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Marrakesh #1
Marrakesh
Amid the colourful bazaars and dangerous alleyways of the legendary city of Marrakesh, the poet, Daniel, rescues the woman of his dreams.
But she is not just his one true love…
Siana is the daughter of the desert and descendant of the last of the fabled forty thieves of Ali Baba.
Together, they set off to find the legendary treasure the Eye of Paradise, certain that no one can stand in the way of their quest.
No one except the evil Dakkar.
Born of Satan, living only to possess the Eye, Dakkar’s truly awesome black magic is already at work.
And with Marrakesh in his clutches, he will stop at nothing to obtain his prize.
Graham Diamond’s Marrakesh is an enthralling fantasy, packed with adventure. An exotic novel, sure to delight fans of The Arabian Nights.
‘An excellent story … absorbing … keeps one reading on eagerly.’ Andre Norton
‘Graham Diamond has written a novel that stands out and dares to be different.’ Rising Shadow
Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in New York City. He is best known for books such as The Haven, Lady of the Haven, The Thief of Kalimar, Slack Midnight, Chocolate Lenin and Forest Wars. He soon turned to other genres; including historical fiction, thrillers, and later a true story of a Holocaust survivor’s family during World War II, Maybe You Will Survive. Diamond was employed as an editorial artist by the New York Times for many years, and has also taught creative writing in both New York and California.
But she is not just his one true love…
Siana is the daughter of the desert and descendant of the last of the fabled forty thieves of Ali Baba.
Together, they set off to find the legendary treasure the Eye of Paradise, certain that no one can stand in the way of their quest.
No one except the evil Dakkar.
Born of Satan, living only to possess the Eye, Dakkar’s truly awesome black magic is already at work.
And with Marrakesh in his clutches, he will stop at nothing to obtain his prize.
Graham Diamond’s Marrakesh is an enthralling fantasy, packed with adventure. An exotic novel, sure to delight fans of The Arabian Nights.
‘An excellent story … absorbing … keeps one reading on eagerly.’ Andre Norton
‘Graham Diamond has written a novel that stands out and dares to be different.’ Rising Shadow
Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in New York City. He is best known for books such as The Haven, Lady of the Haven, The Thief of Kalimar, Slack Midnight, Chocolate Lenin and Forest Wars. He soon turned to other genres; including historical fiction, thrillers, and later a true story of a Holocaust survivor’s family during World War II, Maybe You Will Survive. Diamond was employed as an editorial artist by the New York Times for many years, and has also taught creative writing in both New York and California.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published December 12, 1981
4 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Graham Diamond
33 books47 followersIn 2015 Venture Press Ltd, UK contracted to reissue seven of Graham Diamond's most noted titles. Among them was THE HAVEN, Diamond's renown cult classic. Others include the EMPIRE PRINCESS series:
LADY OF THE HAVEN; DUNGEONS OF KUBA, THE FALCON OF EDEN, THE BEASTS OF HADES.
In addition, the two part SAMARKAND and SAMARKAND DAWN were released to new worldwide audiences.
Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, after World War II, and his family moved to the United States when he was a young child. He was raised in New York City, on the Upper West Side, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art. He attended CCNY in NY, and the Art Students League of New York.
He worked for the New York Times as a production manager in Editorial Art for many years. He has also taught creative writing in New York and California.
-Wikipedia
LADY OF THE HAVEN; DUNGEONS OF KUBA, THE FALCON OF EDEN, THE BEASTS OF HADES.
In addition, the two part SAMARKAND and SAMARKAND DAWN were released to new worldwide audiences.
Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, after World War II, and his family moved to the United States when he was a young child. He was raised in New York City, on the Upper West Side, and graduated from the High School of Music and Art. He attended CCNY in NY, and the Art Students League of New York.
He worked for the New York Times as a production manager in Editorial Art for many years. He has also taught creative writing in New York and California.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
didn-t-finish
December 8, 2016I received a free copy of this ebook though NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Normally I push myself to finish NetGalley books. I've received them with the expectation and understanding that I will read them and share my opinion. But I made it to 6% of Marrakesh on my Kindle and had to quit.
It's not that the story is bad. But I wasn't captivated, and I found some of the descriptive passages tedious. I didn't quite understand the necessity of the beginning with the nameless man and the innkeeper, who apparently is the one telling the story (the rest of the book). However, I admit I only read 6% of the book. Perhaps the story picks up and gets exciting.
