Let's get this straight right out of the gate: Lost Paths is a supplement. You'll need Mage: the Ascension to use it fully, and there's enough information inside it to use with Mage: the Sorceror's Crusade and some information to make it work with Laws of Ascension, the LARP version of Mage.
Now, that said, let's see how well they did to integrate the Middle East into the World of Darkness.
Good News: Meaty information on the Ahl-i-Batin culture, the Taftani culture, the divisions and politics, the notables of both Traditions, and an interesting extension of the Arcane Background, which unfortunately the book comes out and says is only allowed for the Ahl-i-Batini, something I strongly disagree with. It seems perfectly rational to me that certain members of the Euthanatos or Akashic Brotherhood would also know how to make themselves difficult to find in order to contemplate the mysteries of the world or to organize an assassination undisturbed.
But the good news is, the higher Arcane comes at an interesting price: you can't control it's effects once it gets beyond Arcane 5. Also, the Taftani are fleshed out, and apparently it is due to their fixation on Truth and the Freedom (and Responsibility) to inquire into that Truth that compels them to perform vulgar magic at every opportunity. After all, if things are made so by magic, it is dishonest to hide that fact, even if the world isn't ready to handle the truth. This attitude, along with their fractional nature fueled by the quest for Freedom, has pushed them to near extinction. That, of course, and the insular culture of both groups, which has them sometimes associating with (to the Western mind)questionable allies, including religious extremists and drug sealers.
Notice I said "to near extinction." The Ahl-i-Batini have had several of their leaders come out of their high Arcane (Occulted) state and, unlike several of the more prominent Traditions, they have some savvy leadership to guide their oh-so-subtle assault on the Technocracy and Nephandi. Beware the enemy you don't even notice! On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Taftani, are as defiantly blatant as ever, gladly martyring themselves in big, flashy displays of vulgar magic and giving the finger to the Technocracy in "Lion of the Desert" fashion, and due to these efforts, it is *their* paradigm, and not the Technocracy's, that holds sway in certain areas of the Arabian Peninsula. These things combine to give a ray of hope in the otherwise gloomy setting of the World of Darkness.
Bad news: Yet again, White Wolf trots out a lexicon to help the players get more into character, without bothering to show how the words are pronounced. Bad omission, especially when trying to integrate the language of a largely foreign culture and mindset into the game.
Yet again, there are some rotes that use Spheres in ways that don't quite mesh with the basic magic rules. (Infidel's Laughter uses Spirit for what reason I can't comprehend, and Sha'ir's Sentence uses Entropy when it seems Prime would be a better choice.)It does get confusing for new players and STs when it seems that White Wolf modifies it's own rules every supplement or so.
In this supplement, it has an Ahl-i-Batin, in character, describing how his Tradition founded Islam. Not only is this a good way to cheese off the wrong people In Real Life, not only does it seem like a major swerve away from White Wolf's policy about not making the humans pointless playthings of the supernatural, it then mentions that many Ahl-i-Batini are devout Moslems, which gives me headaches to no end, but apparently doesn't faze them one bit. Not to mention that forming a major religion is *not* all that subtle.
And last but not least, it gives a very thin overview of the modern Middle East, with it's various cultures, clashes, and viewpoints. There's no "day in the life" of an ordinary human in the Middle East sections that they mention, something that you would have thought they'd attempt to include, this being a Year of the Scarab product and all.
Indifferent: There is a section on the Djinni in the back of the book. While it does distinguish them from others of the Umbral Courts, it doesn't give them that exotic spark of different-ness that seems so vital to the Middle Eastern paradigm. Also, there's no unique Merits or Flaws for the Ahl-i-Batini or the Taftani, and they mention jann (the offspring of a human and Djinn), but then do nothing with it. Whether this is good or bad is up to you.
In sum: meaty information on two Traditions so different and yet so alike, but skimpy info on the societies and cultures surrounding them.
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(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)