Book Reviews: Emaddin Adventures, Book Two by Omar Pasha

As promised, here is the second review in honor of the summer solstice and my birthday. This one is for Emaddin Adventures: A Sequel to the 1001 Arabian Nights, Book Two by Omar Pasha, the second novella in the series following the one I reviewed in my previous post.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR EMADDIN ADVENTURES: A SEQUEL TO THE 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS, BOOK ONE

Aqrab had big ambitions: overthrow Sultan Omran, assume control of Baghdad and the rest of the kingdom, and marry Omran’s intelligent and beautiful wife, Bedor. Yet in his arrogance and confidence in his own cunning, Aqrab grew sloppy and his tongue loose. His plans were halted by the Sultan’s hoopoe—Masroor—and the philosopher Zeriab, and Aqrab was thrown into a prison tower to rot as a traitor. However, there is no keeping a villain down when those loyal to him walk free.

With the help of his men and the evil crow Nozar, Aqrab escapes to the Hemrin Mountains and takes up with the Jabaleen, a race of wicked dwarves who have joined Aqrab’s attempts to overthrow the Sultan. Now, the treacherous army is prepared to unleash every monster they have at their disposal upon Omran and his beloved Baghdad, from the blood-thirsty Batars to the fire-breathing dragon Tardan. With Omran’s most trusted general, Khaled, and his soldiers flying the Jamjals against the Mongols in India, is there any hope for the City of Peace? Or will the streets be bathed in ash and blood?

Emaddin Adventures, Book Two is a worthy successor to Book One. In fact, I would argue that it is even better. Much of what I liked in the previous installment, such as the storytelling feel, still continue into this book. More than that, they are actually improved upon. The magic and intrigue that filled the first novella are taken to greater heights with the introduction of new magical beings, more in-depth exploration of magical beings from the first book, and deeper development of already wonderful characters like Emaddin and Lamar. Pasha has clearly put more thought and creative energy into this installment of Emaddin Adventures, and this effort pays off.

The plot, while still recognizable as a continuation of Book One, drifts further away from the cookie-cutter plot in which this story originated. Although only twenty pages longer, it is more complex and less predictable. More action has been added, and more of it left me wondering what Aqrab could possibly try and do next. (It also managed to make me hate Aqrab more, too, and that is something that I had not thought would be possible.) The ending in particular has me wanting to continue with the next book, hoping to see how everything will continue. I do wish that more attention had been given to building up the tension in these battle scenes and that the readers could feel more of the anxiety associated with the situations—although one scene involving Emaddin and his mother escaping a fire does pretty well with that—but I suppose that is to be expected with the storytelling motif. Even so, this book does better in playing on the action and tension than its predecessor.

While the story still focuses more on the Sultan, Aqrab, and efforts to stop Aqrab’s schemes, Emaddin and Lamar—the daughter of the Sultan—both start to come into their own in this work. They contribute in surprising ways to the fight against Aqrab, and their bond with each other and Emaddin’s bond with their teacher, the philosopher Zeriab, take on greater depths that are also heartwarming. I would have expected both this book and the first one to be more about Emaddin based on the title and the descriptions on Amazon, but it’s enough for me that Emaddin and Lamar are maturing and growing stronger before the readers’ eyes.

Even with these improvements, some of the faults from the first work still exist. Namely, the writing still needs polishing and editing. Emaddin Adventures, Book Two is written a bit better than Book One, including putting more emphasis on action and tension. However, these problems have not fully been eradicated. Many potentially exciting scenes are still rushed and/or fall flat, and some of the dialogue confuses me as to whom is speaking when. The major issue still involves numerous grammatical errors that can bog down the narrative. As with the first work, though, this could easily be fixed with another round or two of editing.

Overall, I think that Emaddin Adventures, Book Two by Omar Pasha is more thoroughly developed and better written than Book One. I loved seeing more of the magic and magical beings of this world as well as the exploration of characters and their relationships. I hope that the third installment will prove to be even more fleshed-out than this one. However, the issues with the writing still persist, and I think that working out these issues would take these stories to the next level.

You can buy Emaddin Adventures, Book Two by Omar Pasha as a Kindle book on Amazon.

Do you know of a book you think I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!