The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain

A good introduction to Hossain's writing

4 stars

I first heard about Saad Z Hossain's writing through several other book bloggers reviewing his novel Djinn City - which I still haven't read. Feeling in the mood for shorter books over the Christmas season I decided instead to try Hossain's acclaimed novella, The Gurkha And The Lord Of Tuesday, and I'm delighted to be able to say that I loved it! Almost impossible to categorise into a single genre, this novella blends together fantasy fiction, science fiction and climate fiction elements together with brilliantly portrayed characters and a strong, plausible narrative. It's also very funny with lots of humorous moments.

My favourite characters were the djinn, especially ReGi but also Melek Ahmar himself who is very much a stranger in a strange land although, in this case, he's a stranger in a very strange time. I was intrigued by Hossain's take on our planet's climatic future and particularly the …

I first heard about Saad Z Hossain's writing through several other book bloggers reviewing his novel Djinn City - which I still haven't read. Feeling in the mood for shorter books over the Christmas season I decided instead to try Hossain's acclaimed novella, The Gurkha And The Lord Of Tuesday, and I'm delighted to be able to say that I loved it! Almost impossible to categorise into a single genre, this novella blends together fantasy fiction, science fiction and climate fiction elements together with brilliantly portrayed characters and a strong, plausible narrative. It's also very funny with lots of humorous moments.

My favourite characters were the djinn, especially ReGi but also Melek Ahmar himself who is very much a stranger in a strange land although, in this case, he's a stranger in a very strange time. I was intrigued by Hossain's take on our planet's climatic future and particularly the role that climate migrants will play. We're already seeing the start of this potentially vast migration in our own time so it didn't take too great a leap of faith to envisage Hossain's ideas as a callous reality. The Gurkha And The Lord Of Tuesday is a rewarding novella that can be read lightly as an entertaining adventure or mulled over as a satire of very human motivations and behavours. Either way I found it to be an excellent read and a great introduction to Hossain's amazing imagination.

lastrobot reviewed The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain

Review of 'The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

For such a simple, entertaining read, it covers some serious terrain. If I had read this book pre 2020, I probably would have had a very different take on everything. But in 2022? I am filled with thoughts on how this book tackles directly or indirectly so many current issues/themes: catastrophic public health events, decision-making in societies especially (pseudo)democracies, the trolley problem, the concept of benevolent dictators, who pays the costs in society, power structures, what good works mean and how they are rewarded, transparency in government,... I'm going to be thinking bout this for a while.

SI CLARKE reviewed The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain

Review of 'The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The intense mythology of P Djèlí Clark meets the cutting wit of Christopher Moore in this biting satire set against a richly imagined, jewel-encrusted world.

Melek Ahmar, the Lord of Mars, the Red King, the Lord of Tuesday, Most August Rajah of Djinn wakes after a slumber of several millennia to find the world a markedly different place than he remembers. He falls in with Bhan Gurung, a gurkha with a dark secret. Together, they set out to wreak havoc in Kathmandu.

Between 4 and 4.5 stars. Not quite enough to justify rounding up. Its one flaw was that the lack of visual cues meant I struggled to picture what was happening. The descriptions feel very close to the characters, making it hard to envision the setting in which it all takes place.