The Lion of Cairo in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

Nov 13, 2011 Vincent Darlage rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, historical-fiction

This is one of my new favorites, a category that includes "Frankenstein," "Gone with the Wind," "Dracula," "The Hour of the Dragon," and "Lord of the Rings." This novel had the right strokes of adventure, history, and magic. As an homage to REH, the novel also works. I hope there is a sequel in the works, not only because of the strings left untended at the end, but because I want to read more adventures of Assad.

Do yourself a favor, if you are reading this review... read this novel. It takes a ...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, historical-fiction, supernatural-horror

Well, I finished "The Lion of Cairo" last night and join 2 of my friends in rating this book 5 stars. What a great page turner. I love historical fiction and Scott Oden does a masterful job of creating suspense and integrating real historical characters with his own fictional ones in this story that takes place in Egypt during the Crusades just prior to Shirkuh and then his nephew Saladin from ruling Egypt. The main protagonist is an assassin named Assad, who serves the Al Hashishiyya who make t Well, I finished "The Lion of Cairo" last night and join 2 of my friends in rating this book 5 stars. What a great page turner. I love historical fiction and Scott Oden does a masterful job of creating suspense and integrating real historical characters with his own fictional ones in this story that takes place in Egypt during the Crusades just prior to Shirkuh and then his nephew Saladin from ruling Egypt. The main protagonist is an assassin named Assad, who serves the Al Hashishiyya who make their base on a mountain near the Caspian Sea. He is known as the "Emir of the Knife" as he wields a deadly Afghan Knife AKA a salawar which we find appears to have some supernatural powers possibly containing a Djinn. His mission is to make an alliance with the reigning Caliph of Egypt and to protect him from his enemies who we find include the current Vizier of Egypt who keeps the young Caliph in a drugged stupor, Amalric, King of Jerusalem (he was the brother of Baldwin III and father of the Leper King Baldwin IV), a Frank who is allies with the hated Templars. Another prominent enemy is Shirkuh, a Kurdish General who serves Nur-Al-Din, who was the Sultan of Damascus and Syria. Shirkuh was also the uncle of Saladin who is also in the story. Saladin of course, became the Sultan of Damascus and Egypt and was the Ruler who won back Jerusalem from the Franks.
Most of the book contains court intrigue and a stealth battle between Assad and another covert group of assassins who serve the "Old Man of the Mountain" a splinter group of Assad's own Master. They are led by a mysterious Necromancer (hence more of the Supernatural Horror) and is served by a Frank turned Muslim fanatic called "The Heretic" and his group of Fedayeen.
All in all the yarn is well put together. It doesn't hurt that Scott Oden is a big fan of Robert E Howard and Harold Lamb who also had many of their own historical fiction published in the pulps in the 1920s and 1930s.
The only problem is that this is the start of a Trilogy and no further books in the series have been published yet. ...more

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Mar 13, 2015 Peter Fugazzotto rated it really liked it

Incredibly muscular writing reminiscent of Robert E. Howard. The descriptions are luxurious and bring the reader into the world of old Cairo. I can only imagine the amount of detailed research that went into this book and Oden is able to masterfully bring the world to the page.

He also has written some of the best fight scenes around. No long drawn out battles, but blades drawn and swung and people injured or killed.

The plot moves along quickly and the entirety of the novel works as one piece and ...more

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Mar 12, 2019 Pierre Armel rated it really liked it

A really well done adventure novel which keeps its promises. Assad is a fascinating hero, sometimes I wish we had seen more of him. The supporting cast of characters is interesting as well. The small dose of supernatural was a plus for me. I hope we will see other adventures of Assad.

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Jul 08, 2024 Dan Nelson rated it it was amazing

Fast moving action. I like Scott's writing and how he never falls into predictable phrases and words. He is one of the few historical fiction writers I know whose battle scenes do not become monotonous. ...more

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