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Today's post (or more accurately yesterday's) is over on
Black Gate and is the first in a series on the best in modern Arabian fantasy. I was given the opportunity to do this series by John O'Niell, and I'm very grateful as it's an excuse to read a lot of great books and interview authors. This week I interviewed Howard Andrew Jones about his book,
Desert of Souls. Here's a sample:
Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of
the time period and the historical events of the time?
Well, a thumbnail can’t do it
justice. The 8th century Abbasid caliphate was comparable in many
ways to Renaissance Europe because it was undergoing a fabulous
expansion in all manner of fields — literature, science, and
mathematics. The middle class was growing, and merchants prospered
and brought in fabulous items from distant lands. A talented and
enterprising commoner might rise very high indeed. In later years the
8th century was looked upon as a golden age, especially the time of
Harun al-Rashid, even though the rule of one of his sons, Al Ma’mun
, was probably more enlightened.
To see the rest,
head on over to Black Gate!
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