Unfortunately, The Desert of Souls, by Howard Andrew Jones is told in the first person. Asim, our protagonist, is Captain of guards to a wealthy magistrate in a sword and sorcery caliphate. This magistrate is an intimate of the Caliph. You might expect such a powerful person to employee a guard Captain who is strong, mature, skilled, and perhaps cunning; or a least a bright... OK, maybe just perceptive. Nope, Asim, while not a simpleton, seems a bit young, at 24, and a bit dull-witted to manage his important post. I’m afraid that I have very little tolerance for a dumb protagonist, particularly when told in a first person narrative. Periodically, I find myself wanting to tap him on the shoulder and say "Duh-uh!" I think the author missed an opportunity in not telling the story from the view point of, Sabirah, the magistrate’s niece and ward, who is deemed so clever that she is permitted to pursue her education rather than be married off for political gain. A clearly daring girl, her exploits are only mentioned to explain her presence as a stowaway on Asim’s mission to retrieve two stolen magical items. Even so, I gave this book a chance and read through to the midst of chapter 9. This "Arabian Nights" setting is a welcome departure for me from the Urban-paranormal-romance deluging the fantasy genre at the moment and the author's writing is quite engaging. It’s even likely that Asim may develop a clue by the end of his adventures. However, I lost all patience and gave up at page 126, after yet another a pivotal turn in the plot was driven by the protagonist simply making another inappropriately dumb move. (Which situation amounts to: “We’re in trouble. The scholar who got us out of trouble before has a plan; let’s follow it!” “Plan? We don’t need no stinking plan!” With the epic examples of Scheherazade and Sinbad the Sailor, (whose caliphate worlds of magic and adventure the author tries to emulate), would that Jones had followed these examples more closely and chosen a reasonably clever protagonist. To this book’s credit it may well cause me to re-read One Thousand and One Nights or Judith Tarr’s Alamut (preceded by the The Hound and the Falcon series), for a reminder of what Arabian sword & sorcery looks like when it’s done right. ( )

The author was very committed to using the voice and style of someone from eighth-century Baghdad translated into nineteenth-century English. Many authors slip into inconsistencies or anachronisms when they attempt such a feat, but Jones succeeded as far as I can tell. ( )

Set aside in some disgruntlement at page 123 (of 305) upon exhibiting irritating generic sexism in narration. But that was just the final straw. I had already been regarding it with a general paucity of enthusiasm due to its lack of immediacy and emotional involvement; our heroes (men, both of them) are the staff of an important man (specifics of importance never established) which is why they get involved in the business of the plot. Call me old-fashioned, but "because my boss told me to" isn't exactly a gripping motivational force to hook me into a narrative, and there's no "but this time it's personal" to ameliorate that. Not helped by a first-person narrator who's so fair and impersonal in his narration that I don't really get involved in things that are happening to him, let alone any of the other characters tagging along on this errand. Quest. Thing. (One of whom is their boss's niece, the only woman in the story, though she gives every evidence of just being another macguffin for all the self-powered agency she exhibits. Do not even try to tell me that you can't have active female characters in Islam-derived fantasy because [b:The City of Silk and Steel|17403672|The City of Silk and Steel|Mike Carey|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361361157s/17403672.jpg|18005586] was great.)

I really wanted to enjoy this, because YAY non-European fantasy. But this is just a tedious boys-own fantasy slog with different-shaped swords and occasional references to Islam. Not good enough. ( )

Fantastic book! I really liked it. I loved the snake in the Desert of Souls, and I really liked the inclusion of the cat-headed staff. That made a nice connection to REH.

The characters were interesting, and the plot twists were creative. I liked that the things that started the quest were door pulls. I thought that was original. ( )

a great set of lead characters. one is the brain and one is the muscle, together they are awesome. really well written book. the story and the action is very well paced and the characters and world building very believable. i wish this type of fantasy book was more prevalent.the original print(which i have a copy of) has a beautiful cover. wish they had stuck with the theme but alas the publishers have gone with a realistic bollywood-ish amateur poster cover. really not something casual readers of scifi/fantasy will flock to, quite the opposite reaction i would think. hopefully they come up with an alternate book cover so that i could find it in me to buy the sequel. otherwise i could just lose the jacket...and i really hate that because i love my books! ( )