Review by TalJB22 -- The Guardians of Erum and the Calam...
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TalJB22
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Review by TalJB22 -- The Guardians of Erum and the Calam...
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra" by A Ali Hasan Ali.]
The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra by A. Ali Hasan Ali is an enthralling fantasy tale that takes place in ancient Arabia. The story introduces us to many important characters, including Yam and Fada. Yam is just scraping by and taking any job he can find until he runs into Arkin, and he suddenly find himself being promoted to an occultist-in-training. Fada is a date farmer whose wife, Nada, has just given birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
Unfortunately, Fada and Nada don’t get to enjoy this happiness for long before their child, Dileel, is taken from them. The infamous saher, Behas, is determined to kill the boy to keep him out of the wrong hands, or so he says. His plans are thwarted, but the child is nowhere to be found. Fada must accept the help of many allies, and even some enemies, as he fights to save his little boy.
I enjoyed learning about the unique tales and legends of ancient Arabia through this book. The world of giants, occultists, and jinnis and their masters is an exciting place. As much as I love all fantasy, I found this book to be a refreshing and intriguing variation on the usual fantasy world.
The author did a fantastic job of pulling me into the story. There were many, many characters to keep track of, but they all mattered. I appreciated that each character brought something to the overall tale. Nobody was wasted. Many characters I thought were minor and would only be around for one interaction or one conversation ended up contributing to the story in some way.
I also enjoyed how the author weaved so many conflicting motivations and several subplots together. The story flows so well, and I really appreciated seeing the “dominoes” that the author had set up all fall perfectly. Sometimes a character I thought I was done with would show up again, or something that had happened before would prove to be significant in another new way.
I cannot think of anything I disliked about this book. It’s well-written, and it’s an enjoyable and exciting story. I only found a handful of spelling and grammatical errors while reading, but the book could probably use another round of editing.
I am happy to give The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra 4 out of 4 stars. I think anyone who likes fantasy and could appreciate a welcome deviation from the normal fantasy setting would enjoy picking this book up. I did not find any crude language or graphic scenes while reading. There is some violence and fighting, but nothing overly gruesome is described in great detail.
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The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra by A. Ali Hasan Ali is an enthralling fantasy tale that takes place in ancient Arabia. The story introduces us to many important characters, including Yam and Fada. Yam is just scraping by and taking any job he can find until he runs into Arkin, and he suddenly find himself being promoted to an occultist-in-training. Fada is a date farmer whose wife, Nada, has just given birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
Unfortunately, Fada and Nada don’t get to enjoy this happiness for long before their child, Dileel, is taken from them. The infamous saher, Behas, is determined to kill the boy to keep him out of the wrong hands, or so he says. His plans are thwarted, but the child is nowhere to be found. Fada must accept the help of many allies, and even some enemies, as he fights to save his little boy.
I enjoyed learning about the unique tales and legends of ancient Arabia through this book. The world of giants, occultists, and jinnis and their masters is an exciting place. As much as I love all fantasy, I found this book to be a refreshing and intriguing variation on the usual fantasy world.
The author did a fantastic job of pulling me into the story. There were many, many characters to keep track of, but they all mattered. I appreciated that each character brought something to the overall tale. Nobody was wasted. Many characters I thought were minor and would only be around for one interaction or one conversation ended up contributing to the story in some way.
I also enjoyed how the author weaved so many conflicting motivations and several subplots together. The story flows so well, and I really appreciated seeing the “dominoes” that the author had set up all fall perfectly. Sometimes a character I thought I was done with would show up again, or something that had happened before would prove to be significant in another new way.
I cannot think of anything I disliked about this book. It’s well-written, and it’s an enjoyable and exciting story. I only found a handful of spelling and grammatical errors while reading, but the book could probably use another round of editing.
I am happy to give The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra 4 out of 4 stars. I think anyone who likes fantasy and could appreciate a welcome deviation from the normal fantasy setting would enjoy picking this book up. I did not find any crude language or graphic scenes while reading. There is some violence and fighting, but nothing overly gruesome is described in great detail.
******
The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
