The Siege of Burning Grass
Shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Profile Books Ltd
Published:11th Mar '25
Should be back in stock very soon
A stunning meditation on war, nationalism, violence and courage by a rising star of the genre.
Antiwar activist Alefret, locked up in a secret prison and tortured, is offered a chance of freedom, ordered into one of the enemy’s flying cities to provoke his fellow pacifists into rising against their rulers. He should refuse to serve the warmongers, but what if he could end this pointless war once and for all?
* BY THE WORLD FANTASY, NEBULA, LOCUS, AURORA AND IGNYTE AWARD WINNING AUTHOR * 'A feat of taut, precisely paced storytelling' - Esquire 'A raging treatise and bittersweet character study' - Reactor 'The combination of weird elements and philosophy is superb' - Locus Magazine 'Haunting and insightful... This is not for the faint of heart' - Publishers Weekly THE EMPIRES OF VARKAL AND MED'ARIZ HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR Alefret, the founder of Varkal's pacifist resistance, was bombed and maimed by his own government, locked up in a secret prison and tortured by a 'visionary' scientist. But now they're offering him a chance of freedom. Ordered to infiltrate one of Med'ariz's flying cities, obeying the bloodthirsty zealot Qhudur, he must find fellow anti-war activists in the enemy's population and provoke them into an uprising against their rulers. He should refuse to serve the warmongers, but what if he could end this pointless war once and for all? Is that worth compromising his own morals and the principles of his fellow resistance membA feat of worldbuilding, moral complexity, and taut, precisely paced storytelling... After this, I'm ready to hunt down everything else Mohamed has ever written * Esquire *
A raging treatise, fascinating fantasy, and bittersweet character study; the fact that it's delivered in beautiful prose is truly the cherry on top * Reactor *
Premee Mohamed has quickly become one of my auto-buy authors * Book Riot *
The combination of weird elements and philosophy is superb * Locus Magazine *
Haunting and insightful... This is not for the faint of heart * Publishers Weekly *
Siege and Mohamed both seem like ones to watch * Kajal Magazine *
Dark, complex and powerful -- Claire North, author of SLOW GODS
Elegiac, elegant, Mohamed is merciless in how she holds the world to task for its cruelties and effortless in how she presents its horrors -- Cassandra Khaw, author of THE SALT GROWS HEAVY
One of the most innovative, original, and exciting writers of recent years, full of fresh perspectives, scintillating narratives, and insightful comments on our world today -- Ada Palmer, author of TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING
A colossal work of fiction and philosophy, Siege is something like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind meets The Things They Carried by way of The Brothers Karamazov -- C. S. E. Cooney, author of SAINT DEATH’S DAUGHTER
An engrossing, unflinching story. Mohamed's world of floating cities, medicinal wasps, and nations at war is both richly imagined and heartrending -- Darcie Little Badger, author of ELATSOE
Imagine The Good Soldier Svejk and George Smiley sitting down with a large bottle of absinthe and the scene being painted by Hieronymus Bosch -- Jonathan L. Howard, author of AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD
ISBN: 9781837861835
Dimensions: 198mm x 128mm x 26mm
Weight: 260g
368 pages
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