The Broken Kingdom by H.G. Hussein

The Broken Kingdom by H.G. Hussein

If you are looking for an exciting and adventurous read for your teen during the summer break, this is it. This book is centered with Muslim characters that lead and navigate their life with Islamic guidelines and values.

The Sultan, the Caliph of the Islamic Empire has been restless due to a reoccurring dream involving an unknown land. Adam ibn Mustafa, a skilled soldier, is assigned to go on a mission to solve the mystery of this land and discover its connection to the Empire. His journey takes days and nights, on sea and dry lands, mountains and forests. His various skills are put to test when he is faced with wild animals, a landslide and a tangled mystery that has crippled an entire land and its people.

This chapter book is presented on 272 pages. The story is set in the golden days of the Islamic era and it presents many Islamic morals and lessons through the main and supporting characters. It is well written and creates a clear description on the events of the story line.

It takes a few chapters to build up to the main events of the story. Once I got to that point, it was hard to put down, always in suspense of what would happen next. I appreciate the fact that the author has made an effort to ensure that every time the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) was mentioned, it was followed by "PBUH". I have read fictional books that don't include it and I find it to be quite irritating. There are minor oversights on the text, surprisingly, I didn't mind them since the overall execution was done well.

It is clear that this book is written for a young adult Muslim audience due to the nature of the content. This particular demographic is quite under served when it comes to well written fictional books that centre around Islamic lessons. Based on the ending of the book, there is potential for a sequel, which would be amazing. This is the author's first book and I can see so many possibilities for his work in the future. If there are more books to come, I hope he remains within the same reader range to create more options for our youth in this genre.

I would highly recommend this book.

June 14/2019