A review by stephenmeansme
Engraved on the Eye by Saladin Ahmed

3.0

This was an interesting but not amazing collection, which I got either for free or for very cheap (like $0.99) on Kindle. The better-than-average stories, I think, were the ones that evoked the outsider experience: "General Akmed's Revenge," "Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride," (both about first- or second-generation Arab immigrants to America, in different ways), "Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions" (the title character is implied Latino; also I wanted a bit more). "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" was maybe the best of the lot for sheer Islamic-fantasy weirdness. The two "Crescent Moon" stories, "Judgment of Swords and Souls" and "Where Virtue Lives," had a fun Arabic-Islamic flavor but structurally were pretty standard fantasy tropes. And finally "Iron Eyes and the Watered-Down World" was pretty standard East Asian-inflected fantasy.

So, overall: competently written, the style carries you along but doesn't really grab you (except for a few choice moments). But it's a quick read and free on Amazon, so why not? 2.5 stars, rounded up.