Review: Throne of the Crescent Moon
August 1, 2014
Throne of the Crescent Moon hits so many of my buttons it is absolutely no surprise that I loved it. It’s a great sword & sorcery story, tight in its plotting with very little fat. While the characters are, in fact, saving the world, I can excuse that. Howard Andrew Jones – my go-to living sword & sorcery author – did the same in the Bones of the Old Ones, which I absolutely adored.
A very interesting aspect about the characters is that most of them are older, looking to retire. There is definitely an “I’m getting too old for this shit”-vibe for three of the characters. There are two younger characters, but the main hero is way past his prime and just wants to be able to grow old without constant emergencies and adventures.
Like Howard Andrew Jones’ Dabir and Asim stories and novels, this is set in a medieval Caliphate setting, though unlike Howard’s work, this is a secondary world, and invented place with invented cultures, very similar to the simulacra of historical places Guy Gavriel Kay uses in his works.
I really can’t find fault with this novel. I can point to maybe one or two scenes that I found less than perfect, but this is an incredibly capable and competent novel, and if you dig sword & sorcery, it’s a good bet you’ll like this one.
I give Throne of the Crescent Moon 4.75 deadly ghuls out of 5.
You can learn more about Throne of the Crescent Moon here.
You can learn more about Saladin Ahmed here.
You can learn more about Howard Andrew Jones here.