Hey,
I'll keep this short, if you want gripping fantasy adventure, run out and snag a copy of
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed.
*sigh* Why do you people never implicitly trust me? Fine, some more detail. The book mostly follows the exploits of Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, one of the few remaining ghul hunters in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms. When men contract with the Traitorous Angel and blight God's Great Earth with their foul creations, Adoulla has to go sort things out.
But Adoulla is getting old, he relies on the quick sword of his assistant, the young (and very pious) Dervish Rassed bas Raseed. Adoulla's hope for a quiet retirement are dashed when his ex-lover's niece is attacked by ghuls. So Adoulla heads out for "one more mission" only to uncover a terrible plot -- one that will draw in old partners to help combat a terrible evil.
The plot clips right along. The characters are pretty well drawn and the viewpoint shifts from character to character so while it's Adoulla's story, everyone gets to share their contributions. Because the book picks up late in Adoulla's career, there's already a rich history of past adventures that are skillfully woven into the story. Robert E. Howard often said that his
Conan stories came to him much like Conan himself was telling the story of his life and skipping around from episode to episode. Certainly there's scope for that here.
Anyway, it was a blazingly good read and I highly recommend it to folks.
later
Tom
