Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Every year it seems that there’s a huge buzz around one debut novelist and their work. In 2012 the novelist is Saladin Ahmed and the book is Throne of the Crescent Moon. Although Throne of the Crescent Moon is his first novel, Saladin Ahmed isn’t an entirely new name in the SFF field, his short work garnered him a nomination for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2010 and 2011.

To be totally honest I was probably always a lock for Throne of the Crescent Moon from the first time I heard about it and saw Jason Chan’s awesome cover (it displays the three main protagonists; Adoulla, Raseed and Zamia, and does so faithfully, right down to Raseed’s two pronged sword, although I never really saw Adoulla as an overweight balding Moses, which is what he looks like here), and then found out it was Arabian Nights in tone and theme. I love Arabian Nights flavoured stuff. I think it’s a tragically under utilised setting and mythology in SFF. I was also interested and pleased to see Saladin Ahmed list Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman amongst his influences in a recent exchange on i09. Weis and Hickman are best known for their Dragonlance work, but my favourite, and in my opinion, best work was their Rose of the Prophet trilogy which was also very Arabian Nights in tone and setting. So Saladin was always on a winner with me for Throne of the Crescent Moon.

Adoulla is an aging ghul hunter based in his beloved city of Dhamsawaat, Adoulla believes he’s the only genuine ghul hunter in the city, it’s possible he’s the only real one in all the Kingdoms of the Crescent Moon. Life isn’t getting any easier for the scholar and he’s starting to consider retirement. Maybe hand the business over to his deeply religious ‘apprentice’ Dervish Raseed. Then Adoulla can spend his days drinking cardamom tea in his friend Yehyeh’s tea shop and woo Miri, the ‘one that got away’.

However things rarely go as planned in Adoulla’s long and eventful life, and before too many pages have passed Raseed has uncovered a new and particularly vicious threat, that will not only cause problems for Adoulla and his friends and neighbours, but the entire city of Dhamsawaat unless it is tracked down and defeated.

Doing this will bring Adoulla and Raseed in contact with the fierce young tribeswoman Zamia, who has lost her clan to the threat, it will destroy Adoulla’s home, put his friends and neighbours, the Soo couple; Dawoud and Lizat in danger and introduce them all to the annoyingly charismatic and competent thief lord; the Falcon Prince.

This is a real swashbuckler and an absolute joy to read. Saladin Ahmed does not miss a beat with his characterisation or his setting. Adoulla initially put me in mind of Barry Hughart’s flawed Asian scholar and detective Master Li, but as I read on I started thinking he was more like Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, he has that same world weariness and complete and total lack of respect for authority, like Butcher’s Wizard for Hire he does a nice line in snark, too, although delivered in the very lyrical style that the book is written in. Adoulla’s is also middle-aged, which is a refreshing change of pace from the oh so young heroes that generally people the pages of SFF novels. He has Raseed and Zamia to do that for him. Like Scott Lynch in his debut The Lies of Locke Lamora, Saladin Ahmed builds up his setting of Dhamsawaat lovingly and it comes to life through the pages, you can feel the midday heat and the evening cool, smell the spices and the stench from the tannery that wafts through the down at heel Scholar’s Quarter on a daily basis. Like Lynch’s Camorr, Ahmed’s Dhamsawaat is an extra bonus character for readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed Throne of the Crescent Moon and look forward to seeing more tales of this middle eastern world. My only complaint is that the book was too short and I’ll have to wait a while before I can visit Dhamsawaat again.

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall

1001 Nights of Snowfall is not actually a collection of the continuing Fables comic. It's a companion piece to the series. It can be read without any prior knowledge of the series, or by the fully initiated. I think actually having read the series adds some more depth and meaning to the stories within.

The first story: A Most Troublesome Woman, is drawn by Charles Vess and Michael Wm Kaluta. Vess is quite well known as a comic book artist and his style is clearly evident in this story. It sets up the collection. Snow White is sent to the Arabian NIghts Fables in their homeland as an envoy. Their Sultan marries her and prepares to behead her the following morning as he does with all his wives. Snow White makes a deal with him. If she can entertain him with a story, will he postpone her execution? He agrees and for the next 1001 nights the former fairytale princess bargains her stories for her life, at the end of the 1001 nights the Sultan has so enjoyed her stories and so releases her. It's rather like Snow White plays Scheherazade. The stories in the book are a selection of some of what she told the Sultan, concentrating mainly on those that involve the Fables readers of the series were already familiar with.

The Fencing Lesson, illustrated in a quasi medieval style by John Bolton, told the story of Snow's early days with Prince Charming. It showed a darker side of the fairytale and it's heroine, it also shed some light on why most Fables don't mention the 7 dwarves, especially to Snow.

The Christmas Pies, was drawn by Fables regular artist Mark Buckingham, and was a Reynard story, it told of how the clever fox fooled the Adversary's forces and led many of his fellow animal Fables to safety in our world.

