The decision to open a book about an alternate history Islamic empire with a suicide bombing, followed by several beheadings, was an...interesting choice. Not sure what kind of tone the author will ultimately take toward Islam or Christianity, and I don't care to read more and find out. The tone didn't really grab me, and it seemed like the author was cramming in tons of extraneous details as more of a proof that they'd done research than because they actually enhanced the storytelling.