Pashazade: The First Arabesk (Arabesk Trilogy 1) [Paperback]

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.

In case you are interested, the alternate history background is that the US didn't join in WWI and that Germany under the Kaiser + the Ottoman empire flourished over the rest if the century.
The novel is set in Alexandria, Egypt and opens (pretty much) with the Zee Zee arriving there from Seattle.

I enjoyed it and would happily recommend it it to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries and/or near future SF.