The Dervish House
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Another day, another tram bomb. It seems everyone is after a piece of Turkey. But the shock waves from this random act of twenty-first-century terrorism will ripple far beyond Necatibey Cadessi.
Welcome to the world of The Dervish House—the great, ancient, paradoxical city of Istanbul, divided like a human brain, in the great, ancient, equally paradoxical nation of Turkey. With a population pushing one hundred million, and Istanbul alone swollen to fifteen million, Turkey is the largest, most populous, and most diverse nation in the new Europe, but also one of the poorest and most socially divided. It's a boom economy, the sweatshop of Europe, the bazaar of central Asia, the key to the immense gas wealth of Russia and central Asia.
The Dervish House is seven days, six characters, and three interconnected story strands all woven around the common core of the old dervish house of Aden Dede. A terror attack, a vision of djinn, a commodities scam, a hunt for half a miniature Koran that holds the key to new technology, and a quest for a creature from Arabic legend—that may not be so legendary after all.
Praise for The Dervish House
“To read McDonald is to fall in love with a place and to become drunk with it....If you've never read him, you're in for a treat. If you're a fan like me, you'll be delighted anew. What a wonderful, wonderful book.”—Boing Boing
"The Dervish House is an audacious look at the shift in the power centers of the world and an intense vision of one possible future." —New York Times
“Hugely adventurous and entertaining, sumptuously inventive and full of heart… it is likely to rank as Ian McDonald’s finest creative achievement.” —Locus
Customer Reviews
Near Future Thriller in Istanbul
Ian McDonald spins an amazing tale set in April 2027 in a fictional Istanbul. In a lot of ways, the story is a thriller, that focuses on six major characters who all come to have a connection to a suicide bombing on a tram.
These characters are rich and well developed. We see many of their backstories, motivations, and outlooks on life. But there are other non-human characters in this story, one of these is the Adem Dede Dervish House. A fictional wooden dancehall and monastery that has become the locations of the homes or businesses of some of the main characters.
The other non-human character is Istanbul of the near future. It is described in such loving detail and with so much character, I had to see if Mr. McDonald had lived there at some point. It is an unusual setting for a science fiction novel, but it works very well. The great depth of the city’s history is a counterpoint to the futuristic robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology that are featured in the novel.
The story is both exciting, and very touching. It is not surprising that in 2011 it won the BSFA, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and was a nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.