The Last of the Tasburai
By Rehan Khan, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 366 pages, Dh60
It all started with the wizard.
The launch of the “Harry Potter” series in the last decade of the last century unleashed a completely new world of young adult fiction upon us. As with our children, most of us adults, too, joined the magical world of Hogwarts for the next decade as the seven books unfolded one by one.
The success of the series spawned a good number of young adult fiction novels of a similar genre. Most notable of course was the “Twilight” saga. Other major achievements would include the Percy Jackson series, and more recently, the “Mortal Instruments and Beautiful Creatures”.
All of these have been major global bestsellers, with vampires, witches and other mythical beings ruling the roost.
Now Dubai has added its name to this list. Rehan Khan, a senior corporate official of an FTSE 100 corporation based in the emirate, has debuted his novel, “The Last of the Tasburai”, taking readers on a journey into warriors, demons, mystics and a struggle for domination between them.
The storyline goes thus. Adan is a Tasburai, a member of a band of supreme warriors carrying magical swords and defending the Avantist republic. However, the order is in decay; what was once an order defending the weak and upholding justice is now merely a tool to eliminate enemies of the leadership of the country.
The premier of the country, along with the leader of the Tasburai, hatch a plot to conquer the neighbouring kingdom, Kronnoburg, which has a young naïve queen at the helm. Suri-Yi, the last Tasburai grandmaster, is helped by a gang of Robin Hood-type robbers and an army major of Kronnoburg, Rikard, to repulse the attack.
On the other hand, the Magrog, a group of demons who were defeated a long time ago by a united army that included Tasburai warriors, are raising their heads again. The story ends at this point, marking the start of the series.
The “inspirations” behind the characters are evident as one reads through the book. The Tasburai, of course, come from the Samurai, even the cover page picture of the warrior with the sword reminds you of the band of Japanese warriors. This is infused with Sufi mysticism, as the Tasburai warriors meet a “Shufi” for spiritual guidance.
There are descriptions of some evil spirits, the “Ifreet”, who will remind the Potter fan of the Dementors. Even Adan has within him traces of a demon, which comes up and protects him in critical situations. An uncanny resemblance to a part of Voldemorte’s soul lying within Harry Potter’s.
It takes a while to get into the book. Initially, the book drags slightly, and the reader needs to be patient till the story unfolds. But once you are patient enough and overcome the initial slackness, you’re hooked. The story picks up as conspiracy after conspiracy is hatched, friend betrays friend, and rivals become unlikely friends.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable debut novel. Khan has impressively blended old spices and cooked up a brand new recipe for the young readers. A promising start to a new series of superheroes.
