TheArabesktrilogy is a sequence ofalternate history novels by the British authorJon Courtenay Grimwood.[1][2]
Starting with the 2001 novelPashazade and continuing withEffendi (2002) andFelaheen (2003), thepoint of divergence occurs in 1914 withUS PresidentWoodrow Wilson brokering an earlier peace so thatWorld War I never expanded outside theBalkans. The books are set in a liberal IslamicOttomanNorth Africa in the 21st century, mainly centring onAlexandria, referred to as El Iskandriyah.
The central character, Raf, is an enigma. Genetically enhanced, frequently wired on various drugs, occasionally accompanied by the hallucinatoryfoxTiriganiaq, and strongly conscientious in everything he does, Raf's past is as much a mystery as his future.
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ISBN 0-7434-6833-3 (shortlisted for the 2002Arthur C. Clarke Award,BSFA award for Best Novel andJohn W. Campbell Memorial Award)
The first book centres on the arrival in Alexandria ofBey Ashraf al-Mansur,[3] claimed to be the son of theEmir ofTunis. Shortly after his arrival, though, Raf's tendency to do exactly what he thinks is right leads to unexpected consequences. Between caring for his niece, Hani, and attempting to understand Zara, the girl he was to marry, Raf ends up suspected of his Aunt Nafisa's murder, running from the police as he tries desperately to work out who really killed her.
The main story is intercut with out-of-order flashbacks to Raf's past as a schoolboy in Swiss and Scottishboarding schools and as 'ZeeZee', a low-ranking agent of Hu San, an influentialTriad boss inSeattle.
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Effendi was shortlisted for theBSFA award for Best Novel.
The second book opens with the discovery of a body near the mansion of billionaire Hamzah Effendi,[4] Zara's father. As the new Chief of Detectives, Raf is obliged to investigate, he uncovers a past as a child soldier under the infamous Colonel Abad that Hamzah would rather forget. Meanwhile, as agents fromBerlin,Washington, DC, andParis battle diplomatically for influence over North Africa's most influential port, its nominal ruler, the youngKhedive, is sent on holiday by theGovernor General KoenigPasha, whose cryptic notes Raf is left struggling to understand. The whole city hangs in the balance, and this time, Raf will need help to save it.
This novel includes a second narrative dealing with the young Hamzah's actions as a prepubescent soldier surviving famine and desert to carry out his lethal mission for the mysterious Abad.
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Felaheen was the winner of theBSFA award for Best Novel and shortlisted for theBritish Fantasy Award.
The third book starts with the near-death of the Emir of Tunis, forcing Raf to investigate the biggest mystery of all,[5] his own origins. As the 11-year-old Hani races to get to the Emir's banquet, Raf is forced underground to discover the truth about his father. Kashif Pasha, the Emir's other son, is intent on removing any threat Raf might pose to his own claim to the throne, but he could get more than he bargained for if Raf'sdjinn-like abilities are as real as Hani thinks.
Frequent flashbacks tell the story of Sally Welham, Raf's mother, from New York toTunis viaThailand as she sets out to get what she wants.