The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday
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4.7 • 9 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVELLA
"Saad Z. Hossain continues to blow through the flimsy walls of genre like a whirlwind with The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday, sweeping science-fiction, fantasy, myth, and satire into the wildly imaginative vortex of his ever-expanding fictional universe of alternate djinn-history and futures. Hossain's wit and wry compassion create a vision of humanity's hurtling path through time and space as both farcical and epic, leaving a blazing trail of casualties and wonders."—Indra Das
When the djinn king Melek Ahmar wakes up after millennia of imprisoned slumber, he finds a world vastly different from what he remembers. Arrogant and bombastic, he comes down the mountain expecting an easy conquest: the wealthy, spectacular city state of Kathmandu, ruled by the all-knowing, all-seeing tyrant AI Karma. To his surprise, he finds that Kathmandu is a cut-price paradise, where citizens want for nothing and even the dregs of society are distinctly unwilling to revolt.
Everyone seems happy, except for the old Gurkha soldier Bhan Gurung. Knife saint, recidivist, and mass murderer, he is an exile from Kathmandu, pursuing a forty-year-old vendetta that leads to the very heart of Karma. Pushed and prodded by Gurung, Melek Ahmer finds himself in ever deeper conflicts, until they finally face off against Karma and her forces. In the upheaval that follows, old crimes will come to light and the city itself will be forced to change.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hossain (Djinn City) spins satire out of myth and science fiction in the near-future postapocalyptic paradise of Kathmandu. Djinn ruler Melek Ahmar arises from eons of slumber to find that the humans who once feared and worshipped him have long since forgotten magic in favor of technology. The world he knew has been ravaged by climate disaster; now each human is implanted with tech that produces a personal microclimate. The city is ruled by an algorithm, Karma, which monitors thoughts and awards points for good behavior. Desperate for a good party and some worshippers, Melek Ahmar attempts to start a revolution, only to find the humans weirdly reticent. Egged on by Bhan Gurung, a recidivist Gurkha soldier with his own motives for taking the city, and chased by Hamilcar Pande, a government official with total faith in the system, the djinn's quest for chaos leads all three to discover the dark secret of how this paradise came to be. Compact and quippy, this is a whirlwind story that cleverly blends genres and finds humor and pathos in human failure.
