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?
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
ISBN: 9781837860463
Number of pages: 432
Weight: 569 g
Dimensions: 221 x 141 mm
“A wonderful adventure, rife with strange heart and weird horror.” -- Chuck Wendig on Beneath the Rising
“Every reveal is gasp-out-loud astonishing.” -- Charlie Jane Anders on Beneath the Rising
“Expertly melds sci-fi, horror, and literary elements.” -- Publishers Weekly on A Broken Darkness
“Compelling and profound. Mohammed is an important voice in contemporary fantasy.” -- Gareth L. Powell
“I plunged into The Siege of Burning Grass knowing nothing except that Premee Mohamed wrote it. What more did I need? And yet, it astonished me. 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. I loved Alefret, Mohamed’s monstrous man of peace, instantly and wholly. I feared for him, I suffered with him, I raged alongside him, all against a backdrop of gorgeous and lonely immensity. I wanted nothing for days but to be reading this book.” -- C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter
“Dark, complex and powerful” -- Claire North
“Premee Mohamed is a fantastic new voice in speculative fiction, 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
“Elegiac, elegant, Mohamed is merciless in how she holds the world to task for its cruelties and effortless in how she presents its horrors. This is a book with its heart on its sleeve, but also one that tells of how many have been left in the ground.” -- Cassandra Khaw, USA Today best-selling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth
“Imagine The Good Soldier Švejk and George Smiley sitting down with a large bottle of absinthe and the scene being painted by Hieronymus Bosch. Or, more practically, you could read The Siege of Burning Grass and get a very similar effect. Why would you deny yourself an experience like that?” -- Jonathan L. Howard, author of Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
“An engrossing, unflinching story. Premee's world of floating cities, medicinal wasps, and nations at war is both richly imagined and heartrending.” -- Darcie Little Badger
“This book has urgent things to say about the world at war, and now more than ever, you need to hear them.” -- Vajra Chandrasekera
“A haunting and insightful examination of the human capacity for violence and mercy.” – Publishers Weekly
The Empires of Varkal and Med’ariz have been at war for years over territory and influence. Med’ariz, ruled by a king and queen, is more technologically advanced with its flying cities and drones whereas Varkal,... More
This was not at all the book I expected it to be. I thought this might be a wartime fantasy behind enemy lines, but ended up being far more rich and complex than I imagined. This is a slow and steady anti-war novel,... More
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