The sultan Bokhari Al-Bokhari of Bessa has 365 concubines - until a violent coup puts the city in the hands of the religious zealot Hakkim Mehdad. Hakkim has no use for the pleasures of the flesh: he condemns the women first to exile - and then to death! Cast into the desert, the concubines must rely on themselves and each other to escape from the new sultan's fanatical pursuit. But their goals go beyond mere survival: with the aid of the champions who emerge from among them, they intend to topple the usurper and retake Bessa from the repressive power that now controls it. The assassin, Zuleika, whose hands are weapons. The seer, Rem, whose tears are ink. The wise Gursoon, who was the dead sultan's canniest advisor. The camel-thief, Anwar Das, who offers his lying tongue to the concubines' cause. Together, they must forge the women of the harem into an army, a seraglio of steel, and use it to conquer a city. But even if they succeed, their troubles will just be beginning - because their most dangerous enemy is within their own number...
The Steel Seraglio
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Review
There's an intriguingly playful approach to the storytelling. There are rewards to be had for the patient reader. SCI FI NOW A captivating book that carries you along on an entertaining journey. SFX
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Mike Carey is a comics writer, novelist and screenwriter who lives and works in London. He is best known for his work on the multiple Eisner-nominated series Lucifer and for a critically acclaimed run on Vertigo's flagship title, HELLBLAZER. He is the author of the Felix Castor novels and is currently writing the monthly series, The Unwritten, for DC Vertigo. He has also written X-Men, X-Men Legacy and Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics. His screenplay SILENT WAR, written for Slingshot and Intrepid Pictures, is about to go into production. Linda Carey, writing as A.J. Lake, authored the Darkest Age fantasy trilogy. She has also written for TV, most notably for the German animation series Meadowlands, on which she shared the duties of lead writer. Louise's Carey's previous writing includes DIARY OF A LONDON SCHOOLGIRL for the website of the London Metropolitan archive and the graphic novel CONFESSIONS OF A BLABBERMOUTH, co-written with Mike. She is a member of the Chicken Shed theatre company and has acted in their productions of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and GRIMM NIGHTS.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I would have to preface this review by stating The Steel Seraglio, by Carey, Carey and Carey, is an ambitious work, a literary etude or variation on the legendary collection of Islamic tales we've come to know as One Thousand and One Nights. Like its historical counterpart, it is a tale within many tales, complete with unreliable narrator, and with an oblique homage to some of the original characters (al-Rashid and Jafar among them).
The overarching story, that of a discarded seraglio of some 365 concubines, is one that has a very modern, very feminine resonance, and is written with such elegance it is as incisive and horribly fascinating as Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale.
To summarize, a fundamentalist zealot overthrows the sultan of the city of Bessa, slaughters the royal wives and children, and turns off the seraglio to a neighbouring grandee. As the seraglio crosses the desert, harbouring one male, royal survivor, the usurping zealot, Hakkim Mehdad discovers the treachery of the seraglio and sends out troops to annihilate them.
What ensues is a cunning escape, a temporary reprieve among desert thieves, and a triumphant recapture of Bessa. The seraglio of perfume and delicacy has become one of steel, and together the women create an economic and political power that becomes legend throughout the lands.
But as with every paradise, there is doom, in this case in the form of the disinherited royal prince, Jafar. This second tale is one of faceted tragedies.
The main story is beautifully realized, intelligent, witty, evocative of the parched heat of the desert and the olfactory indulgence of the spice markets. It lives and breathes.
However--and yes there is an however--some of the supplemental stories, woven throughout, are told with a very modern voice, almost flippant in delivery and so completely foreign to the elegance of the main body of work, that I found these passages intrusive. Indeed, they entirely arrested the flow of the work and the pacing of action. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, I couldn't give The Steel Seraglio the five stars it would have otherwise merited.
Even so, that one criticism aside, The Steel Seraglio is one of the fine literary novels of 2012.
The overarching story, that of a discarded seraglio of some 365 concubines, is one that has a very modern, very feminine resonance, and is written with such elegance it is as incisive and horribly fascinating as Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale.
To summarize, a fundamentalist zealot overthrows the sultan of the city of Bessa, slaughters the royal wives and children, and turns off the seraglio to a neighbouring grandee. As the seraglio crosses the desert, harbouring one male, royal survivor, the usurping zealot, Hakkim Mehdad discovers the treachery of the seraglio and sends out troops to annihilate them.
What ensues is a cunning escape, a temporary reprieve among desert thieves, and a triumphant recapture of Bessa. The seraglio of perfume and delicacy has become one of steel, and together the women create an economic and political power that becomes legend throughout the lands.
But as with every paradise, there is doom, in this case in the form of the disinherited royal prince, Jafar. This second tale is one of faceted tragedies.
The main story is beautifully realized, intelligent, witty, evocative of the parched heat of the desert and the olfactory indulgence of the spice markets. It lives and breathes.
