Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1457076 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ashraf Bey is not who he seems--a rich Ottoman aristocrat to whom the Iskandryia of a rather different 21st century is more or less his oyster--nor is he simply what he thinks he is--a minor street criminal shipped off to North Africa when he fell foul of his employers. Accused yet again of murders he did not commit, he finds out on the run that he is better than he thinks he is--smarter and more capable and also someone whom people trust and love.

Set in a mildly different alternate world, Pashazade is a thriller with a solidly imagined mystery at its core; it is also a novel about a man finally and belatedly growing up. Ashraf's sense of responsibility for an orphaned girl and for the woman with whom he has refused an arranged marriage are part of what makes him admirable; he has learned the hard way not to treat people as disposable. The details of this alternate near future--an Arab world that remained Turkish after a 1914 war that never quite became important, and into which some slick cybertechnology and genetic gadgetry have slotted without changing anything fundamental--are effectively imagined, but never more important than the people. --Roz Kaveney

STARLOG
'Pashazade is the author's finest yet'

THE ALIEN ONLINE
'... a deeply original work, carrying the seed of Grimwood's vision of an alternate future which I feel sure will blossom'

Customer Reviews

Ashraf Bey - an Ottoman Rebus!
Meet Ashraf Bey, a future-crime hero in classic noir style. Like all Grimwood's heroes Raf has more to him than first meets the eye, but unlike some of the earlier characters, this is someone with the qualities to become one of the great detectives of the 21st century. But enough about Ashraf Bey, what about the book? JCG fans will recognise Pashazade as a real departure - more crime than sf, it is still set, like all his previous novels, in a near future with an alternative history.

But don't panic, because despite a start that's more thoughtful and thought-provoking than, say Lucifer's Dragon or reMix, Pashazade accelerates to a fast, furious and compelling conclusion, featuring all the usual JCG motifs - cutting edge technology, a fox in Raf's head and a soundtrack that practically echoes off the pages. Whether you're an established fan or a 'JCG virgin' a tenner says you'll be gagging for the next instalment.

Where's the Originality?
First of all, if anyone thinks setting a cyberpunk/noir in the Arab/Islamic world is a brand new idea, I would refer them to the late George Alex Effinger's '80s Marid Audran series (When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, and The Exile Kiss) and short story collection (Budayeen Nights). That series featured a down and out 22nd-century Arab gumshoe in grimy Cairo who is unexpectedly elevated into a powerful position and makes heavy use of brain implants in order to track down a few murderers, exact vengeance, and try and figure out just who his parents actually were. Hmmm... sounds an awful lot like this book, doesn't it?

Grimwood's story is a fairly off-the-rack "reluctant hero" tale about Ashraf, a small time hoodlum unexpectedly sprung from jail in the U.S. and brought to Alexandria/Iskandriya by an aunt he didn't know he had. Apparently he's the son of the Bey of Tunis, and therefore a very important young man with carte blanche and legal immunity to almost anything. However, it's clear that he's also got all kinds of genetic modifications, the source of which is left deliberately murky. He's also got some kind of invisible advisor fox (in D&D days, we would have called it a familiar), and a whole host of issues. Soon after his arrival in "Isk", his aunt is killed and the police seem to think he did it. So naturally, he must carry out his own investigation in order to clear his name -- with the help of a ponytailed ex-American Chief of Police. At the same time, Ashraf's past -- from lonely boarding school upbringing, to working for Seattle Chinese gangster Mu San -- is measured out in italicized flashbacks.

Actually, the entire first third of the book is rather confusingly arranged, with chapters in reverse chronological sequence and shifting points of view. It's an unnecessary and messy structure which only makes the story that much harder to get into. Eventually, things settle down and Grimwood sticks with telling the story from Ashraf's perspective -- albeit, still continually interrupted by flashbacks. It's as if the author was afraid neither Ashraf's present or past were interesting enough on their own to hold the reader's attention for extended periods of time, so he mixed them together to keep the reader from getting bored! Pacing is definitely a problem in the book, it's generally exceedingly slow, but also kind of choppy due to short chapters and the flashbacks mentioned above.

The story trudges onward, with Ashraf racing to solve the murder before the authorities come down on him. Fortunately, his 9-year-old cousin adores him and sticks to him like glue. And as in so many cliche films, the kid will prove to have world-class computer hacking skills that will become pivotal in solving the mystery. His other ally is the woman he is supposed to get married to, the rebellious daughter of a mega-billionaire industrialist. Also as in so many cliche films, they get off on the wrong foot, bicker, and then predictably fall into bed together -- and of course, she's got a comic-book body. In the end, the villain is perfectly predictable, although the motive comes out of nowhere and seems quite ridiculous. The ending comes rather suddenly, and many readers will leave feeling rather frustrated -- there's a lot left to be answered in the second and third books.

Having grown up in the Middle East, and being a moderate sci-fi fan and a big mystery fan, I was looking forward to this book. I was especially curious to see how the alternate history elements were going to be portrayed and used. And while on the one hand, it's nice that he didn't make the alternate history too intrusive, there didn't really seem to be a whole lot of point to it either. Perhaps the geopolitical differences will have a greater impact on the second and third books in the series, but in this one they don't enter into it that much. Also, many reviewers seem to be misunderstanding the alternate history. In this series, the Ottoman Empire is intact, but it is essentially just a regional power, not a world power. That's why a German is in charge and the Khedive is just a figurehead locked in a gilded palace. Also, if you're going to set up an alternate history setting, why are all the designer brand names the same as in our own world. Since in this setting Germany dominates Europe, wouldn't there be a lot more German designer brand names instead of Japanese and Italian?

In addition to the above weaknesses, the "cyberpunk" elements lack any originality. I'm not a big fan of the genre, but everything seemed familiar: hacking, genetic modifications, pet robots, implants, drugs, viral music, even a ridiculous underground club. And in a nutshell, that's kind of the problem with the whole book -- it all feels recycled. The setting's been done before, the main character is a classic archetype, the relationships are all cliche, the plot is classic "must clear my name" material, I'm just not seeing any original ideas. That said, there are bits and peices of nice writing here (generally the flashbacks), and there are intriguing hints here and there, enough so that I probably will read the next in the series to see if it gets any better.

Solid mystery in alternate Middle East
Never having succeeded in reading all the way through any of the so called Cyber-punk greats I am pleased to have finished this one. There are perhaps more mysteries at the end of this book than we started with. Hopefully the series doesnt let too many of the cats out of the bag in the next book. What is the true provenance of Ashraf Bey? Is the Fox a figment of his imagination, a cybernetic implant or one of the Djinn? Who will get Ashraf first - the establishment, their business cronies, the church, the American gangsters, the girl he doesnt want to marry or Ashraf himself? Off to get the next one now...