The Desert of Souls

Pros: rolicking adventure, fun characters, brilliant antagonist, afterword include source materials for research

Cons: Sabirah's character felt superfluous

A fortune teller's prophecy and a theft at Jaffar's palace, send Jaffar's captain of the guard, Asim el Abbas, and his scholar, Dabir ibn Khalil, on a quest to retrieve a magical artifact.

This book is a fun adventure story set in the eighth century Abbasid caliphate of Haroun al-Rashid. Told from Asim's point of view, there are several fights, kidnapping, magic, monsters, and more. It's a fast paced book with a highly intelligent antagonist, so things very often don't go well for our heroes.

My only complaint with the book was that Sabirah, an intelligent woman with an eidetic memory, is only there as a student / accused love interest (though the latter isn't a focus of the story, merely a complication for one of the protagonists) and kidnap victim. She helps out with information on one occasion but is otherwise a tagalong on the quest.

Still, it's a great book and the afterword explains some of the history vs fantasy as well as gives historical sources should you wish to learn more about this era and its people.

While browsing online, I came across this book and whatever site happens to mention it, has good things to say about it. So, in the mood to try a sword-and-sorcery tale based on ancient Persian culture and legends, I gave this one a shot. Here's a bit from the flap copy:

In 8th century Baghdad, a stranger pleads with the vizier to safeguard the bejeweled tablet he carries, but he is murdered before he can explain. Charged with solving the puzzle, the scholar Dabir soon realizes that the tablet may unlock secrets hidden within the lost city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the sands. When the tablet is stolen from his care, Dabir and Captain Asim are sent after it, and into a life and death chase through the ancient Middle East.

The story is narrated by Captain Asim, a likable warrior in the house the vizier, Jaffar. I almost lost interest somewhere in the first third of the story but pressed on regardless and was soon hooked anew. It's a well-written tale infused with the culture of ancient Persia. I enjoyed the writing, the story and the well-drawn characters. You could tell that the author had done a lot of research into this time period and it paid off.