However--and yes there is an however--some of the supplemental stories, woven throughout, are told with a very modern voice, almost flippant in delivery and so completely foreign to the elegance of the main body of work, that I found these passages intrusive. Indeed, they entirely arrested the flow of the work and the pacing of action. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, I couldn't give The Steel Seraglio the five stars it would have otherwise merited.
Even so, that one criticism aside, The Steel Seraglio is one of the fine literary novels of 2012.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars
5 reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly good
Mar 17 2012
By S. Raines
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
There were many things I liked about this novel, one thing that was OK, one thing I loved, and one thing I hated.
The novel is as described above, a story about a group of concubines and their children who are taken to the desert and to be killed, and how they decide to make their own fates. It's written as a series of stories about the backgrounds and points of view of several characters, surrounded by the frame story of a librarian who is one of the main characters. It's not unlike the structure of 1001 Nights.
Most of it is done quite beautifully, and it's in a language that takes you away to this different world, except for two sections. One of the writers is responsible for both these sections, and I wish that they hadn't been included in the form they're in. It's because the style and focus is so jarring and wrong for the rest book that it turns what should be a cohesive whole into a mess that left this reader wondering what the heck they were thinking. These two sections felt like Jim Carrey had been dropped into the book to mug for a while using modern slang and idioms ("The legate [...] decided to dip his finger in the cookie jar. [...] Who could fault him if he carried out a little quality control testing? [...] What happens in the deep desert, stays in the deep desert. [...] he saluted and went off to find the little number, armed with her name"). This made me cringe reading it. And too, while other sections focus on the themes of the novel, these seem to focus somewhat crudely on men having sex with women, and were so very out of place. It's not a question of POV either, since the style is used outside of multiple POVs.
Luckily there are only two of these. The latter one was a self-contained section that can easily be skipped, though I read it all to make sure of that before making this recommendation. The first one, unfortunately, contains Zuleika's past and so must be read.
But outside of these two sections it was an interesting story, told in a myth-like manner, about women taking control of their destinies and making a mark that would last forever. I liked how, for the most part, it felt true to time and place. I liked that the change was all a result of their own decisions and community. I liked how the two instances of magic basically made them help themselves. I liked that it wasn't a bed of roses, though sometimes it came a little easily to them. But that's par in reading a legend, which is how this for the most part reads. Hardships aren't glossed over, but there's not a lot of time and attention spent on them especially in the first half to make them personal. I did come to care about all of the women, and read the book in one sitting.
What I loved: There are a few black and white illustrations in the novel at the end of sections that are stunningly beautiful. The artist truly captured the characters within, and they really added to my enjoyment of the whole. The artist is Nimit Malavia, and I urge you to seek out his work.
The novel is as described above, a story about a group of concubines and their children who are taken to the desert and to be killed, and how they decide to make their own fates. It's written as a series of stories about the backgrounds and points of view of several characters, surrounded by the frame story of a librarian who is one of the main characters. It's not unlike the structure of 1001 Nights.
Most of it is done quite beautifully, and it's in a language that takes you away to this different world, except for two sections. One of the writers is responsible for both these sections, and I wish that they hadn't been included in the form they're in. It's because the style and focus is so jarring and wrong for the rest book that it turns what should be a cohesive whole into a mess that left this reader wondering what the heck they were thinking. These two sections felt like Jim Carrey had been dropped into the book to mug for a while using modern slang and idioms ("The legate [...] decided to dip his finger in the cookie jar. [...] Who could fault him if he carried out a little quality control testing? [...] What happens in the deep desert, stays in the deep desert. [...] he saluted and went off to find the little number, armed with her name"). This made me cringe reading it. And too, while other sections focus on the themes of the novel, these seem to focus somewhat crudely on men having sex with women, and were so very out of place. It's not a question of POV either, since the style is used outside of multiple POVs.
Luckily there are only two of these. The latter one was a self-contained section that can easily be skipped, though I read it all to make sure of that before making this recommendation. The first one, unfortunately, contains Zuleika's past and so must be read.
But outside of these two sections it was an interesting story, told in a myth-like manner, about women taking control of their destinies and making a mark that would last forever. I liked how, for the most part, it felt true to time and place. I liked that the change was all a result of their own decisions and community. I liked how the two instances of magic basically made them help themselves. I liked that it wasn't a bed of roses, though sometimes it came a little easily to them. But that's par in reading a legend, which is how this for the most part reads. Hardships aren't glossed over, but there's not a lot of time and attention spent on them especially in the first half to make them personal. I did come to care about all of the women, and read the book in one sitting.
What I loved: There are a few black and white illustrations in the novel at the end of sections that are stunningly beautiful. The artist truly captured the characters within, and they really added to my enjoyment of the whole. The artist is Nimit Malavia, and I urge you to seek out his work.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arabian nights meets the Return of the King
May 31 2012
By hola
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I basically read this book in one night. As the earlier reviewer noted, it's written in a similar vein to the Arabian Nights (the Richard Burton version, NOT the Disney version), yet it left me with the elegiac feeling I had after finishing the Return of the King - the feeling that the world had changed and perhaps not for the better.
