Engraved on the Eye [Kindle Edition]

Saladin Ahmed (Author)

Book Description

Stories to Captivate the Imagination: Welcome to the worlds of Saladin Ahmed

A medieval physician asked to do the impossible. A gun slinging Muslim wizard in the old West. A disgruntled super villain pining for prison reform. A cybernetic soldier who might or might not be receiving messages from God. Prepare yourself to be transported to new and fantastical worlds.

The short stories in this collection have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards. They’ve been reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy and other anthologies, recorded for numerous podcasts, and translated into several foreign languages. Now they are collected in one place for the first time. Experience for yourself the original voice of one of fantasy’s rising stars!

PRAISE FOR SALADIN AHMED
“Ahmed’s characters…are a terrific blend of the realistic and the awesomely magical.” — io9

“[Ahmed is] revitalizing the fantasy genre with fresh perspectives and original stories.” — Library Journal

“Ahmed’s debut masterfully paints a world both bright and terrible.“ — Publishers Weekly

“An arresting, sumptuous and thoroughly satisfying debut.” — Kirkus Reviews

STORIES IN THIS ANTHOLOGY
Where Virtue Lives
Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela
Judgment of Swords and Souls
Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions
General Akmed’s Revenge?
Mister Hadj’s Sunset Ride
The Faithful Soldier, Prompted
Iron Eyes and the Watered Down World

OTHER WORKS BY SALADIN AHMED
Throne of the Crescent Moon (DAW, 2012)

Product Details

• File Size: 234 KB
• Print Length: 110 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Ridan Publishing (September 19, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B009CVYQG2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,598 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Saladin's Shorts October 22, 2012

By Frederick P. Kiesche III

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't recall exactly where I came across Saladin Ahmed. Facebook? Twitter? His own website? In any case, the description of his first novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon interested me (and has been reviewed here), so I sought out what he had published already. Alas, not much came up, a few short stories, scattered in online magazines and podcasts, but what I read interested me.

This self-published book (eBook only) gathers all of Saladin's short works under one cover. You have two stories set in the same universe as Throne (Where Virtue Lives and Judgment of Swords and Souls), fun in the Old West with a twist or three (Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride), generally twisted humor (General Akmed's Revenge?, Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions, Iron Eyes and the Watered Down World), straight-up dystopian apocalyptic cyberpunk (The Faithful Soldier, Prompted) and straight-up fantasy/horror (Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Iameela).

All polished and interesting and with some nice stylistic or plot twists. All showing a level of sophistication and skill higher than most first-time novelists. Would that he typed faster!

Several of these I had read in my previous searches. Doctor Diable Goes Through the Motions was completely new and is a gem. Supervillains trapped in endless Power Point presentations and having their souls sucked away by endless board meetings. And I want to see a novel set in the universe of Iron Eyes and the Watered Down World. Fritz Leiber and Robert E. Howard are sitting in Valhalla, jealous. Oh, so jealous.

Great stuff here. Get thee to your favorite online eBook retailer and buy!...

Made up of: Introduction; Author's Note; Where Virtue Live; Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Iameela; Judgment of Swords and Souls; Doctor Diablo Goes Through the Motions; General Akmed's Revenge?; Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride; The Faithful Soldier, Prompted; Iron Eyes and the Watered Down World.

Counts as ten (10) entries in 2012: The Year in Shorts (my annual read of short works). Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Fantasy's Best Short Fiction Writers September 19, 2012

By Aidan Moher

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I first discovered Saladin Ahmed a few years ago through his short fiction and I've been a big fan ever since. I've read most of the stories in this collection already, but couldn't resist scooping up a copy, if only to have a nice, clean eBook of each of the stories on my eReader. Full of imagination, wondrous settings and engaging characters, you can't go wrong with Ahmed's fiction, long or short. In particular, I recommend 'Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela.'

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I actually care! September 28, 2012

By Jon Kane

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'll admit it up front: I don't often read short stories. There's just not enough space in the form to develop a connection with the characters. They leave me with little more than "meh," and why bother with that? But I decided to take a chance with this collection because it contains a story from the same universe as the author's novel Throne of the Crescent Moon (Crescent Moon Kingdoms). Plus the price is pretty good.

I'm glad I did. Solid prose. Interesting plots (the lead story is good, but it wasn't even my favorite). Most important: excellent characterization. I actually wanted to read more about Ahmed's characters rather than wondering why I bothered with them. As far as I'm concerned, that's high praise for a short story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid collection of short stories September 25, 2012

By M. P. Cummings

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Saladin Ahmed's "Engraved on the Eye" offers a nice sampling of Ahmed's short fiction. Collected in this volume are three short stories set in the same world as his first novel, The Crescent Throne, as well as a western, sci-fi, bunnies with swords, and an urban fantasy. Readers unfamiliar with the Crescent Throne will find the stories a good starting point, while fans of Saladin Adhmed's will enjoy the additional background on a certain ghul hunter and his blue clothed dhervish.

Tying the eight stories of this volume are two themes existing fans will find familiar: the fantastical, told with a heavy Middle Eastern influence. If Bradbury had been Arabic and living in middle America, this is what his first story collection might have looked like, ghul's, djenn, and demons included.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A little of everything, from a refreshing perspective September 21, 2012

By Dragonsept Family

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This collection of short stories offers a departure from the usual science fiction and fantasy fare. Saladin Ahmed brings his unusual (for sf/f) viewpoint as a practicing Muslim and Arab American to the party and serves up a delicious buffet of refreshing stories.

The stories vary pretty widely. There is the story of the first case in which the characters Adoulla Makhslood and Raseed (from Throne of the Crescent Moon (Crescent Moon Kingdoms)) work together. Another story set in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms deals with the internal politics of the Lodge of Dervishes. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the story of a cybernetically augmented Lebanese soldier trying to keep his wife alive in a post-war world. There is also a historical fantasy set during the Abbasid Caliphate. One story is set in a secondary world and gives just enough detail about it to be intriguing.

My personal favorite is "Mister Hadj's Sunset Ride." It's a Western starring people you don't see often in Western stories. Mister Hadj and the narrator (O'Connor) are working as bounty hunters on the trail of some seriously bad men. Mr Hadj, an immigrant from the same area as O'Connor's Pa, has a knack for making things happen when he sings. How it all plays out is more than I care to share here.

I find Ahmed's prose to be competent and easy to read, but lacking that special something I'm looking for to push a book into 5 territory.

More About the Author

Saladin Ahmed was born in Detroit and raised in a working-class, Arab American enclave in Dearborn, MI.

His short stories have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards, and have appeared in Year's Best Fantasy and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, as well as being translated into five foreign languages. He is represented by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON is his first novel.

Saladin lives near Detroit with his wife and twin children.