The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
marilynsaul's review
3.0
I vascillated between 3 and 4 - parts of the book I really, really liked: the history of the region, which gave me a better understanding of the turmoil throughout the centuries and continuing even into today; place names and derivations; variations in languages. What flummoxed me the most was keeping the characters straight. This was difficult (for me) because a character often had at least three names: familial, colloquial, and nickname. Up would crop a colloquial name and then, later the nickname would be used (without reference to familial or colloquial), sometimes a hundred pages further into the book. So I spent a lot of time thinking a certain character was actually someone he was not. Very frustrating. And I fell asleep during the long, long description of which caliph was where, when, and supplanted by whom??? Needless to say, I was glad to finally finish this book, and I'm still not certain I want to start Book 2.
bydandii's review
3.0
An interesting perspective in a piece of historical fiction for a generally unrepresented period/region from my Western perspective. And did so with a strong established a voice and adhered to it wonderfully through out.
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