Cover Confusion - An International Incident Edition

A couple weeks back Saladin Ahmed unveiled the Polish cover for Throne of the Crescent Moon.

I thought: Not bad. A little too hooded for my likes. And who knew Ahmed was taking a crack at writing the novelization of the new Tron movie? In all seriousness Throne of the Crescent Moon is an awesome book and I can't wait for the sequel. However, a few days later Brent Weeks showed off the German cover for The Blinding Knife.

Notice any similarities? I'm not sure where the image itself originated. It could be a case of stock art that anyone can buy, the same designer reusing art in a different region, or even one of the publishers licensing the art to the other. It definitely falls in line with the style of the Night Angel books which were well used internationally.

Speaking of The Blinding Knife, I finished it just last week and it was just as good as The Black Prism. Probably even better. Man, Weeks knows how to stab someone in the back and twist it. Also, Ahmed just released an eBook short story collection called Engraved on the Eye. Check it out. I know I will.

You Might Also Like:
MINI REVIEW | Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
REVIEW | The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
FREE FICTION | The Black Prism by Brent Weeks sample chapters
INTERVIEW | Brent Weeks on the Durzo Novella and More

A Quick Top 6 of 2012 So Far

A nod of the hat to Jared of Pornokitsch for reminding me that yes, we're halfway through the year. My answer to the question is always the same. It depends on what flavor you're after. These are my top six of the moment in no particular order:

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway - A gonzo pulp cold war thriller fest with crazy contraptions.
The Croning by Laird Barron - As perfect of a Horror story that I've ever read.
Faith by John Love - Imagine the crew of the Enterprise only they're all a bit off their rocker while battling a mysterious ship.
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed - Sword and Sorcery done right. Great characters and action.
Prepare to Die by Paul Tobin - A superhero novel that reminded me of a cross between Nick Hornby and Alan Moore.
The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis - The perfect middle volume in a genre bending trilogy. He used what was setup in the first so well. The wait was worth it. Nazi Supermen versus Dark Elder Gods indeed.

And yes, I'm just now realizing 3 of the top 6 are Night Shade titles as well as 4 being debuts, but I do tend to be a debut heavy reader. Wells's The Serpent Sea was another top book in addition to Kiernan's The Drowning Girl. Also, I'm almost halfway through with Black Bottle by Anthony Huso, the sequel to one of my favorite books of 2010, The Last Page. As of this moment I'm not sure if it would have made this list as there are plenty of pieces left to fall into place.

In the camp of best books I've read this year published prior to 2012 I'm still blowing the horn for Watts's Blindsight and Andre Norton's Forerunner. In the short story camp Loory's Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day as well as Ligotti's Noctuary are the bee's knees.

Some of my most anticipated books left for the year include The Broken Isles by Mark Charan Newton (another series closer), The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (already have a copy), A Red Country by Joe Abercrombie (on pre-order), The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi, The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest, and The Siren Depths by Martha Wells. Still plenty of time for some surprises as well.

You Might Also Like:
REVIEW | Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
REVIEW | Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
REVIEW | Faith by John Love
REVIEW | Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
INTERVIEW | Nick Harkaway author of Angelmaker
INTERVIEW | Ian Tregillis author of Bitter Seeds

MINI REVIEW | Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, land of djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, Khalifs and killers, is 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.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is Nebula and Campbell nominee Saladin Ahmed's debut novel, which is placed in the world first created in his short story work. Sometimes a book comes along and you feel like it was written to hit all your own personal sweet spots. Throne of the Crescent Moon is one of those books for me.

Throne of the Crescent Moon evokes an old school Arabian setting with a touch of Egyptian while building a fresh world and history all its own filled with ghuls (zombies), lion shapeshifters, and a ghul hunter who has been there and done that so much I kept waiting for him to belt out the immortal Danny Glover line "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Doctor Adoulla has been battling ghuls for decades and we encounter him near the end of his tenure as the greatest ghul hunter in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms at a point where his role has been marginalized. He isn't sad about being forgotten--to a degree--in fact he would love to finally retire and pass on the mantle. Yet a threat has surfaced that tests his abilities and that of his young dervish protege. It is Adoulla's lifetime of experience that sets him apart from so many warriors in their prime and magicians seeking to make a name for themselves that seem to proliferate Fantasy. He's the uncle with all the best stories.

Striking the right balance with the pacing and fun action of a Sword & Sorcery story while still bringing in the coarse and realistic tone found in modern Fantasy, Throne of the Crescent Moon is superbly executed. Everything has consequence in the story. The Doctor and his cohorts don't just bounce up after a fight, but need to mend their many scars, both on the outside and inside.  Ahmed doesn't let any of his characters off easy giving each things to regret and deal with in a realistic manner even while battling crazy sand monsters.

One thing that seemed off was the very rushed and somewhat chaotic climax, which I had to re-read in order to fully grok. Also, the story does seem like a preamble to a much larger tale despite standing on its own well as things are just set in motion for something more epic. None of this dampened the experience much, if at all, as Ahmed is a writer just coming into his own. His prose and characterization are already there and if he gets over a few niggling issues like these he could become one of the most popular wordsmiths of his generation.

It is hard to discuss Throne without at least Jones' The Desert of Souls (review here) coming to mind. Though both share many commonalities Ahmed's work is of a much richer and higher octane variety than Jones more classic style. There is room for both on your shelves by my estimation.

I'm loving this new wave of Sword & Sorcery and Ahmed just firmly put himself as the leader of the pack. I give Throne of the Crescent Moon 4 out of 5 hats. This is a debut not to be missed if you enjoy action oriented stories and memorable characters. The Crescent Throne Kingdom series will be at least three books long with the next out sometime in 2013.

You Might Also Like:
REVIEW | The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones
REVIEW | The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
REVIEW | Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson 
REVIEW | Swords & Dark Magic edited by Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders

Cover Unveiled for Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Cover Not Final

Throne of the Crescent Moon is Saladin Ahmed's debut novel and my early bet on debut of the year for the Fantasy genre. Ahmed is part of the new guard bringing back Swords & Sorcery with a vengeance. Ahmed has been a finalist for the Nebula Award in the short story category and was just nominated for the John W. Campbell award for best new Fantasy writer amongst his many other accolades.  He has also written a few short stories in this world including the just released for audio “Judgment of Swords and Souls” that is well worth checking out. Here is the blurb for Throne of the Crescent Moon:

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, "the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat," a fat old man who’s grown weary of chasing down monsters and saving lives, wants nothing more than to finally marry his old flame and spend his days sitting around his favorite teahouse. But a series of mysterious murders makes it clear that Adoulla’s beloved city still desperately needs his monster-hunting magics. To make things worse, Dhamsawaat is in the midst of a power struggle between the Khalif and a mysterious Robin Hood-type figure known as the Falcon Prince.

Adoulla and his uptight assistant, the holy warrior Raseed, soon learn that the murders and the political upheaval are connected. Adoulla, recruiting the help of old companions and new, discovers a sorcerous plot that threatens to turn his city and perhaps the world itself into a flaming, bloody ruin. And only he and his friends can stop this from happening.

Throne of the Crescent Moon will be released in February from DAW books as a hardcover. Here is the unadulterated art by Jason Chan, which shows a lot more of the epic detail than the slightly low-resolution version above. This is the first on my immediate read list for 2012.

You Might Also Like:
REVIEW | The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones
REVIEW | God's War by Kameron Hurley
ART | A New Look to GRRM's A Song of Ice & Fire