Throne of the Crescent Moon | 
pickVery enjoyable, great characterisation, great worldbuilding, action packed, fresh plotline. Although there are grim aspects to the story, the authors sense of humour and energetic writing style saves it from grimdark. Defo one for those who are enjoying P Djèlí Clark's Cairo books.
Since Ahmed is now doing extremely well as a comic writer it is unlikely we will get to revisit this world anytime soon which is really the only negative.
#TBRPile 📚 In the Crescent Moon kingdoms, a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and a mysterious thief known only as the Falcon Prince is raging. In the midst of this brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders adds to the chaos. Only a handful of reluctant heroes can learn the truth and stop the killing...
bailedI give up. Definitely not for me. Bland characters, an awful teenage insta love story shoehorned in, waaay too religious for my comfort levels, a magic system that halfway through the book is still not explained in any way (aside from everything being because of “God” which still explains nothing) and I‘m tired of how one of the main female characters is always referred to as a “savage”. The creatures are cool but not cool enough for me to go on.
Halfway through this and not sure if I should bail or not. The story is fine but I am getting so tired of the only main female character being referred to as a ‘savage‘. The other characters are making her challenge her beliefs but they won‘t challenge their own regarding her because she‘s a ‘savage‘? The treatment of her character irks me so much and yet this book has such glowing reviews! Am I reading a different book from everyone else??
I took an #audiowalk to Shoppers in search of medicine and $0.49 Easter chocolate. It was only my second trip inside a public building since March 16th.
I‘m still enjoying THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON. It feels like vintage fantasy set apart by its non-pseudo-European setting. The characters‘ prejudices do bug me, but the text doesn‘t condone them and that helps a lot.
One audio thing: I keep hearing Sou (sp?) as Sioux.
I was in a fantasy mood this morning, so I combed through Scribd and downloaded the tagged book to help me through some cleaning and #audiocooking. It‘s really good so far, but I‘m mighty frustrated with the characters‘ various prejudices. I‘m sure I‘m meant to be, but still.
Even so, the book made cleaning and lunch (a taco bowl to use up the last of my fixings) go by pretty quick.
pickA fun read with characters you wanted to strangle as much as you wanted to hug. I enjoyed the story, filled with fantastical elements and an exciting but realistic setting. The gritty realities of people juxtaposed against the obscene privilege of a ruling class resonates with Western tales such as Robin Hood.
The middle lags a bit but the ending makes up for it. Every idea is attributed to god but I viewed it the same as magic and moved on.
I use my TV/Roku's aquarium screensaver for silent ambiance while I read. A cost effective salt water tank! 😜
Guest of honor reading by Saladin Ahmed is about to commence! The magenta bob to the right belongs to one Charlie Jane Anders. 😍 #WisCon
I borrowed this paperback to read before #WisCon, but then saw the Kindle version was on sale and bought it so I could return the paperback. Since switching over to digital, I've noticed I'm reading ~20% faster. 🤔
Does anyone else find that their reading speed varies by format?
pickSFF has a pretty long history of using Middle-East-inspired milieus—Frank Herbert and C. J. Cherryh spring to mind immediately—but I think this is the first I‘ve read that was actually written by an author of Middle Eastern descent. I liked it. It worked well as a swashbuckler, with a propulsive plot and interesting worldbuilding, with a backdrop of popular revolution that wound up taking the story in some unexpected directions.
pickIt‘s the little things that really made me love Doctor Adoulla. 😂 This Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy features an irreverent old ghul hunter, his righteously zealous assistant (who wields a forked sword!), and a proud, fierce lion-shifting dessert girl. I loved how faith + magic intertwined as they fight the forces of the Traitorous Angel, it has strong connotations of an Abrahamic faith w/o specifically tying to one that I could tell.
pick“Throne of the Crescent Moon” is billed as “a fantasy adventure with all the magic of The Arabian Nights.” It was really cool to read a fantasy with a fresh perspective and Middle Eastern cultural influences. I enjoyed the adventures of ghul hunter Doctor Adoulla Makhslood. The one drawback for me was a teen romance that felt a little forced/rushed, but overall I loved the fight scenes and mythology.
Road trip time! 🚙💨 Physical books for when I'm not the one driving, audiobooks for when I am.
You can't get much hotter than the desert with that #BIGYELLOWBALL beating down. I can't until the second book is released this fall. Although, it's been so long since I read this one that I'll need to reread so I know what's going on since I read the second book.
Haven't posted in a bit, because I haven't finished a book in awhile. As you can guess imagine, my reading and writing schedule has been somewhat disrupted. Now along with finishing the draft of my next novel and the reading I want to do, I've got to call Congress and email electors. I wanted to find something light and fun to help me cope. I really like Ahmed's politics on Twitter so his book was a way to do 2 things at once, support and relax.
pickI just finished this, and just wow. Things happened in this I genuinely didn't expect, I like myself some unpredictability. This book also tried tearing my heart out and making me sad, but I'm excited for whenever the second book comes out!!
Arab Fantasy?! Yes please! I'm super excited to start this one!
pickGreat fantasy adventure in the vein of "One Thousand and One Nights." If you aren't following Saladin Ahmed on Twitter, you are missing out on one of the most incisive, hilarious commentators on social media.
