, the YA fantasy REBEL OF THE SANDS, was published by Viking Children’s Books in the US and Faber Children’s Books in the UK, and in 14 other territories. The trilogy continues in TRAITOR TO THE THRONE and HERO AT THE FALL. Alwyn was named the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award winner for Best Debut Author.
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton is a critically acclaimed fantasy novel blending Middle Eastern folklore with Wild West elements. It follows Amani Al’Hiza, a determined, resourceful girl burdened by poverty, orphanhood, and societal constraints in the harsh desert nation of Miraji. Amani’s exceptional skills as a sharpshooter seem her only ticket out of Dustwalk, a dead-end town where her options are grim.
Her chance for escape comes with Jin, a mysterious and charming foreigner. Together, they embark on a journey across a desert teeming with mythical creatures and magic, where Amani discovers truths about her own identity and the world around her. Critics praise the novel for its rich, imaginative world-building, fast-paced action, and a protagonist who embodies resilience and rebellion. Amani’s transformation—from a dreamer longing for freedom to a fierce participant in a larger revolutionary cause—is central to the story’s themes of empowerment and self-discovery.
