I feel like the fantasy genre has stagnated lately, with the truly good books coming only from a select few writers. A friend of mine recommended this book, and I nearly passed it up, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that this isn't your typical fantasy book. The setting is unique, the characters personable and memorable, and, while it is a Sword and Sorcery book, the plot isn't predictable. All in all, a very good read. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new fantasy author to follow.

Pretty good! Definitely a breath of fresh air in the fantasy genre, since it's fantasy without being about Ye Olde Knights and Vaguely European Whatevers. It actually took me the first quarter or so to get into, but by the end I kind of wanted it to be an episodic-style series about a gang of friends having ghul-fighting adventures.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is a fantasy novel written by American writer Saladin Ahmed. It is the first book in The Crescent Moon Kingdoms series. The book was published by DAW Books in February 2012.The book was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2013 David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer and the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel. It won the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Ahmed’s debut turns fantasy conventions upside down with its Middle Eastern sourced setting - which is rich in details. The story is set in the city of Dhamsawaat, which comes across as a mix between historic Baghdad and an Arabian fairy tale. And the story is somewhat of a mashup of genres: swashbuckling fantasy, horror, and mystery, and a bit of romance. Doctor Adoulla Makhslood is a professional destroyer of ghuls, clawed creatures whose hissing sounds like “a thousand serpents rasping with a man’s hatred.” He’s almost ready to retire, and drink tons of tea, when an unheard-of number of the monsters all but wipe out an entire clan of the Badawi people. Hunting the sorcerer who raised the ghuls, Adoulla and his religiously uptight swordsman apprentice, Raseed, are aided by the lone Badawi survivor, a girl named Zamia who can transform into a lion. They soon discover that the mysterious figure plans to cast an ancient sacrificial spell powerful enough to wreck the world. It doesn’t help the fact that Dhamsawaat is in a state of unrest. Could these ghastly supernatural murders be part of a plot aimed at the Throne of the Crescent Moon itself? Ahmed spins a seriously engaging adventure tale about an old sorcerer who pledges to defeat evil one last time before marrying the prostitute he's loved for decades. The vivid world of the Crescent Moon Kingdoms is rich with allusions to Middle Eastern folklore and culture, and that alone makes it worthy of attention. I really loved that Adoulla’s magic is faith-based, and the contrast between his faith and Raseed’s. The city, the tribes, the history … everything feels real. Ahmed isn’t just slapping in two-dimensional set pieces....this is a richly detailed world.The Arab-influenced setting is full of vibrant description, characters, and religious expressions that will delight readers weary of pseudo-Medieval European epics in the tradition of Tolkien, Robert Jordan, or George R.R. Martin. If I had to have a complaint, I would say that the rich detail and fluid prose is so easy to get lost in that one is capable of not caring as much for the characters as I did the Middle Eastern setting, folklore, and turns of phrase. (Don't get me wrong: the characters are far from dull but I'm not quite sure if I've quite connected with them either). But still, that being said, this is fun first novel, in an intriguing setting with an equally intriguing premise: the last hurrah of an elderly demon hunter.

As if Guy Gavriel Kay wrote a Witcher novel.

3.25 stars Mostly MEH, some of it was amazing.

This is the first fantasy ~adventure book I've read where the main character & supporting characters are all apathetic at best about the plot. The entire book is spent with all of them pining about all the other things they'd rather be doing instead of realizing "Oh shit, these crazy ghul monsters are being controlled by something/someone impossibly powerful and will tear this city and US to pieces." I mean, maybe it's because I expected something a little more like a light read romp with middle-eastern flair (which I'll admit is pretty superficial of me), but I did pick this up precisely because that was what I wanted to read at the time & instead I got a fat old man and his friends bitching for like 200+ pages. THAT SAID, this book did have some good moments & the world-building was okay. The magic system wasn't elaborated upon (lots of glowing, crushed herbs/stones/blood, and praying to God?? ok), and I think the Falcon Prince could've used some fleshing out. Given that the next book in this series is due to be published in over a year, I don't think I'll continue with this.

Good story; the writing could be tightened up.