A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr

 

DNF @ 35%

Initially, I really liked this book a lot, although it's definitely not going to be for everyone. Hasan is the spoiled and jaded son of a sultan, too used to being able to do whatever he wants like a drunken frat boy. But when he gambles away his father's harem, this proves to be the last straw. He plans to send Hasan away to live with rural tribesmen, in the hopes that some rough living will teach him to behave better.

Hasan being Hasan runs away, and ends up taking refuge with some rich and good natured old guy who has a beautiful lady hanging around his house. Hasan being Hasan, well, he rapes her. And it turns out good natured old guy is actually a wizard and the beautiful lady was his daughter. Good natured old guy is not so good natured when his daughter is violated and turns Hasan into a horse before casually sending him off to be gelded. As one does.

Hasan escapes his gelding and ends up in the possession of a young boy who is actually a girl in drag named Zamaniyah. Zamaniyah is the only surviving child of a sultan who is actually Hasan's father's rival, and her father is basically like, "if I can't have a son, I will have a girl-son." Hasan basically becomes her plaything and she renames him Khamsin, confiding to him in the stables while going with her father on Official State Business(TM).

This kind of felt like an R-rated Emperor's New Groove for a while, but then the story just kind of petered out and I got really bored. The writing is also a very dreamy and disconnected sort of narrative style that I feel was more popular in the way back when and not so much in the here and now. I didn't hate this book, I just feel like the story wasn't as strong as it could have been. 

For those who have concerns about the content, the Muslim culture and representation seemed to have been thoughtfully done. Not sure how accurate it is but the way that it was written did not (to me) feel deliberately malicious or stereotypical. It's set during the Crusades, so they're not exactly warm-hearted towards Christians but, like, I mean, vice-versa, so that seems fair. I saw more reviews that were concerned about how this book is basically about the redemption of a rapist, and yeah, it is. But man, is he punished for it. Khamsin/Hasan has all of his agency and freedom stripped from him as a horse, and is constantly under threat of gelding, so while this does not excuse his crime, he definitely pays for it.

Really interesting story and moral fable, but not for me.

2 to 2.5 out of 5 stars