I am a long-time fan of time travel and alt-history and love when the two blend together - particularly in the hands of a talented page-turner author. Khoury has done a marvelous job presenting a plausible modern-day Ottoman Empire that is detailed, eerily replete with the more deplorable aspects of myriad current world governments, and populated by characters that jump off the page. The history was fascinating (I didn't know much about the early Ottomans or the siege of Vienna), the pacing was spot-on, and the characters were incredibly well-developed. I was immediately drawn in to the story and the pacing meant that that enthusiasm never let up. Khoury does a fabulous job blending detailed history (real and alt), narrative structure, and edge-of-your-seat drama. The result is an amalgamation of information, action, and emotion that held me by the throat throughout...