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The Siege Of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
The Blurb On The Back:
The Empires of Varkal and Med’ariz have always been at war.
Alefret, the founder of Varkal’s pacifist resistance, was bombed and maimed by his own government, locked up in a secret prison and tortured by a ‘visionary’ scientist. But now they’re offering him a chance of freedom.
Ordered to infiltrate one of Med’ariz’s flying cities, obeying the bloodthirsty zealot Qhudur, he must find fellow anti-war activists in the enemy’s population and provoke them into an uprising against their rulers.
He should refuse to serve the warmongers, but what if he could end this pointless war once and for all? Is that worth compromising his own morals and the principles of his fellow resistance members?
The Empires of Varkal and Med’ariz have been at war for years over territory and influence. Med’ariz, ruled by a king and queen, is more technologically advanced with its flying cities and drones whereas Varkal, governed by a mad president, is prepared to do whatever it takes to win, even if that means using child soldiers and exhausting its fleet of pteranodons.
Alefret is unusual in Varkal in that he actively opposes the war. Together with some like-minded other citizens, he formed a group called the Pact, a pacifist organisation whose members refuse to engage in violence. Although their impact was limited, the authorities moved swiftly and Alefret and his compatriots were arrested and taken to a secret prison. Alefret doesn’t know how long he has been there, but he’s been tortured and having lost his leg in a bombing before he was captured, has been the subject of experiments by a scientist working for the regime who believes he can make it grow back. Every day, he endures brutal interrogation, forced medical treatment and watches the execution of the other prisoners while wondering when it will be his day to die.
Then one day, Alefret is visited by a Varkal general who has a deal for him. If Alefret agrees to travel to Med’ariz’s capital - its last floating city - with Qhudur (a guard at the prison and one of Alefret’s most brutal torturers) to make contact with an equivalent anti-war group there, then Qhudur can implement a plan that will end the war once and for all.
Although Alefret fears what Qhudur’s plan involves, he can’t help but believe that if there is a chance to bring about peace then he must take it. And so he and Qhudur set off on a journey, during which Alefret is forced to confront what his pacifism means, what its consequences are and how far he’d go to live by his beliefs.
Premee Mohamed’s literary SF novel is a sophisticated examination of what it means to be antiwar and the impact of conflict on those who fight. Alefret is an interesting character and I enjoyed the way Mohamed teases out his backstory and motivations while there are moments of real suspense and tension within the story. However the final quarter is rushed and Qhudur an under-developed foil whose unshakeable fanaticism doesn’t ring quite true.
I picked this up because Premee Mohamed is a writer who I have often seen recommended on social media where she has a reputation for well constructed, thought-provoking speculative fiction. At the same time I was a little wary because I’ve seen this book described as literary speculative fiction and I have a love/hate relationship with anything literary because it tends to be strong on character and themes but very light on plot and world building.
This is definitely one of those books where the focus is on character, here the pacifist Alefret. I think the main reason to read this book is because of the way Mohamed slowly reveals and explores Alefret’s background, motivations and hopes. I found him fascinating - from the slow drip reveal about his village background and how his physical appearance (his great height, facial deformity and assumptions as to his mental faculties) feed into people’s reactions to and expectations of him. Mohamed does a good job of exploring why he is a pacifist and how the mission demanded of him challenges that given that he’s smart enough to know that there is likely to be some kind of violence involved and whether he thinks that’s worth it to finish the war.
However while a lot comes out of his conversations with people such as the spy chief at the camp nearest the Med’ariz’s floating city, his interactions with the fanatic Qhudur are less satisfying, in part because Qhudur is such a flat character. I don’t know if that was intentional on Mohamed’s part (i.e. because it’s a commentary on the shallow nature of those who support and further the efforts of warmongers) but it does make for repetition in their interactions that doesn’t go anywhere and I couldn’t help but feel that it was a missed opportunity given that it would have given an additional facet to Alerfret’s dilemma over what he’s doing.
