Set in a futuristic, hi-tech Kathmandu, Saad Z Hossain’s latest sci-fi and fantasy novel The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday is an engaging, quick read difficult to put down. Its world is built with both utopian and dystopian elements, a combination which does not give it a somber tone. Dealing with pressing issues like climate change, human trafficking, profiteering during crisis, AI takeover and eternal darkness of human nature, Saad balances the grim texture with black humor and wit, and makes it an entertaining and thought-provoking reading experience.
The author has a fascination for djinns but the ones he portrays are very different from mythological, religious or traditional depiction of this supernatural creature. After building a djinn universe in his second fantasy novel Djinn City, he introduces Melek Ahmar, the Lord of Tuesday and Most August Rajah of Djinn, to his third sci-fi-cum-fantasy novel. The narcissistic, arrogant, fun-loving Djinn king wakes up after a nap of a few thousand years and is dumbfounded at the sight of Kathmandu, a tech-miracle ruled by Karma.
Karma is an artificial intelligence which, devoid of consciousness, runs on algorithm. The citizens of Kathmandu Inc. carry devices in their spine and brain for self-healing and telepathy-communication, which also serves as Karma’s tools for surveillance. This is now a post-apocalyptic world where humans have to survive by producing microclimate through nanotechnology as the air has turned toxic beyond measure. Thus this novel fuses many extremes into a single thread—nanotechnology and artificial intelligence with ancient, supernatural creatures like djinns.
Although the presence of Melek Ahmar and Karma pervades the entire narrative, the novel appears to have left them out of the main conflict which takes place between two old enemies who hold on to a forty years long animosity—the old Gurkha soldier Bhan Gurung and the megalomaniac businessman Doje. A champion kukri-fighter, Gurung is the smiling, cold-blooded mass murderer with an illustrious and infamous backstory, whose single-minded pursuit is to destroy the city. Doje, on the other hand, is quite typical as a villain.
There is also Hamilcar Pande, the central admin, who serves as Karma’s failsafe. Karma, the all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent AI is apparently infallible. But as far as humans are concerned, there are many peculiarities that a machine cannot detect and predict. Human beings are full of irrationality, absurdity and hence, cannot be fully interpreted by mathematical algorithm. The future-reading task becomes more difficult for Karma as the Djinn King Melek Ahmar enters the scene with his powerful distortion field. That’s where Karma’s failsafe Hamilcar Pande comes in.
Saad, with lighthearted fun, offers critical insights into human conditions through his characters’ actions and adventures. In a Karma-run society, which appears like a paradise, people indulge in hedonism and Epicureanism. But not all of them find contentment in an abundance of material resources that Karma has put at their beck and call. Many are bored as life has no ups and downs, no struggle, no challenge anymore; there is nothing for them to achieve. Furthermore, Karma’s microphysics of surveillance means citizens do not have any privacy. The omniscient and omnipresent AI can see into everyone’s mind.
Then there are those who are discontent because in a peaceful, highly vigilant society, they cannot fulfill the devilish desires they harbor. Here the author sheds light on the darkness of human nature. “…Humes think up the most ridiculous, horrible things to wish for”. ReGi the teenage djinn says, “I guess Karma gives them all the good stuff. You’re kind of the antithesis. Melek Ahmar, the darkness in their souls, made incarnate.” However, the Djinn king does not appear as a grave and sinister character here. His unuttered monologues in the conversations rather make him a comical pleasure-seeker who only craves for parties, booze and fornication.
Surprisingly, the moneyless society where all people are believed to be equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities is founded on the death of many innocents. The history of Karma is laden with injustice at its very foundation. In that sense, it can also be read as a satire on state politics, though not explicitly. Reading between the lines, readers will find out how state power is controlled by rich businessmen and also, how the state suppresses the rebels and the anarchists.
Saad Z Hossain is a highly creative storyteller whose crafty narrative presents a charming imaginary setting, blending many different worlds and genres into one. His fantastical world operates consistently by its own logic. Sharp wit and black humor, combined with a mastery over world-building, have earned him international acclaim, which he certainly deserves.
Rifat Anjum Pia is Staff Writer, Arts & Letters, Dhaka Tribune.