Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Fantasy

Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” is tired. He’s been fighting supernatural evil all his life and he doesn’t see any way to retire. He has an apprentice who is a fierce fighter but he doesn’t have Adoulla’s magical skills. His former partners are all out of the business so someone has to stick around to fight. Then the one true love of his life, who he lost because of his inability to step away from the job, contacts him because her niece was murdered by monsters.

I really liked the premise of this book. I liked the idea of a main protagonist who is old and broken down but who is all that is left. I liked the other characters too. There is a fighter who is devoted to his religion but is starting to see that there may be more grey areas in life than he likes. There is a girl who can take the shape of a lion. There is a powerful magician who ages with every spell he casts and his wife who makes potions.

I found this book on a list of fantasy books that take place in a non-European setting. The world is fantasy Arabic with deserts and ancient cities.

With so much to like about this book, I was disappointed that the story never became a page turner for me. There is a lot that is really good here but somehow it never came together into a tight story. However, I read the synopsis of the next book in the series and it sounds good too so maybe I should give it a try…