Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Arabian Style



"Simple things ought not be taken for granted" - Litaz Daughter of Likami

The above quote by one of Saladin's quintet of characters I think characterizes why this novel was such a success to me. It was the little details he included about his cast that made them more real and the descriptions and inclusion of small details made Dhamswaat the city it is set in more present. It's the importance of tea and poetry, the indulgence of expensive imported sweets, the friendly banter and gentle play between friends on a night of celebration that really bring the characters to life along with their worries fears and desires. Though the setting is marvelous and the enemies truly monstrous in all the best and pulpy ways his cast steal the show.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is a deceptively short fantasy novel at 274pages for how big it feels. Saladin filled the world with palpable and vivid details of it's setting, hints of its myths and history, and with a cast of characters I will sorely miss till the next volume . It's exactly the kind of book I love discovering; one that can move me to both honest smiles and tears, what more it managed to surprise me when I though I had it kind of figured out. Throne is not the first book to pull its inspiration for its second world setting from the stories of the Arabian Nights or the folklore of the near east and Northern Africa but coming from someone who is of Arabian heritage there seems to be more vitality and passion for the material, an internalizing of it and a je ne cest qua to the feel. It was a great unashamedly pulp style fantasy adventure tale and is a measure of Mr Ahmed's art as a storyteller and world builder.

Ok, I know what is the story and would it be for you. As a fan of sword and sorcery style adventures and pulp fiction I can endorse the action adventure feel of the story. The tale starts as a search for ghulish killers of the main characters one time loves family and grows into a threat to the city and the world from an ancient and malicious evil. In the city of the Khalif there is a hero of the people the Falcon Prince waging a fight against the abuses of the new ruler; there cruel guardsmen punishing pick-pocketing with execution and roving groups of religious thugs. Saladin gives lots of little hints to the bigger picture and wets the appetite for more. The story is told from multiple viewpoints following the inner lives and actions of the heroes as they learn about the threats facing them. His characters are familiar heroic types to fantasy readers but the choice to make several of them older and some retired monster hunters and not making them merely mentors but able if weary heroes along with the young devout and hotheaded ones.

I think this is a great and possibly overlooked book among the doorstops that are also among my favorite books and writers. I think Saladin's focus on the important parts of telling a story makes this tale so strong. I, as a old D&D player, love all those books that spend time with the crunch, the mechanics, of their new unique magic systems and that magi-babble is abscent here and I really iked that. There are multiple paths to power in his setting with different costs and uses and Mr. Ahmed just shows this through their use or the way characters talk about them. I'd love to BS with him about thoes things given the chance but I rather enjoyed the focus on the smells of the tea, the visceral descriptions of the food and the everyday life along with the horrors of the man-jackel beast and other nasties.

I could write about the creatures ot the brilliant way he got to explore several different expressions of love or how he looks at questions about societal evils versus magical threats but I should stop before I ruin anything. I could but why not go to his website and read the free chapter and the Conan pastiche in his blog. He is a writer who deserved the nominations he got for his short fiction that is as unique, new and yet familiar like Throne. If I have wetted your appetite go and take a look; we have to make sure he gets to write more of this world he's got in his imagination.... I for one would love some of the adventures of his characters in their earlier days.....




Saladin Ahmed's website is here you can get a taste of Throne on the site here along with the map of his world
You can get a hold a e-book collection of all his fabulous short fiction here at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords and Kobo
My copy of Throne of the Crescent Moon was purchased.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Alternate-History

This is not so much a post about anyones fiction in particular but more a thought on the kernel of the fictions we tell ourselves and the stories that get told about family. Today I spent the majority of my free time using Ancestry.com to explore my grandfathers line on my mothers side of my family. The website was allowing free access to census records and the tidbits I learned were proto-stories and confirmations of things I treat as apocryphal about my families past.

The one thing I did not learn was wether I have American Indian blood somewhere in the family tree and that still saddens me because it's the ibe thing my grandfather wanted to find when he was alive. What I did find was an amazing group of clues to a past that is hidden and made mysterious by the limited records. His grandmother on his fathers side lived for a long time with her father on an Ohio farm but soon after marriage live for a time in a boarding house with many foreign immigrants without her husband for the tine before her children's births back at her fathers farm. There are no records if the father anywhere other then the name. It's a mystery and one no obe has every spoken of. She crossed a state line in the mid 1800s and crossed back when travel was a hardship.

I also happily learned that I did have a Scottish relative on his side... My grandfathers great grand mother was from there. It does not match the myth of the crazy scottsman who got himself a Indian wife but poses a deeper and more interesting story.

My day has barely toughed the surface since there are records I have not yet seen that would yield answers while opening yet more questions. It's experiences like this that stimulate my imagination; I want to make up and tried to make up the stories of these people now forever lost to me. There is a distant uncle that fought for several tours in the civil war across three different companies and another that seemed to have served to. Farmers, electricians, servants and engineers dot my families past along with cooks and gardeners. I'm afraid I'm no where nest as interesting....

Ok I know it's nothing about books but I can see so many stories out there that if your families history intrigues you I'd encourage you to dig in. It's as cool as anything you can read by our best fantasy authors....

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Mail bag, 1-9

Hey all...

Yesterday I received a couple packages for my reviewing fun.... I had decided that Sept. would be my sword and sorcery and epic fantasy month this year seeing as I have so many fantasy books in my to read shelves...

So yesterday I got from Pyr James Enge's Guile of Dragons that fits right in to my intended theme and Reaper by M. D. McEntire so I'm expanding it to Urban Fantasy too... I love adventure fantasy and miss my D&D days and now participate in playtest for D&D next since I miss my adventuring days so much...

So this month you'll be seeing reviewed and posts about all stripes of fantasy fiction including crossovers from my comics blog and my gaming blog where I do board, RPG, and miniature gaming reviews...

I miss the old days but the present is filled with much more challenging fantasy I'd never go back .....

So ride with me and I hope your up for adventure and peril....