James Hutson-Wiley’s THE TRAVELS OF IBN THOMAS takes place a decade after the events in his 2018 novel The Sugar Merchant. That novel ended in 1099 with the First Crusade. While readers can approach this narrative as a standalone story, they should know it frequently references characters and organizations introduced the previous novel, a fascinating, albeit dry narrative inspired by the history of medieval trade. In comparison, THE TRAVELS OF IBN THOMAS feels almost like a picaresque novel. Young physician Thoma ibn Thomas wants to visit Jerusalem to find his father. His long journey turns into a series of encounters, both friendly and hostile. With a Christian father and a Muslim mother, Thoma ibn Thomas is a child of two worlds. Because of this, he finds himself repeatedly challenged by both religions alike.

In his travels, Thoma meets slavers, pirates, merchants, noblemen, and religious fanatics. While prone to obliviousness, Thoma prevails through a combination of skill, smarts, and sheer luck. His friends and allies aid him too. There’s Count Ruggiero of Sicily and his temperamental mother Adelaide. There’s Roland, a former Cathar and a failed brigand who wants to become a knight. And then there’s Sukman the assassin, a merciless killer brought to tears by a sight of slaughtered horses. And yet, the characters pale before the setting itself. The Mediterranean region during medieval times is a place where Christians, Jews, and Muslims uneasily coexist. While prone to prejudice and conflict, they can also perform great deeds together. While religion affects all of their lives, the author implies evil comes when people try to bend faith to their ends. The best example of this is the character of Brother Jehan, a villainous knight whose fanaticism barely hides his bitterness and shame.

In THE TRAVELS OF IBN THOMAS, James Hutson-Wiley successfully depicts an overlooked but intriguing facet of history – medieval medicine. His characters react to disease not only with fatalism and superstition but also with earnest attempts to understand and treat it. Hutson-Wiley argues that, even though science and technology have advanced, not much has changed in human nature. And while we could debate is this a good thing, there’s no doubt that THE TRAVELS OF IBN THOMAS is an entertaining, compelling historical adventure.

In his historical novel THE TRAVELS OF IBN THOMAS, James Hutson-Wiley offers his readers an intriguing look into an oft-overlooked history of medieval medicine, all while telling a captivating adventure story.

~Danijel Štriga for IndieReader