Welcome to a world loosely based on the Silk Road, where every empire rules under a different sky. Two dispossessed heirs, Temur of the great horse clans, and Samarkar once-princess and now wizard-in-training, meet and journey across the endless miles gathering allies and fighting against a murderous cult of the Goddess of Knowledge. The setting is amazing: weird and fantastic and grounded all at once, with believable versions of real Earth cultures without a return to the oddly democratic and Christian kingdom so commonly found in generic fantasy. Bear also treats horses as living creatures, rather than legged motorcycles.

The thing is that aside from the setting, the characters are empty vessels into which the Quest can be poured. Despite their royal blood, cosmopolitan learning, and understated yet exceptional skills, Temur and Samarkar have little agency. They run for survival, pray to their gods, and seek revenge. al-Sepher, the head of an assassin-like cult, at least seems to have a plan, even if his machinations seem to come down to sending outmatched goon squads against our heroes.

Having read another Silk Road themed fantasy recently (book 1 of The Mongoliad) I can safely say that Range of Ghosts is much much better. But while it has some really cool nuggets of detail, the overall plot isn't enough for me to actively seek out the sequels. Maybe if there's a sale, otherwise, my stack of books to read is deep enough these are going on the back-burner.