jethrien

Title:Throne of the Crescent Moon
Author: Saladin Ahmed
Genre: Arabian Nights-style urban fantasy
Thingummies:4

Synopsis: World-weary detective I mean ghul hunter and a ragtag band of misfits must track down a mysterious sorcerer before he can bathe fantasy Baghdad in blood. Dervishes, werelions, and alchemists appear in a refreshingly new spin on the urban fantasy mystery.

Thoughts: I'll admit that after Engraved on the Eye, I was a little disappointed by this one.

It's a highly enjoyable, well-executed romp with great characters and a vivid setting. Middle Eastern cultures get very little love in the fantasy genre, and what exposure they do get is often cringe worthy. This is high-magic fantasy that parallels the height of Baghdad's power the way that epic fantasy often parallels medieval Europe--there are made-up country names and politics twisted to fit the plot, but all the trappings of Islamic fairy tales are here. It's lovely to get a non-Euro-centric tale that doesn't feel like it's trying too hard but also isn't insulting. There are so many toys to play with--it's fun not to be dealing with the same old dragons and vampires.

And the characters are lots of fun, well-drawn and likeable. The magic system works well. It's not really a mystery so much as adventure, for all that the structure is set up following the usual noirish points. (Detective just wants to be left in piece, child/damsel in distress, escalation of bodies, detective is triumphant in the end but wonders if it's a Pyrrhic victory. None of this is a spoiler if you've read pretty much any urban fantasy in the last fifteen years.)

But Ahmed's short stories were so very creative, and this is merely entertaining. Don't get me wrong, it's excellent--but I think I was hoping for extraordinary. Ah well, you'll just have to settle for being happily entertained.