A Frog's-Eye View, with regular series cover artist James Jean at the artistic helm, was the story of Ambrose the Frog Prince. Drawn in gloomy sepia tones, it was a heart breaking tale of why Flycatcher was so damaged for as long as he was.

The Runt, majestically drawn by Mark Wheatley, was Bigby Wolf's backstory. It explained about his brothers, his strained relationship with his father, and why he became the villain that he was in the Homelands.

Diaspora, illustrated by Tara McPherson in an almost abstract, cartoony style, was how Snow White and her sister Rose Red fled the Adversary's forces in a magical forest and found shelter in a seemingly abandoned cottage.

Contained within Diaspora was The Witches Tale, vividly drawn by Esao Andrews. This was Frau Totenkinders backstory. How and why she became a wicked witch, THE wicked witch when you come to think about it.

What You Wish For, a two pager with Brian Bolland's lavish artwork, was the story of the mermaid Mersey Dotes.

Fair Division, with Jill Thompson's sumptuous art, is the story of King Cole, and gives readers an insight as to why this little known, barely remembered nursery rhyme Fable was held in such high esteem by the other Fables and elected to the office of Mayor for so long.

1001 Nights of Snowfall is a concept book and a beautifully presented and drawn one. It's available in either a softcover or hardcover edition. I'd heartily recommend adding it to your Fables collection. What do you mean you haven't started one yet? Do so immediately! You'll thank me for it, I promise.

Fables: Arabian Nights (And Days)

I'd been wondering what had happened to all the great Fables from the Arabian Nights tales, people like Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Blue got information from the Adversary in Homelands that they were on the hit list, but they were yet to appear in the pages of Fables. The Arabian Nights (And Days) collection rectifies that.

During his time in Baghdad, Mowgli made contact with the Arabian Fables, and had tried to set up some sort of meeting between the Western Fables and their Arabian counterparts. The first signal that the 'wolf boy' has been successful is the appearance of a stretch limo out the front of the Woodlands building. As if Charming didn't have enough to deal with as Mayor, now he's got to handle a large delegation from an entirely foreign culture with different customs and a language he can't speak.

Of the two options Blue was given to make restitution for his crimes (stealing the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal Blade) he chooses two years hard labour at the Farm. Although this will get him out in the fresh air it also means he has to leave Riding Hood behind. He asks his friend Flycatcher (the Frog Prince) to keep an eye on her and there is a growing friendship between the shy girl from the Homelands and the former prince, now janitor.

To Charming's chagrin, the only available Fable that can effectively communicate with the Arabian Fables led by Sinbad, is former Mayor Old King Cole. There are also hints that Charming is planning on adding another notch to his bedpost: Beauty. Fortunately the woman comes to her senses and rebuffs his advances, but Charming never gives up easily. They were also unaware that Bufkin witnessed the entire incident.

Once Cole starts talking to the Arabs things move along, the fly in the ointment is Sinbad's obnoxious vizier; Yusuf. The situation worsens when Frau Totenkinder tells Beast that the Arabs have a WMD (Weapon of Magical Destruction), in the form of a djinn, with them. Being composed of 97% magic djinns are the most powerful magical creature there is. They're also unpredictable and hard to control, in the hands of someone like Yusuf it could spell disaster for Fabletown. The only creature they have access to who could hope to challenge a djinn is the North Wind, who is still on the Farm bonding with his grand children. He's willing to do it, but the consequences of that sort of magical battle could very well destroy the world, so he's not really an option. The scenes at the Farm often involve Snow's cubs. Being werewolves who can also fly the six siblings can create any amount of havoc . The only person who has any real control over them at this point is not Snow, but their Auntie Rose. Her interaction with the cubs is delightfully written and drawn.

Back at Fabletown Yusuf has released the djinn and it takes some pretty swift and sneaky spell casting by Frau Totenkinder to prevent the destruction of Fabletown. Yusuf has unwittingly condemned himself to a slow and painful death at the hands of his own djinn. Frau Totenkinder oversees the death and as with the torture of Baba Yaga, she revels in it too much. She seems to be on the right side for now, but her enjoyment of suffering is concerning, as is the amount of power she has and the knowledge she's gathering. Maybe she'll work out okay, but I find it hard to fully trust someone whose name translates literally as Mrs Dead Children.

At the Farm Blue finds out that his exploits in the Homelands have made him into a hero and Rose's definition of hard labour for heroes is somewhat different to what he initially expected.

Sinbad returns to his base in Baghdad and Cole goes with him in a capacity as Fabletown's ambassador to the Arabian or Easter Fables. The collection ends with Ride developing feelings beyond friendship for a clueless Flycatcher.

There's a standalone at the end of this collection called The Ballad of Rodney and June. It's largely the story of two of the wooden soldiers who develop feelings for one another and the Adversary's method of satisfying both parties. Although the story is standalone it could definitely have implications for the larger story. The artwork for that was provided by Jim Fern. The wooden soldiers were effectively portrayed, but it simply didn't have the life of Mark Buckingham's work.