I've had a fascination with Ottoman (and Turkish) history since I visited the country in my Freshman year of college. I wrote my senior thesis on European women traveling through the Ottoman Empire in the 16th Century. I even ended up marrying a Turk (although that is completely coincidental). I also LOVE alternative histories! I've never seen an Ottoman alternative history, although there is Kiersten White's gender-bent Vlad the Impaler. With all of that said, this book interested me right from the description and the cover. It's got all of the makings of a great book: History, romance, action, the supernatural. I can't wait to read the full book! As with everything, there is always room for improvement, however. There has always been a large misconception about Islam in the Ottoman Empire. Most people were allowed to freely practice their chosen religions unimpeded. There wouldn't have been any forced conversion or mass killing of people who refused to do so. Ottoman soldiers also tended to leave women and children alone. A lot of the words used in the book are a mix of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. While Turkish borrows from these other two languages a lot, they have their own version of words for a lot of things, and did even before modern times. Some of the names, like Halil, are incorrectly assigned (this is man's name, not a woman's). It still, all in all, sounds like a great read!