Saladin Ahmed has been generating a lot of noise in certain quarters, and I am utterly delighted to find that the book lives up to the buzz. 
 "Throne of the Crescent Moon" is a throwback to the casual, light-but-not-stupid fantasy novels which I fell in love with in my misspent youth. And best yet, he does what I think a lot of us have been hoping for... he throws away the Western European model and gives us a whole new playground. One that doesn't involve a single entity used by Tolkien. HALLELUJAH. 
 The text is well written, not overly peppered with made-up-foreign words, and right from the start I felt at home in this pseudo-arabic world. There's a shocking amount of setup here considering that not once did I think "ok, setup setup setup... back to the plot pleeeease". Clearly we're in for a long haul here and I eagerly anticipate the next entry. 
 I can only hope that Ahmed doesn't fall into the trap I've seen so many (coughLackeycough) fall into (coughGoodkindcough) before, starting off with a solid, clever premise and then simply repeating it ad nauseum in new settings with new dialogue. But even writers I love and respect have tripped over that one (coughFeistcough), and that's just borrowing trouble anyway. 
 For now, I heartily recommend all Fantasy lovers just grab this novel and run with it right back to your favourite book chair. Now.