I enjoy Robert Irwin's fiction (Arabian Nightmare, Prayer-Cushions of the Flesh, etc), and I wonder if anyone can recommend something similar...

I'm seeking an epic of the Near East, anything from Medieval times to 19th Century, with sultans and sheikhs and harems and drugs...something that retains that "exotic mystique" the Near East once held for Westerners.

I'm having a tough time of it. The most I've come up with are "desert love" Harlequin Romances about some English girl or other being adbucted by some sheikh or another.

Actually, a Kirkus reviewer pinned it down exactly for me, in his/her review of Colin Falconer's "The Sultan's Harem" (a book which the reviewer claimed failed to realize this): "Looking for a sensual tale of debauched sultans and languorous odalisques who scheme, sulk, and smoke dope?"

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

Awhile back, I read The Fourth Queen by Debbie Taylor and remember enjoying it.

It's early twentieth century but you might like Jerusalem Poker by Edward Whittemore

Yep, read that one a few years ago, plus the sequels (which became less fantastical as they progressed, which I guess was Whittemore's intention).

Thanks for the recommendations, please keep them coming!

Karl May, Salgari, Freya Stark - assassins.

The Sheik by E. M. Hull

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7031

Flashman! Has several adventures in the near east. Or, if you want to go for the source material check out any of several biographies of Sir Richard Francis Burton.

I enjoyed Harem by Dora Levy Mossanen.

Also, though it's not the same thing at all, have you read any of Robert Irwin's non-fiction?

If you read Whittemore, can we assume you also have read Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Perhaps also Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt. The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett includes one set in the Middle East Pawn in Frankincense that might qualify.

Mensagem editada pelo autor, Out 18, 2009, 3:52pm.