The last thing I’d say about Alefret is that he’s that rare example of a character who’s passive for tracts of the book (which is usually a big turn off for me) but Mohamed makes it work by offsetting it by showing his thought processes and inner monologue. This works particularly well once he and Qhudur reach the floating city and are forced to take shelter with a couple of elderly ladies because Alefret dare not do anything in case they discover who they are but is terrified of what Qhudur may do to them. There is real tension in these scenes as the reader isn’t sure in what way it’s going to end.
Also good in this book is the world building as Mohamed draws a distinction between the superior Med’ariz technology and the Varkal technology, which seems to rely more on adapted insects (my favourite being the adapted wasps used to treat Alefret’s leg). More subtle is the way Mohamed draws out the history and background of the warring nations and the speculation that their respective populations give for why the war is going on. I particularly enjoyed the way Mohamed draws a distinction between the child soldiers used by the Varkal and the child recruits to the Med’ariz pacifist group (notably 12-year-old Cera who has found a substitute family in the pacifist group and yet is still used by their leadership).
Where I felt the book was lacking was in the last quarter when Alefret and Qhudur reach the floating city. Here the action speeds up and for me it was too fast, the developments come too swiftly and as a result it feels very rushed with the developments unearned and an interaction between Cera and Qhudur rang false, existing purely as a motivational development for Alefret’s later action. That’s a shame because had this all come about at a slower pace like the rest of the book, then I think it would have had greater resonance.
That said, there was a lot about this book that I admired and enjoyed and I certainly came away seeing why Mohamed has such a strong reputation in the genre. As such, I’d definitely be keen to check out her other work on the strength of this.
The Verdict:
Premee Mohamed’s literary SF novel is a sophisticated examination of what it means to be antiwar and the impact of conflict on those who fight. Alefret is an interesting character and I enjoyed the way Mohamed teases out his backstory and motivations while there are moments of real suspense and tension within the story. However the final quarter is rushed and Qhudur an under-developed foil whose unshakeable fanaticism doesn’t ring quite true.
THE SIEGE OF BURNING GRASS will be released in the United States on 12th March 2024 and in the United Kingdom on 14th March 2024. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.
Alefret, the founder of Varkal’s pacifist resistance, was bombed and maimed by his own government, locked up in a secret prison and tortured by a ‘visionary’ scientist. But now they’re offering him a chance of freedom.
Ordered to infiltrate one of Med’ariz’s flying cities, obeying the bloodthirsty zealot Qhudur, he must find fellow anti-war activists in the enemy’s population and provoke them into an uprising against their rulers.
He should refuse to serve the warmongers, but what if he could end this pointless war once and for all? Is that worth compromising his own morals and the principles of his fellow resistance members?
The Empires of Varkal and Med’ariz have been at war for years over territory and influence. Med’ariz, ruled by a king and queen, is more technologically advanced with its flying cities and drones whereas Varkal, governed by a mad president, is prepared to do whatever it takes to win, even if that means using child soldiers and exhausting its fleet of pteranodons.
Alefret is unusual in Varkal in that he actively opposes the war. Together with some like-minded other citizens, he formed a group called the Pact, a pacifist organisation whose members refuse to engage in violence. Although their impact was limited, the authorities moved swiftly and Alefret and his compatriots were arrested and taken to a secret prison. Alefret doesn’t know how long he has been there, but he’s been tortured and having lost his leg in a bombing before he was captured, has been the subject of experiments by a scientist working for the regime who believes he can make it grow back. Every day, he endures brutal interrogation, forced medical treatment and watches the execution of the other prisoners while wondering when it will be his day to die.
Then one day, Alefret is visited by a Varkal general who has a deal for him. If Alefret agrees to travel to Med’ariz’s capital - its last floating city - with Qhudur (a guard at the prison and one of Alefret’s most brutal torturers) to make contact with an equivalent anti-war group there, then Qhudur can implement a plan that will end the war once and for all.
Although Alefret fears what Qhudur’s plan involves, he can’t help but believe that if there is a chance to bring about peace then he must take it. And so he and Qhudur set off on a journey, during which Alefret is forced to confront what his pacifism means, what its consequences are and how far he’d go to live by his beliefs.
