The Crescent Moon Kingdoms by Saladin Ahmed

[Werthead]

Book 1: Throne of the Crescent Moon

Dr. Adoulla Makhslood is a ghul-hunter, a slayer of monsters who battles against the evil wizards who summon them. He is also in his sixties and feeling his age. Raseed bas Raseed is his protege, a holy Dervish warrior with legendary sword skills but awkward social graces. A new commission leads them to a chance meeting with Zamia, a desert tribeswoman with the ability to transform into a lion. As Raseed struggles with his vow of chastity, the band of adventurers learn of a great threat to the city of Dhamsawaat and have to join forces with a dubious thief prince to defeat it.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is the debut novel by Saladin Ahmed and the first novel in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms series. It's a rollicking, swashbuckling, grin-inducing romp of  a book which takes inspiration from The Arabian Nights and never lets up in its ability to entertain.

The book draws on Arabian mythology and history, so the book immediately has a different feeling to most faux-European fantasy novels. Indeed, whilst reading the novel I was reminded of the immensely fun Al-Qadim roleplaying world (for 2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons) from the mid-1990s, which featured bands of heroic adventurers and noble thieves tackling trickster djinn and corrupt viziers with nary an orc or elf in sight.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is definitely a romp with more than a passing nod to the likes of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but it's also a wonderfully well-characterised novel. The characters are archetypes but also have tremendous depth to them. Making the central hero a fat man in his sixties who gets winded way too easily and is physically incapable of engaging in combat is a brave move, making Adoulla the brains of the operation but also an irascible and stubborn fool on occasion. Raseed is lightning-fast with his sword and almost unbeatable in battle, but is riven by self-doubts and struggles with his faith. His humourless martinet routine is the butt of many jokes, but his religious conflict is an important part of his character which gives him depth when he finally realises the world is a messier place than his strict morals allow. However, arguably the most interesting characters are Dawoud and Litaz, former adventuring buddies of Team Adoulla who have now retired from monster-fighting to run their own business. They are reluctantly drawn back into Adoulla's adventures, allowing for a detailed examination of the lives of a middle-aged couple against a fantasy backdrop.

Throne of the Crescent Moon does this - mixing the conventional and unconventional, magical and mundane - throughout its length and it's this blending of knockabout fun with fleshed-out, realistic characters which gives the book much greater depth and longevity than just being an action novel (although Ahmed's action sequences are first-rate). Ahmed also achieves a tremendous depth of worldbuilding, making Dhamsawaat (which is basically Baghdad by way of Lankhamar) a fully-realised location so vivid you can smell the spices and hear the merchants hawking their wears.

If there are criticisms, it is the book's length: at 260 pages (in tradeback) the book rushes some aspects, especially towards the ending, and the Falcon Prince feels a bit too remote and off-stage a character for the sudden prominence he gains in the grand finale. However, plot synopses for the sequel suggests he plays a larger role in that volume, which will be welcome.

Throne of the Crescent Moon (****½) is a breath of fresh air, a fiendishly addictive novel which is over way too soon and will leave readers begging for more. The novel is available now in the UK and USA. The sequel, The Thousand and One, is due for release later this year or in 2017.

[Caligula_K3]

Thanks for this well written review- it sounds right up my alley, and the Arabian myth setting will be a great change of pace. I'm looking forward to picking this one up.

[Chaircat Meow]

I enjoyed the book and will get the next one, but 'wonderfully well-characterized' characters with 'tremendous depth' and a 'tremendous depth of worldbuilding ..? Really?

Characterization was a bit better than I was expecting with a short swords and sorcery novel but I can't see how the characters can be said to have tremendous depth at all. Ditto for the world building.

[RedEyedGhost]

Has anybody that's read this also read Howard Andrew Jones' The Desert of Souls? If so, how do they compare? They came out around the same time, and I liked its synopsis better, so I read it (and really liked it... need to get around to the sequel).

[Wilbur]

On 8/10/2016 at 0:11 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

Has anybody that's read this also read Howard Andrew Jones' The Desert of Souls? If so, how do they compare? They came out around the same time, and I liked its synopsis better, so I read it (and really liked it... need to get around to the sequel).

The Desert of Souls is a deeper, more nuanced look at more complex, interesting people set in a more colorful and realistic Baghdad at the height of its power.  I strongly recommend TDoS to anyone, while Throne of the Crescent Moon is a better book for less experienced readers.

