Publisher's Synopsis
A story set in Aggrabad, the lost city of the Bedouins, a fabled city of great beauty in the Rub al-Khali Desert, Aggrabad is the Atlantis of the Desert, a city of glistening white limestone, surrounded by a freshwater oasis in a landscape of endless miles of sand dunes.
At the heart of this story stands Hakim, the noble Captain of the Guards, who finds himself caught in a web of intrigue and sorcery woven by the tyrannical Sultan Mahmoud ibn Khaleed and the wicked Vizier, Memphalut al Shikari.
The Vizier, a practitioner of the dark arts, rules through fear and cruelty, and disposes of his enemies in horrific ways. There is talk around town that the cripples and beggars from the bazaar have been disappearing for no apparent reason.
The Vizier summons the hero, Hakim, the Captain of the Guards to his dark and miserable domain and demands that he round up the beggars and lock them away in the dungeon, but Hakim is suspicious and holds off for as long as possible.
A legendary seer called Zarqa Al-Yamana, renowned for her powers of prediction makes a proclamation that the city will soon be destroyed by the hand of God.
And to everyone's horror, it starts a lot sooner than they expected. The winds of destruction creep in from the desert and blow for seven days and seven nights.
Aided by his true love, Zenobia, a girl gifted with the ability to transform into birds, Hakim uncovers the Vizier's sinister plot to overthrow the Sultan.
The Vizier is not a patient man and is not one to be thwarted, and in an act of spite, he imprisons Hakim's family in the dungeon. Hakim must do everything in his power to secure their release and ensure that the evil Vizier and his plans never come to pass.
Forced to flee the city, Hakim and Zenobia embark on a perilous journey to the Cave of the Ancients, where they seek the help of the aging sorcerer, Abdullah.
Along the way, they face a gauntlet of mythical creatures conjured up by the Vizier, including the enchanting Shadhavar, legendary unicorns, and the fearsome Karkadann, a breed of rhinoceros.
With the help of elemental spirits and Hakim's newfound magical abilities, bestowed upon him by the dying sorcerer, they overcome these obstacles, their bond growing stronger with each challenge.
As they race back to Aggrabad, it is only to find the city on the brink of destruction, the ground rumbles and buildings are crumbling. Hakim rallies his guards and embarks on a desperate mission to rescue as many people as possible.
In a climactic showdown, Hakim engages in a sorcerer's duel with the Vizier atop one of the last remaining towers, as the city sinks into the desert sands below.
Hakim and Zenobia, along with the survivors, embark on a perilous journey through the desert, guided by Hakim's newfound powers. After forty days and forty nights, they reach the coastline and the magnificent Arabian Sea.
And there on the horizon, they see a fabulous red-sailed dhow that hints at the promise of a new life and a fresh start in some other land.
This story is a dramatisation of Chapter 59 from my novel, The Goddess of Good Fortune, a story about a 9th-century Arabian knight who ends up in the 21st century and is trying to find a way back home.
