A review by kybrz
The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai

4.0

A fantastic modern-day fable. Told from several POV but focusing primarily on Sidi, a hermetic beekeeper, and his girls (the aforementioned bees). Manai conflates the drama surrounding an individual beehive with the greater drama taking over his country. Post-Arab Spring, a religious sect trying to sway an upcoming election through charity and gifts creates an unintended rising in fundamentalism in tandem with releasing an infestation of murder hornets. The book is a brief and thought-provoking look at a country extremely similar to the author's native Tunisia.