Throne of the Crescent Moon

Throne of the Crescent Moon is, simply put, simple. It's a simple story about good versus evil. The good guys are clear and the bad guys are clear. The good guys are wizards and warriors, and the bad guys summon manjackals and other monsters. The good guys want to save the world God made, and the bad guys want to bathe it in blood.

So yeah, simple.

Except.

Except, for a story only 270 pages or so, it's surprisingly deep. Not in terms of plot, but in terms of its characters.

Adoulla is the closest thing to a main character in this story, and he's really the reason to read the book. The other characters are interesting, but rather one-dimensional. There's the holy warrior who has to decide what's just and what's really really just (and who also wants to sleep with the tribeswoman), and the tribeswoman who wants to avenge the death of her tribe (and who also wants to sleep with the holy warrior).

Adoulla is like a bitter Gandalf. He's been fighting monsters his entire life, has grown old and fat, and is unhappy. It's not that he doesn't have friends, or doesn't think his work matters. It's just that he missed out on all the finer things in life, like love and children, because of his mission.

He's the story of what happens when the hero gets to the end of the hero's path, and realizes he wanted something else. It's heart-wrenching and enchanting all at the same time.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, fast, action-packed ride through a fresh setting. I'll certainly read the rest of the series when they are released. Take a weekend to check this one out.