Alternative History and the Usual (Pashazade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood)

Member Name: Alindrail

Product:	Pashazade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Date:	04/05/01 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's cool.

Disadvantages: Waiting for it to become perfect

As usual JC Grimswood has produced a great little book full of action, characterisation, and hi-octane entertainment. A mixture of suave coolness with hard edged vibes, and more brand names than you could shake a stick at!

It is the near future, but the world is not as we know it. Alexandria is a hub as essential as New York, and the Ottoman empire is still at large. This is the story of Raf, the son of the Sultan of Tunisia... or is he? What follows is a tale of murder, with Raf as the main suspect - who is trying to pin the blame on him?

Interwoven is the story of Raf's past - his childhood, and the events which led him to this foreign city where he is respected and lives a lie.

The characters are engaging, with Raf shining as a kind of bumbling anti-hero who is essentially good, but keeps falling into trouble. The islamic world is not alien to him, but he doesn't agree with many of its tenants, which leads to eventual conflict. His protection of his niece's ward is heart warming in the way which it emerges almost instinctively.

This isn't Ian M. Banks, but it's close, and getting there all the time. A little less 'out there' than his previous books, it is still a mind-boggling array of action and gadgets, with people who are super-human yet human, with abilities that don;t show, and verging on madness.

Great writing, and a cracking read.

Summary: