Saladin Ahmed's THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON.

Saladin Ahmed's first published novel just came out on February 7th of this year, and I have to say that I was very excited for it. Saladin had been featured on the Writing Excuses podcast sometime last year, so I was somewhat familiar with what he hoped to accomplish with this book, and have been following him on Twitter ever since. Quite some time later, I heard that the novel was finally close to coming out, and began looking into it further. I read several pre-release reviews and a synopsis, and found myself eager to dive in. I even somehow managed to mistake the release date for the last day of January, and found myself disappointed once I rushed over to the Apple Bookstore. After waiting a whole week, I was finally able to purchase and download the ebook. Here's what I thought:

My unofficial rating.

This is the sort of book that stands out from a crowd. When you first see the cover, it strikes you with the back of it's hand and tells you to pay attention. The image is thick with color and the clean lines of a comic book, its subjects captured in an explosion of motion, Marvel Comics style. Unconventional clothing and weapon styles instantly tell you that this is no European-style fantasy, something that really excited me. Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional sword and sorcery stuff that's been coming out for decades, but just like eating too much ice-cream, it can sometimes leave you feeling unsatisfied.

Saladin's book smacks of many different cultures, from Egyptian to the classical Arabic turban-and-camel-riding nomadic tribes we see in movies. I'm no expert, and I probably just offended someone there, but Saladin pulls everything together in a truly unique world that I've never seen in Fantasy. He doesn't just dress the traditional S&S in a turban and hand it a scimitar, he works his way up from a solid foundation of unique culture, infusing every aspect of the book with the traditions of his world. The food they eat, the tea they drink, even their curse words and oaths are steeped in their culture. The characters themselves have their very personalities and self-identities shaped by the specific views on religion and family present in this blend of pseudo-Arabic cultures (once again, if I'm using the wrong terms, please forgive me). Also, I want to use the word "culture" one more time. Culture.

Beyond the unusual setting, Saladin brings some other great aspects into play. Unlike many books of the same genre, Throne's main protagonist is a 60 year-old man named Adoulla, a ghul hunter who just wants to retire and get married. (The point of view is shared by several people over the course of the book.) It's pretty amusing to be inside this semi-crusty old man's head as he watches youth wasted on the young, even forgetting the author himself isn't exactly what you would call old. If I had my way, more time would be spent on The Doctor's point of view, he's really a great character.

The story is easily followed, with plot points popping out to say "hi", not trying particularly hard to stay hidden. In my mind, this was a good thing. Most of the events take place in a huge, shining city, forgoing the normal hero-on-a-quest format. The action is short and to the point, with a few gruesome bits thrown in for good measure, which I like. The book features some pretty cool magic, and a seriously bad-ass bad guy. Creepy stuff.

Finally, I have two complaints about this book, and they are small:

First off, it's short. For an adult fantasy novel, it tops out at an unusual 288 pages, leaving me wanting more. Before you get all up in arms, let me clarify: I don't believe that every fantasy needs to be a 240k word behemoth, nor do I think Saladin was lacking in proper story-telling technique. Everything wraps up satisfactorily, and his descriptions are more than adequate. The experience was simply over too soon. I wanted to keep reading, because this unique world and characters felt like they had more to give me. Hopefully there are more books to come.

Next, and this is my only major issue, I felt like two of the younger characters were underdeveloped, not individually, but in relation to each other. SPOILER ALERT! I think it comes as no surprise that there is a "B" story in this book, centered around the budding romance (if it can be called that) between a young zealot and a teenage tribeswoman. By the end of the book, the word "love" is used, and I honestly didn't see the proper build up to it. It almost seemed like they fell in love because they were supposed to. Did it ruin the story? No. Is it the reason I gave the book four stars instead of five? Yes. Combined with the fact that I only give five stars to books that totally blow my mind away (which is hard to do). That being said, four stars is stellar, and I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good fantasy adventure. Go buy it here!

Connection to Characters.

Before I dive into the main subject of this post, I wanted to share a quote from the late Bob Ross. I feel like it applies to writing just as much as painting, so just insert the words "write" and "pen-and-paper" where ever you feel like:

"Talent is nothing more that a pursued interest. With this technique, it is not necessary to draw a straight line or any kind of line for that matter. We begin with paint and brush--the object is to capture the dream quickly, while it is still alive."


Today I want to talk about characters. Not so much what makes a good character, or techniques for developing them, but more about why we can feel such a deep connection to them. Many writers have different things that sparked their initial desire to write: the joy of world building, the challenge of writing great plot, or creating magic systems. For me, it was the friendships I developed with the characters from Redwall, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings that first made me want to write. The hares of the Long Patrol from Brian Jacques books made me feel like I was part of their strange and thoroughly British circle. Harry, Ron, and Hermione felt like real kids I was hanging out with, getting into scrapes and learning magic. Frodo's inner struggles against the greed and corruption of the ring, along with the feelings of loneliness that came with it, spoke to me when I felt down and helpless. These were personal relationships, not just a passing identification with superficial qualities.

