Magic Carpet Ride: Howard Andrew Jones’s Debut Novel Breathes New Life into Sword-and-Sorcery
I don’t know about you but
classic sword-and-sorcery adventures played a hugely significant role in my
life growing up. Escaping into stories written by legends like Robert E.
Howard, Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith, and Michael Moorcock was as close to
idyllic as it gets for an introverted boy growing up in a house torn apart by
apathy and hate. While my parents argued downstairs, I would hide out in my
bedroom with my books – and how wonderful it was for a lonely kid with a
stuttering problem who felt like he was absolutely powerless in life to, albeit
temporarily, dream about being Howard’s barbarian warrior Conan, or a companion
to Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, or Moorcock’s albino sorcerer with the
soul-sucking sword, Elric of Melnibone.
Exotic locales, relentless pacing, adventures steeped in the supernatural, heroic deeds, maybe a little romance, and that ever-present sense of breathtaking wonder – I absolutely loved these stories… in many ways, they saved my life.
It’s been a while since I’ve
read a really stellar new sword-and-sorcery novel – a substantial portion of
fantasy releases these days are paranormal fantasy and epic fantasy – so I was
more than excited to pick up the debut novel by Howard Andrew Jones, The Desert of Souls, a novel that Publishers Weekly described as a “multicolored
Arabian-nights tale” that is “as richly textured as an antique rug.”
Jones has not only edited numerous Harold Lamb collections (Swords from the West, Warriors of the Steppes, etc.) but is also the managing editor of Black Gate magazine (www.blackgate.com) so with the book in my hands, I was expecting something great…
…and I’m happy to report that’s exactly what I got.
The story is set in and
around 8th century Baghdad and revolves around an unlikely duo: Asim
el Abbas, the captain of the guard for Jaffar, one of the most important men in
all of Baghdad; and Dabir, a scholar who is besotted with Jaffar’s niece
Sabirah. After the two talk their master into a misadventure to get his mind of
off the recent death of a beloved parrot, they become entangled in a mystery
revolving around a thief who was killed in their presence who was in possession
of an ancient – and obviously very valuable – door pull. Further research from
Dabir reveals that the door pull, which is covered with magical symbols, has a
twin in the caliph’s legendary horde of treasures:
“Within a half hour of our arrival we had passed treasures and splendors to set a miser fainting in envy and a thief perspiring with greed. The boy filled my mind with wonder, chattering as he went about this or that rumoured treasure. Beyond a heavy door were niches where the boy claimed the very staff of Moses could be found, along with the crown of Cyrus, the sword of Iskander, and a book written by the angel Gabriel…”
The two door pulls together, used by a sorcerer with sufficient arcane knowledge, can be used to open up a passageway to Ubar, a glorious city in the desert – “an entry point into the land of djinn” – that was completely ruined centuries earlier.
But when the door pulls are
stolen by a villainous wizard and his cadre of henchmen, Asim and Dabir set off
down the Tigris to reacquire the artifacts. The quest is quickly complicated,
however, when they find out that Sabirah has stowed herself away onboard their
ship! Thus begins a breakneck paced adventure à la classic Howard, Leiber and
Moorcock replete with swashbuckling swordplay, fantastical creatures,
otherworldly vistas, and surprises around every turn.
The action and adventure are marvelous – but it’s Jones’s narrative tone that powers this novel. It’s atmospheric and darkly lyrical and utterly readable:
“That evening the sun burned like a great red eye that bled down upon the waters; it was as though a grisly end were to come to the world, and judgment were at hand. The evening star gleamed low and proud, like a tiny candle held aloft by a soul drowning in a sea of blood and darkness.”
Read those two sentences again and tell me that isn't fantastic stuff.
I loved this novel – it was a glorious sword-and-sorcery adventure in the vein of the aforementioned classics. And, for me, it was particularly moving; it brought me right back to my childhood, losing myself in Moorcock’s Elric saga in my bedroom as my life seemingly crumbled around me. Jones’s debut was just as powerfully immersive…
Hopefully this novel will spark a sword-and-sorcery renaissance – you can sign me up and give me a scimitar. I'm in.
Paul Goat Allen has been a full-time book reviewer specializing in genre fiction for almost the last two decades and has written more than 6,000 reviews for companies like Publishers Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, and BarnesandNoble.com. In his free time, he reads.
Pen,
My husband regularly complains about the my monthly B&N bills. He keeps asking how I can read/order that many books, and I just smile and say that next month I'll cut down. He also complains, off-and-on, about the time I spend on this web site. He has no idea what its like for someone who's a book addict and no idea how fortunate I was to stumble on these boards/members/Paul.
Although my husband doesn't understand my love of reading, he is a saint. Believe me, only a saint would marry me.
