Book Review: Hoshruba, The Land and The Tilism
The magic slave girl laughed, leaped out of the box, and disappeared.Long long ago, a group of sorcerers created a tilism or magical land. It is a world of spirits and talismans, where mountains change shape, fairies spring from the earth, dragons' heads darts out of flowers, and things are rarely what they seem. But it has a limited lifespan for its destruction is preordained. Hoshruba is its name, and it is ruled by the bold sorcerer Afrasiyab. Prophecies claim that Hoshruba will someday fall to a hero who possesses the key to the tilism. But the key has been lost, and Afrasiyab, with his invincible army of sorcerers, has remained the unchallenged ruler of the land. Fate will, however, not always be on Afrasiyab's side. His protection of the giant Laqa draws him into a colossal battle with the forces of the hardened warrior Amir Hamza, uncle of the Prophet Muhammad and Laqa's arch enemy. Heading the offensive against Afrasiyab are a band of tricksters - masters of disguise and wit - led by the cunning Amar Ayyar and the young Prince Asad, Hamza's grandson and the prophesied conqueror of Hoshruba. When Prince Asad is kidnapped by Afrasiyab's agents, it is left to Amar and a rebel sorceress to salvage his mission. Who will triumph in the battle for Hoshruba? And can Afrasiyab's wizard armies be defeated?
The Land and The Tilism is translation of Tilism-e-Hoshruba originally written in Urdu. In essence, the book is an epic full of magic, adventure, romance and fantasy. An appealing minimalist cover that has a medieval warrior fighting a tiger with his sword in a white background perfectly sets the expectations for the reader. The story is riveting and absolutely in tune with expectation from an epic fantasy written in the magical realm. The review remains incomplete without commending the superb translation of Musharraf Ali Farooqi who never allowed the text to shift from the medieval taste and smell. With introductions and notes, Hoshruba, The Land and The Tilism deserves to be in your reading list if you love epic fantasies, magical settings, sorcerers and enchantments.
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Hoshruba, The Land and The Tilism: Fantastic and Magical. I had received the review copy from Random House India. Thank you Random House India for giving me this opportunity. You can buy this book at amazon or at Flipkart in case you live in India.
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