I remember the first time I cried while reading a book. I was young, maybe nine or ten, just finishing the Chronicles of Narnia for the first time. I read the last sentence, closed the book, and stared at the cover. I couldn't understand the feelings bouncing around my head. I know now that I was dealing with a feeling of loss. The people I had known so well, that I had lived beside while I read, were gone. There was no more. I was devastated. Of course, as time went on I read more books and re-read Narnia. I came to accept that end-of-book feeling. I stopped crying after I finished a series and learned to cope with the end of a relationship with the characters. Then, when I read Lord of the Rings for the first time, I once more cried at the end. I still do, even when I watch the last scenes of the Return of the King. When the last book of The Wheel of Time comes out this year, I'll ball my head off. I may even take off work just so I can let myself wallow in sadness for a day.

This might all sound pathetic, but when you look closer, it begins to make more sense. One of the miracles of being a human is the ability to create. Some might say it's the one thing that carried over from the God that put us here (or space aliens, whatever). Not only can we build skyscrapers, make art, or write music, we can make new people. Think about that. Make new people. With a pen and paper, or keyboard I suppose, a writer can form a person so convincingly that his/her readers fall in love with them (romantically or otherwise). This is a fictional person that feels so real, and fills a hole in ourselves so thoroughly, that we actually grieve when the book ends. To me, this is the most wondrous thing I can think of. It speaks of our imagination, our mental reach, and our ability to dream.

It's incredible, and I completely fell for these author's creations. Isn't that the most amazing thing ever? If I could only do that for someone else, just once. Can you imagine? This is why I started to write. So far I haven't accomplished this goal, but I have managed to convince myself that Chale, Astrid, and Spigworth are real, at least in the very darkest, unused parts of my mind. I guess that's the first step.

What characters have you felt a bond with? Which books drew you in the most, and left you hollow inside when they ended?

How I build my characters. (Feel free to use this if you like.)

I wanted to share what I have been developing over the last couple of weeks (with the help of my wife). Specifically character sheets. This is a document I am creating for my protagonist, and some other important characters. I didn't start out with a form like this, but rather converted an already completed character sheet, replacing the items with question prompts ( you don't get to read about my protagonist, sorry). Having a clearly defined person when I start is extremely helpful, and I look forward to getting these new, fully fleshed-out characters on the page. Hopefully this might help spark some things to consider in your own characters.

All About ________

Basics:

• Gender
• Age
• One-word Personality Type

Appearance:

• Body Type
• Skin Color
• Hair Length/Color
• Clothing
• Eye Color
• Facial Shape
• Height
• Possibly weight

Personality:

• How do they act in relation to others?
• What they think of themselves
• How do others think of them?
• Whose company do they enjoy?
• What do they think about their society
• What gender roles do they fall into?
• What gender roles do they break away from?
• What do they believe in?

Qualities:

• What is their occupation?
• What makes them unique at it? (ex: uses only knives to hunt dangerous game, etc.)
• What is their level of education?
• What kind of people of the opposite gender do they like? (This can be important if you have a romance of any kind.)
• What are some special abilities? (Magic, cunning, etc.)

History:

• What was growing up like?
• How did they do in school (if they attended)?
• What was their family like?
• Did they get along with their parents/siblings?
• What are their current views/memories of growing up?
• Were there any traumatic/impactful occurrences in their past? How did this affect them?

Character Arc:

• What do they learn by the end of the book?
• Why is it important that they learn it?
• Find a few more things that will change in the character over the course of the book.

Beginning:

Where does the character start out at? What are their beliefs at the beginning when we first meet them? How do they act? Are they immature, too mature, rude, timid, etc?

Middle:

This is where things need to change. Questions need to come up, and obstacles challenge them. The character begins to find that their beliefs aren't necessarily true. Confusion and conflict follows.

Climax:

Everything comes to a head. The character needs to take in what they have learned and questioned to save the day. The best character arcs will incorporate what they have learned into the outcome of the climax. Have Johnny realize that his mother's death can't torture him forever, and he has to move on or he'll never kill the Evil Magic Dude, etc.

End:

This is where you wrap everything up. The reader sees the character reflect on the journey, and what it has done to/for them. This doesn't have to be a perfect, tidy package. If your story calls for a sad or unfinished ending, that's fine, but make sure the character is different in the key ways you listed above.