The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed

I would like to thank Jess from Solaris for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Publisher - Solaris

Published - Out Now

Price - £18.99 hardback £7.99 Kindle eBook

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 members?

War is an ongoing theme in Science Fiction and Fantasy but often one where it’s a device for action, glory and resolving a storyline. Moments of heroism fighting the hordes, saving the world and sometimes using amazing weapons. It feeds art of our soul which raises questions about us. But there are traditions too exploring the power of peace. In Premee Mohamed’s powerful The Siege of Burning Grass we have a story that gives war no glory; we see it for the pointless endgame it always is and we see it through the eyes of a remarkable character who has sworn never to fight. One of the most thoughtful fantasy tales on war I’ve read.

Alefret lives in the Varkal Empire an immense land hungry country forever at war and constantly watching its citizens. Alefret though is now a prisoner for being part of a pacifist group known as the Pact. Refusing to take part in the latest war against the equally powerful (perhaps even more) Med’ariz. he is being tortured and left in a prison likely to be executed at any moment. However, the Varkal military have a desperate plan to end the war they can’t win and this involves getting Alefret into a Med’ariz city alongside the fanatical soldier Qhudur. It’s a journey that gives Alefret a new perspective on war from those fighting on the front lines and a dilemma as to can any action be required that will not break his principles?

This is a fascinating story that challenges our traditional war tales in our genres. A tale that reminds me more of stories from a post WW2 period where writers like Le Carre and Greene highlighted in their own genres the banality, transactional nature and overall pointless cruelty of conflict decided simply because it must be fought. Mohamed timely challenges in many ways the standard ways we think still of war stories in fiction and reminds us to delve a little deeper into what really may be going on.

At the heart of this is our lead character Alefret. If I said Alefret is 7 feet tall, hunchbacked very strong and has a face people avoid looking at that gives you an idea of him. But if I said he is also a schoolteacher in his village; incredibly bright and eloquent and one of the key leaders of the pacifist group then suddenly your view may change. Mohamed lets us into Alefret’s thoughts via the third person narration. We see a man still trying to make sense of a cruel and mad world even from his imprisonment. He is being tortured for information and bizarrely also receiving amazing medical treatment to regrow a leg he lost in a bombing. A prize prisoner and yet also hated for doing something people cannot understand - not fighting - especially with his strength and power. Alefret is a more cerebral person; fond of myths and working out what they say about the world, loves wordplay and yet has the dilemma of does he die in prison or take a chance to end a war peacefully? He’s not going to be the type of hero to use the mega weapons or bring about an army to his command he is something refreshingly new.

We are used in wars for a glorious quest with adventures to achieve a goal and here again Mohamed gives us something different. While this is very much the last gasp chance to end the war it’s more a sneaky desperate final attack. To mirror Alefret we get his guard Qhudur and it’s a fascinating dynamic as these two are in some ways similar. From nearby parts of the empire, both share a love of stories and world games but Qhudur is very much the man who believes in the war and the good cause they fight for and he loves the violence far more than many of the soldiers we go on to meet. He hates Alefret for his choices and reminds him of it constantly. While Alefret is about deciding a course of action Qhudur is all about reacting and often with wild and intense violence. Alefret may be the only person capable of stopping him but his decision not to fight puts him in a quandary.

The plot takes the duo into the battlefields and I loved how Mohamed shows no glory. Alefret is troubled to find the armies are now down to their youngest fighters; that supplies are running out; even at his prison knives are now used for executions to save on bullets. The more senior commanders all know it’s lost but go through the motions of fighting as to stop a war would be madness. There will so no good guys. The Varkal empire is shown to be greedy to conquer, spies on its own citizens and yet their opponents the Markel have a secret police; special protections for their own leaders and some disturbing thoughts in the purity of the race. Frustatingly both have amazing technology - The Varkal use insects as technology from lighters, tanks to incredible medical supplies. The Med’ariz are capable of vast cities with bountiful supplies and both sides think the other is inhuman. All these years fighting and never considering what the other options could be.

In the final stages of the book Alefret and Qhudur are involved with the resistance of the Med’Ariz and we see a battle for ideas. Some are drawn to Qhudur’s love for action to get a result. Others are seeking just glory, power or profit from war and tension mounts - will they be found out, betrayed and can Alefret stop further bloodshed? Can violence ever not be the way to win? Things build and get more desperate in an excellent finale that we can’t guess the outcome until the final pages.

The Seige of Burning Grass is an eloquent but brutal look at war’s futility. A timely reminder that there is little glory in it and how peace is felt a worst outcome for the most spurious of reasons. It asks questions of the world and the reader and that is a sign of the best stories and cements Mohamed as one of the genre’s most interesting authors. Strongly recommended!