Throne of the Crescent Moon
2012 • 274 pages
Ratings33
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings33
Average rating3.6
The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings.
Series
1 primary bookThe Crescent Moon Kingdoms is a 1-book series first released in 2012 with contributions by Saladin Ahmed.
Reviews with the most likes.
I did enjoy this though I must admit that I faded in and out of it a lot. I really liked that it was set in a Middle Eastern style world, a refreshing change from Eurocentric fantasy worlds. Will probably read the sequel when it's published, but I won't be counting down the days.
What a fun book. This is the first fantasy-ish book I've enjoyed since the God's War series by Kameron Hurley, which it reminded me of, a bit. Just enough world-building to not get in the way of the quick-ride plot. The characters, while somewhat familiar types, interact in ways that are fun and allow for a bit of development.
I particularly like that much is left to the reader to know how this world came about, what its larger components are–there is religious magic, “ghuls” and shapeshifting going on here, and none of it needs to be explained; it's all there for the fun of the novel.
Wow I did not enjoy this, and now that I've logged into Goodreads to review it and can see it won a bajillion awards, I am confused.
It's the writing style that bugs me most of all; it's all clunky. Exposition, character development, worldbuilding, fight scenes, dialogue.
Points for not being a white psuedo-medieval psuedo-Europe setting, which is why I picked up the book in the first place, but I only finished it because I'd paid full price for it.
My full review can be found at SFF Book Review.
The short version is:
I liked the book, although it didn't live up to its hype for me. I loved the characters and would have liked more focus on the “original” three - Adoulla, Raseed, an Zamia. It really bothered me that mid-book, two more view point characters were introduced. They slowed down the plot and took away “screen time” from Zamia whose character development suffered in turn.
Qualms aside, this was a fun adventure with a cool setting that I recommend for a quick read in between chunky epic fantasies.
7/10