The descriptions of the story given above are absolutely accurate, but they don't give one the intensity the book has - one vicariously becomes a part of this world, and cares for the many inhabitants. While it is mostly about women, the male characters have critical roles, and are very well written - they are believable citizens of this world. And it is a world of love, sex, violence, politics, bravery, and treachery: I loved it.
Unlike the earlier reviewer, I enjoyed the entire book, and I found the different story telling methods to be integral to the whole plot: they give the story a 'somewhere in time' infrastructure, and one doesn't really know if this is a tale of the past, or the future (or, sort of, the present - e.g. there's a call out to a rather obscure computer programming standard). The several drawings included are wonderfully done (although he draws the strangest version of toes I've ever seen); the book is beautifully presented; and it holds up well (it's a paperback): it doesn't fall apart at the binding when the book is folded for easier handling (like when in bed).
This is a book to re-read, and it will stay with me for a long time.
The descriptions of the story given above are absolutely accurate, but they don't give one the intensity the book has - one vicariously becomes a part of this world, and cares for the many inhabitants. While it is mostly about women, the male characters have critical roles, and are very well written - they are believable citizens of this world. And it is a world of love, sex, violence, politics, bravery, and treachery: I loved it.
Unlike the earlier reviewer, I enjoyed the entire book, and I found the different story telling methods to be integral to the whole plot: they give the story a 'somewhere in time' infrastructure, and one doesn't really know if this is a tale of the past, or the future (or, sort of, the present - e.g. there's a call out to a rather obscure computer programming standard). The several drawings included are wonderfully done (although he draws the strangest version of toes I've ever seen); the book is beautifully presented; and it holds up well (it's a paperback): it doesn't fall apart at the binding when the book is folded for easier handling (like when in bed).
This is a book to re-read, and it will stay with me for a long time.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story of women but perfect for any fantasy reader.
Sep 12 2012
By WonderBunny
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I've loved Mike Carey's previous books so when I saw this one, I didn't even bother to look at the back, I bought it without a second though - ok, I considered if my budget could take the purchase. I had no idea what a fabulous and intriguing book this would turn out to be.
Unlike Mike Carey's previous work, this is not urban fantasy but straight fantasy with folklore elements. Based in a middle east like setting, this is the story of women. When the sultan of Bessa is violently overthrown, all his wives are killed. His 365 concubines are hustled out of the city as a gift to a sultan of a distant city. The usurper, Hakkim Mehdad is a religious zealot with no need for women or anything that he feels distracts him from what his god desires.
When Hakkim finds out that they concubines might be hiding one of the sultan's heirs, he orders their deaths. The concubines then must do everything in their power to save each other from the usurper.
The main characters of this book were fascinating. I loved how the book took a chapter to tell their story prior to becoming a concubine or joining with the concubines. I think my favorite was Rem, who cries inky tears. Zuleika, an assassin turned concubine was also very interesting. The men are not to be out done in this story either. While I didn't find their stories as fascinating as those of the women, I still felt like they played a vital role and were well written. I loved everyone's stories and I loved how this story unfolded and developed. While not every story blended beautifully with the next, I think that created individual voices for each of the characters and the overall story did blend.
How this story worked together is pretty impressive to start with. I'm not traditionally a fan of multiple author books because they can make a mess of things. This book had a few hiccups but I didn't see those as huge problems. The writing and storytelling otherwise was enthralling and I couldn't put this book down. 5 Stars.
Unlike Mike Carey's previous work, this is not urban fantasy but straight fantasy with folklore elements. Based in a middle east like setting, this is the story of women. When the sultan of Bessa is violently overthrown, all his wives are killed. His 365 concubines are hustled out of the city as a gift to a sultan of a distant city. The usurper, Hakkim Mehdad is a religious zealot with no need for women or anything that he feels distracts him from what his god desires.
When Hakkim finds out that they concubines might be hiding one of the sultan's heirs, he orders their deaths. The concubines then must do everything in their power to save each other from the usurper.
The main characters of this book were fascinating. I loved how the book took a chapter to tell their story prior to becoming a concubine or joining with the concubines. I think my favorite was Rem, who cries inky tears. Zuleika, an assassin turned concubine was also very interesting. The men are not to be out done in this story either. While I didn't find their stories as fascinating as those of the women, I still felt like they played a vital role and were well written. I loved everyone's stories and I loved how this story unfolded and developed. While not every story blended beautifully with the next, I think that created individual voices for each of the characters and the overall story did blend.
How this story worked together is pretty impressive to start with. I'm not traditionally a fan of multiple author books because they can make a mess of things. This book had a few hiccups but I didn't see those as huge problems. The writing and storytelling otherwise was enthralling and I couldn't put this book down. 5 Stars.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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