Doctor Adoulla Makhslood wants to grow old drinking tea in his beloved city of Dhamsawaat. Unfortunately God has other ideas. For Adoulla is a ghul hunter, a servant of God against the Traitorous Angel, and something dark and dangerous is stalking Dhamsawaat. Accompanied by Raseed, a holy Dervish, and Zamia, a Badawi tribeswoman who has been gifted with the ability to take a lions shape, Adoulla will struggle through the rebellion and death that threaten his home.

I am exceedingly fond of Ahmed’s narrative style. The book flows like the best of the old tales, accessible and entertaining with a honed edge of danger that kept me turning pages. It stands out from much of the other fantasy I have read recently, it’s people and setting forming something atypical of the genre and it’s carriage a good part Arabian Nights.

Adoulla is a wonderful character- fond of luxury, sharp of tongue, and willing to do everything in his power to keep his people safe. Even Raseed, a rather pious and stilted fellow to begin with, flows and evolves with the story, growing on the reader. Zamia was the hardest for me to grow attached to- a bit too stubborn and set in what felt almost like an archetype of a girl as opposed to a living breathing entity, but that let up as I read on and she grew with the story.

Fast paced with scathing wit and monstrous danger, Throne of the Crescent Moon is a wonderful book, and I look forward to more by the author.