Throne of the Crescent Moon
Crescent Moon Kingdoms
Saladin Ahmed

DAW
February 2012 / ISBN-10: 0756407117
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro

Ghuls exist in the Arabian flavored world Saladin Ahmed has created in his debut novel,Throne of the Crescent Moon. Ghuls-sand ghuls, water ghuls, skin ghuls-are soulless killers monsters created by men. Once an order of ghuls hunters kept them at bay, but, as the book starts only one ghul hunter remains. His name is Adoulla, he is sixty years old and wants to retire. He yearns to spend his remaining days on Earth sipping tea at his favorite tea house in the capital city he adores, sharing meals with his best friends, and maybe, if she still wants him, to marry the woman he had loved for way too many years.

But when the said woman sends to him a young boy, her niece's son, who saw his parents killed by yet another species of ghul that steals souls as it takes lives, Adoulla is sent once more into the unrewarding task of saving the world.

He brings with him his apprentice, a seventeen year old god fearing and naive dervish, and collects along the way a young tribeswoman, Zamia, who can take a lioness shape at will.

He will need both their help and that of his two friends, a lady alchemist and her magus husband, to defeat this new threat. A threat, bigger than any he had faced in his long life, for these ghuls have not been created to feed on isolated people only but to kill the Khalif and his line so that their creator can rule uncontested from the Throne of the Crescent Moon.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is a well crafted adventure that introduces us to a world reminiscent of the one described in the Arabian Nights stories and yet thoroughly relatable-a world that is both fantastic and believable-and gives us unforgettable characters that feel familiar and exotic at the same time.

A great beginning to a distinct fantasy series I plan to follow.