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A review by patrickkanouse
The Bones of the Old Ones by Howard Andrew Jones
4.0
Howard Andrew Jones' The Bones of the Old Ones in the Sword and Sands Chronicle is a worthy successor to the first book in that series, The Desert of Souls.
We get more of the swashbuckling, historical fantasy. Asim and Dabir begin their journey when Tajya, a Persian noblewoman, arrives. She is in distress, and she needs the help of Asim and Dabir, who take on the task. An ancient and powerful magic threatens them at every turn.
The setup is wonderful, and Jones loses no time in jeopardizing our heroes. We read, in Sherlock Holmes fashion, as Dabir and Asim unravel the mysteries of the forces at work.
In describing this book to several people as I was reading it, I used it's an Indiana Jones meets Sherlock Holmes with some magic set in the Abbasid Caliphate. This sequel is completely standalone, though the characters and settings grow from the first novel. We see Asim more accepting of some of the crazy things he's seeing as well as trusting Dabir more. We see Dabir as less "all-knowing"--yes, he still is quite wise, but here he seems to have to struggle more to get the answers. The background of the Caliphate is less touched on than in the first, but its presence still colors the narrative, especially when the Greeks arrive.
This is a definite must-read.
We get more of the swashbuckling, historical fantasy. Asim and Dabir begin their journey when Tajya, a Persian noblewoman, arrives. She is in distress, and she needs the help of Asim and Dabir, who take on the task. An ancient and powerful magic threatens them at every turn.
The setup is wonderful, and Jones loses no time in jeopardizing our heroes. We read, in Sherlock Holmes fashion, as Dabir and Asim unravel the mysteries of the forces at work.
In describing this book to several people as I was reading it, I used it's an Indiana Jones meets Sherlock Holmes with some magic set in the Abbasid Caliphate. This sequel is completely standalone, though the characters and settings grow from the first novel. We see Asim more accepting of some of the crazy things he's seeing as well as trusting Dabir more. We see Dabir as less "all-knowing"--yes, he still is quite wise, but here he seems to have to struggle more to get the answers. The background of the Caliphate is less touched on than in the first, but its presence still colors the narrative, especially when the Greeks arrive.
This is a definite must-read.