BOTM June The Ardent Swarm

[Celia]

Opening with “The Bee” from the Quran, The Ardent Swarm takes place in the fictional mountain village of Nawa, North Africa. We meet and quickly fall in love with the humble Sidi, a beekeeper devoted to the safety and prosperity of “his girls,” the honeybee hive he has grown and lovingly tends. A foreign threat has appeared, however. Unknown to importers, an aggressive species of hornets has stowed away in their cargo, goods that provide the link to the other component of Manai’s story.

The author is from Tunisia, so I plan to count it for that country!!

[Gail]

An allegory with an invasive species of hornets standing in for zealous terrorists fighting in the name of an intolerant faith overwhelming a calmer less troubling culture of bees/villagers. Taking place in a fictional town in an Arab speaking country, we are shown the pendulum swing of fundamentalist after the Arab Spring. There are very wonderful moments describing the beekeeper, Sidi's, unshakable faith in his "girls" and in an Allah who stands hand in hand with nature.
There is a wonderful visit to Japan where we are shown the extreme differences between the traditional and the modern co-existing in a way that works for that particular society without causing civil war. While back in our fictional town, the politicians have fabricated a way of purchasing votes which ultimately sets up a dynamic that will bring the society to extreme beliefs and ruin. The ending has a interesting twist in that the natural terrorists become the hand of God but there is no neat wrap up, as the story with its conflicts continues around the world today.