Jones, Howard Andrew -- The Desert of Souls
A novel which is actually set in the fantasy Arabian-Nightsian Baghdad
that all the Prince of Persia games pretend to be set in. (I don't
blame Jordan Mechner -- he was young and enthusiastic when he wrote
his first game -- but it's nice to see someone going back to the
source material.) Assassins, djinn (scary ones, wish at your own
risk), zombie monkeys, a pair of magic doorknobs (from the lost city
of Ubar) -- but also the caliph's dealings with the Byzantines, the
Zoroastrian cult, the Bedouins, and so on. Plus the sort of
interesting greater glimpse that I like in fantasy. Plus it's a solid
standalone adventure, although I understand there will be more books
with these characters.
Books I have acquired recently
All the books I own