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jpskewedthroneThis is Saladin Ahmed's debut novel and I have to say it was full of action and adventure in the grand tradition of sword and sorcery, with characters both young and old, and a setting that's a mixture of the tales of the Arabian Nights and Conan the Barbarian. The cover captures exactly the feel of the book.
The premise of the book is that Adoulla and his assistant Raseed track and kill monsters called ghuls. Adoulla has done this his entire life and it's finally taken it toll. Raseed is a young, driven dervish sworn to uphold God's Will and is destroying ghuls and other servants of the Traitorous Angel on his path of righteousness. When Adoulla's old love asks Adoulla to look into the mysterious deaths of her niece, Adoulla agrees. They discover that the ghuls that killed his love's niece are being raised and controlled by someone more powerful and deadly than any magus Adoulla has ever seen before . . . someone with their sights set on the Throne of the Crescent Moon itself. Along the way to stopping these creatures and this magus, Adoulla and Raseed gather about them old friends and new, facing new monsters out of legend itself.
Those who love sword and sorcery, as well as adventure for the sake of adventure, will love Throne of the Crescent Moon. There's action, blood magic, evil sorcery, a lioness, alkhemy, ghuls, and a manjackal--all against an Arabian-esque setting hinting at a cataclysmic past with strange ruins, a densely populated city ruled by a Khalif, and even a Robin Hood-ish Falcon Prince attempting to feed the poor. It's a whirlwind of activity from the start, although there's a rather slow part in the middle after the initial attacks while the characters recover and use the few clues they have to figure out who's in control of the evil magic and what their true intentions are. Then it's back to the action as all of the plot threads come together for the final battle.
If you're looking for something deeper than that . . . well, each of the characters does learn something about themselves and their priorities during the course of the novel--what they truly want and desire out of life--but that's not the focus of the book. The intent is to have a rousing adventure. I don't think the cover or the description of the book intends for it to be anything more than that.
So, I enjoyed the book as a new take on the sword and sorcery genre, with a great setting and a fast, action-based plot. Easy to follow, and certainly easy to read, I'd recommend it to those who'll enjoy a light, adventurous read. Just don't expect the depth of worldbuilding or characterization as, say, Patrick Rothfuss or Tad Williams.
The premise of the book is that Adoulla and his assistant Raseed track and kill monsters called ghuls. Adoulla has done this his entire life and it's finally taken it toll. Raseed is a young, driven dervish sworn to uphold God's Will and is destroying ghuls and other servants of the Traitorous Angel on his path of righteousness. When Adoulla's old love asks Adoulla to look into the mysterious deaths of her niece, Adoulla agrees. They discover that the ghuls that killed his love's niece are being raised and controlled by someone more powerful and deadly than any magus Adoulla has ever seen before . . . someone with their sights set on the Throne of the Crescent Moon itself. Along the way to stopping these creatures and this magus, Adoulla and Raseed gather about them old friends and new, facing new monsters out of legend itself.
Those who love sword and sorcery, as well as adventure for the sake of adventure, will love Throne of the Crescent Moon. There's action, blood magic, evil sorcery, a lioness, alkhemy, ghuls, and a manjackal--all against an Arabian-esque setting hinting at a cataclysmic past with strange ruins, a densely populated city ruled by a Khalif, and even a Robin Hood-ish Falcon Prince attempting to feed the poor. It's a whirlwind of activity from the start, although there's a rather slow part in the middle after the initial attacks while the characters recover and use the few clues they have to figure out who's in control of the evil magic and what their true intentions are. Then it's back to the action as all of the plot threads come together for the final battle.
If you're looking for something deeper than that . . . well, each of the characters does learn something about themselves and their priorities during the course of the novel--what they truly want and desire out of life--but that's not the focus of the book. The intent is to have a rousing adventure. I don't think the cover or the description of the book intends for it to be anything more than that.
So, I enjoyed the book as a new take on the sword and sorcery genre, with a great setting and a fast, action-based plot. Easy to follow, and certainly easy to read, I'd recommend it to those who'll enjoy a light, adventurous read. Just don't expect the depth of worldbuilding or characterization as, say, Patrick Rothfuss or Tad Williams.
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Date: 2012-02-27 07:45 pm (UTC)