Premee Mohamed’s literary SF novel is a sophisticated examination of what it means to be antiwar and the impact of conflict on those who fight. Alefret is an interesting character and I enjoyed the way Mohamed teases out his backstory and motivations while there are moments of real suspense and tension within the story. However the final quarter is rushed and Qhudur an under-developed foil whose unshakeable fanaticism doesn’t ring quite true.
I picked this up because Premee Mohamed is a writer who I have often seen recommended on social media where she has a reputation for well constructed, thought-provoking speculative fiction. At the same time I was a little wary because I’ve seen this book described as literary speculative fiction and I have a love/hate relationship with anything literary because it tends to be strong on character and themes but very light on plot and world building.
This is definitely one of those books where the focus is on character, here the pacifist Alefret. I think the main reason to read this book is because of the way Mohamed slowly reveals and explores Alefret’s background, motivations and hopes. I found him fascinating - from the slow drip reveal about his village background and how his physical appearance (his great height, facial deformity and assumptions as to his mental faculties) feed into people’s reactions to and expectations of him. Mohamed does a good job of exploring why he is a pacifist and how the mission demanded of him challenges that given that he’s smart enough to know that there is likely to be some kind of violence involved and whether he thinks that’s worth it to finish the war.
However while a lot comes out of his conversations with people such as the spy chief at the camp nearest the Med’ariz’s floating city, his interactions with the fanatic Qhudur are less satisfying, in part because Qhudur is such a flat character. I don’t know if that was intentional on Mohamed’s part (i.e. because it’s a commentary on the shallow nature of those who support and further the efforts of warmongers) but it does make for repetition in their interactions that doesn’t go anywhere and I couldn’t help but feel that it was a missed opportunity given that it would have given an additional facet to Alerfret’s dilemma over what he’s doing.
The last thing I’d say about Alefret is that he’s that rare example of a character who’s passive for tracts of the book (which is usually a big turn off for me) but Mohamed makes it work by offsetting it by showing his thought processes and inner monologue. This works particularly well once he and Qhudur reach the floating city and are forced to take shelter with a couple of elderly ladies because Alefret dare not do anything in case they discover who they are but is terrified of what Qhudur may do to them. There is real tension in these scenes as the reader isn’t sure in what way it’s going to end.
Also good in this book is the world building as Mohamed draws a distinction between the superior Med’ariz technology and the Varkal technology, which seems to rely more on adapted insects (my favourite being the adapted wasps used to treat Alefret’s leg). More subtle is the way Mohamed draws out the history and background of the warring nations and the speculation that their respective populations give for why the war is going on. I particularly enjoyed the way Mohamed draws a distinction between the child soldiers used by the Varkal and the child recruits to the Med’ariz pacifist group (notably 12-year-old Cera who has found a substitute family in the pacifist group and yet is still used by their leadership).
Where I felt the book was lacking was in the last quarter when Alefret and Qhudur reach the floating city. Here the action speeds up and for me it was too fast, the developments come too swiftly and as a result it feels very rushed with the developments unearned and an interaction between Cera and Qhudur rang false, existing purely as a motivational development for Alefret’s later action. That’s a shame because had this all come about at a slower pace like the rest of the book, then I think it would have had greater resonance.
That said, there was a lot about this book that I admired and enjoyed and I certainly came away seeing why Mohamed has such a strong reputation in the genre. As such, I’d definitely be keen to check out her other work on the strength of this.
The Verdict:
Premee Mohamed’s literary SF novel is a sophisticated examination of what it means to be antiwar and the impact of conflict on those who fight. Alefret is an interesting character and I enjoyed the way Mohamed teases out his backstory and motivations while there are moments of real suspense and tension within the story. However the final quarter is rushed and Qhudur an under-developed foil whose unshakeable fanaticism doesn’t ring quite true.
THE SIEGE OF BURNING GRASS will be released in the United States on 12th March 2024 and in the United Kingdom on 14th March 2024. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.