This is not to say that TotCM is a bad book.  It isn't.  It is a fine first effort, and I hope that the author publishes more books.

Howard Andrew Jones' book is well worth reading, and then reading a second time to see the connections you missed the first time.  Now, RedEyedGhost, you have inspired me to request the sequel to TDoS, called The Bones of the Old Ones, from the library.

[RedEyedGhost]

So, it sounds like I'll skip TotCM then.  I have The Waters for Eternity for kindle already, and I think I'll read that before The Bones of the Old Ones.  Although I don't believe it's necessary to read before hand, I just think it would help get me back into the characters being that it's been so long since I read the first one.  Thanks.

[Wilbur]

So there is a third book now, too?  Very nice to know, thanks!

[RedEyedGhost]

It's "Volume 1.5" - a collection of short stories.

[Darth Richard II]

Heh, I have both of these but have not read them yet. There were a couple other "Arabian nights" style fantasies released at the same time too, but I'm blanking on them.

[Wilbur]

On 8/12/2016 at 10:22 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

So, it sounds like I'll skip TotCM then.  I have The Waters for Eternity for kindle already, and I think I'll read that before The Bones of the Old Ones.  Although I don't believe it's necessary to read before hand, I just think it would help get me back into the characters being that it's been so long since I read the first one.  Thanks.

I am just finishing up The Bones of the Old Ones, and it is very enjoyable.  Thank you for the recommendation.

It is a book where you can easily see the influence of Harold Lamb, for whom Howard Andrew Jones edited and supervised the publication of several recent re-publications such as Swords from the Desert.  Harold Lamb was an early, gritty writer of fantasy from the early part of the 20th century.  His work is a sort of pre-WWII Glen Cook prefigure, and The Bones of the Old Ones has that interesting admixture of gritty realism with magical Middle Eastern fantasy.

[Myrddin]

I read the TofCM years ago and while I loved the concept and Ahmed's angle toward fantasy, I was extremely underwhelmed by the book itself. Both the writing and character development seemed shallow.

It's been a while since I've read it, and honestly haven't thought much on it since then, so I don't really have concrete examples to support my position.

That said, I'd love for the sequel to turn out to be a compelling addiction. An Arabian-theme fantasy should be right up my alley.

[Jerol]

It's been a long wait for a sequel. At this point he's up there with Lynch and Rothfuss. I'll get it but I'll probably have to reread the first one again before starting the second. 

[Starkess]

I wanted to like this one, but like Myrddin I found it underwhelming. I don't even really remember much about it except that I found it meh.

According to GR, I read it back in 2013 and said "It was ok. Nothing special. I found the story rather predictable, the characters too cardboard, the writing style felt clunky, and the love stories were annoying. Not sorry I read it, but not looking for anything more." Think I will be passing on the sequel.

[Lord Patrek]

I got an early read of this one, way back when. I know that Daw and Gollancz had high hopes for this book, and it was extremely well-received by the speculative fiction SJW clique. Most of the rave reviews you found everywhere around pub date was from such readers/reviewers. But it was a commercial disaster.

Saladin is a class act and we had been interacting online for years prior to the book's release. I really wanted to love this one. But pretty much everyone I know (including me) was expecting something epic, something deep, something that would blow us away. In the end, TotCM was little more than an underwhelming sword and sorcery story that had very little depth as far as plot and characterization go. It couldn't really be anything else than a disappointment. So it's no big surprise that in the end it sold poorly.

I'm curious to see if the author has upped his game for the second volume. 

Back in 2012, the novel's release and the slew of subsequent rave reviews and award nominations were somewhat of an eye-opener. I've been reviewing SFF books since 2005 and I've never seen such a buzz regarding a fantasy debut. The fact that it sold so little showed that major online support from people who have not paid a penny to read/review a book can mean very little in the greater scheme of things. Back then, the buzz was so huge you would have thought that TotCM was the best thing since sliced bread. Still can't believe that it didn't sell more, even if people had been buying it out of curiosity given all those super positive reviews. 

It's going to be interesting to see if, 5 years down the road, as many people will be willing to give the second installment a shot. The long wait will probably hurt Ahmed. So will the fact that TotCM was so underwhelming. But I'm hoping that he upped his game and will wow us with something special. His short fiction demonstrated that he can knock it out of the park when he's on top of things.