My reason for quitting is that the formatting of the book is so horrible that it is nearly unreadable. Here is just one example (exactly as it appears on my Kindle, plus italics to set it apart from my review):
The youngest of the trio, perhaps thirteen years old and most developed of them all, put her hands to her mouth and blushingly laughed as she nudged her oldest sister with an impolite something."
Blushing, the sixteen-year-old took a single squealed.
"Hello, Fatimah," he replied.
elbow. "Go on," she insisted, "Say
step forward. "Hello, Daniel," she
The three daughters of Akbar giggled once more.
In the short amount of the book I've read, I can't even tell how many times I ran into things like that. Funky punctuation. Missing words. Missing parts of sentences. Missing paragraphs? Missing . . . who knows what! It's impossible to read a book--and understand it--when it's not all there.
And so I quit.
Sorry.
Normally I push myself to finish NetGalley books. I've received them with the expectation and understanding that I will read them and share my opinion. But I made it to 6% of Marrakesh on my Kindle and had to quit.
It's not that the story is bad. But I wasn't captivated, and I found some of the descriptive passages tedious. I didn't quite understand the necessity of the beginning with the nameless man and the innkeeper, who apparently is the one telling the story (the rest of the book). However, I admit I only read 6% of the book. Perhaps the story picks up and gets exciting.
My reason for quitting is that the formatting of the book is so horrible that it is nearly unreadable. Here is just one example (exactly as it appears on my Kindle, plus italics to set it apart from my review):
The youngest of the trio, perhaps thirteen years old and most developed of them all, put her hands to her mouth and blushingly laughed as she nudged her oldest sister with an impolite something."
Blushing, the sixteen-year-old took a single squealed.
"Hello, Fatimah," he replied.
elbow. "Go on," she insisted, "Say
step forward. "Hello, Daniel," she
The three daughters of Akbar giggled once more.
In the short amount of the book I've read, I can't even tell how many times I ran into things like that. Funky punctuation. Missing words. Missing parts of sentences. Missing paragraphs? Missing . . . who knows what! It's impossible to read a book--and understand it--when it's not all there.
And so I quit.
Sorry.
April 10, 2019
Better than a lot of fantasy I've encountered in the last year, in part because it's not bloated to 800 pages by repeating itself 3 times in a paragraph. It also had a romantic facet to the story, which is nearly a requirement to hold my interest. I also found the setting a nice change from the typical fantasy kingdom.
Some of the writing could have been improved. The combat scenes, for their length, ought to have been described better; they just read like a laundry list of thrusts and jabs. Then details are mentioned for no real reason, as they are ignored later. For instance, when the main characters meet, Siana is anxious to get her dagger back from Daniel because it was a family heirloom. Later, when it's lost by Daniel, she merely thinks 'it can be easily replaced in the butcher's shop'.
There's also a great deal of "I can't explain this now, you wouldn't understand/you're not ready/there's no time", to the point where it gets tiring. Especially when one promises to explain all, explains one thing, then there's no time to explain the rest.
Again though, these were just pet peeves, and overall it was enjoyable. If you enjoy fantasy, check it out.
Some of the writing could have been improved. The combat scenes, for their length, ought to have been described better; they just read like a laundry list of thrusts and jabs. Then details are mentioned for no real reason, as they are ignored later. For instance, when the main characters meet, Siana is anxious to get her dagger back from Daniel because it was a family heirloom. Later, when it's lost by Daniel, she merely thinks 'it can be easily replaced in the butcher's shop'.
There's also a great deal of "I can't explain this now, you wouldn't understand/you're not ready/there's no time", to the point where it gets tiring. Especially when one promises to explain all, explains one thing, then there's no time to explain the rest.
Again though, these were just pet peeves, and overall it was enjoyable. If you enjoy fantasy, check it out.
November 9, 2016
Non-Stop Action Here!
Diamond does it again in Marrakesh. He crafts a story of romance amidst the world of beggars and thieves in far away land. In shades of The Arabian Nights Marrakesh takes it to another level- one more unique with mysterious characters only this author can create. The action is nonstop in this enthralling adventure.
Diamond does it again in Marrakesh. He crafts a story of romance amidst the world of beggars and thieves in far away land. In shades of The Arabian Nights Marrakesh takes it to another level- one more unique with mysterious characters only this author can create. The action is nonstop in this enthralling adventure.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews