The Adventures of Amir Hamza

The next to last RA favorite book for the 2016-17 year (well, we may have 1 or 2 more new ones over the next 4-5 months, but for now), The Adventures of Amir Hamza by Ghalib Lakhnavi is taken from stories dating back a thousand years, if not longer.  The setting is the Middle East and captures the adventures of the lead character Amir Hamza and his two peers.  The tales capture verbal stories passed down from the various escapades of prophet Muhammed’s uncle, Amir Hamza, who falls in love with the daughter, Mehr-Nigar, of Naushervan, a Persian emperor.  Hamza has various near death experiences, but always gets saved/saves himself on his way to find the Mehr-Higar.  He is helped along the way by his “side-kick,” Amar Ayyar (hard to keep the two apart as they are often referred to Amar and Amir - not the best aspect of naming characters).  Amar, uses trickery to help dupe others trying to kill Amir.  Magic, royal-power, and fighting to the death are all featured in this epic tale.  As with “multiple books” I only read the first book, but I got the idea that there would be ‘more of the same’ in the other three books.  In some ways I was reminded of the stories of the battles of The Game of Thrones or the on-going family strife in One Hundred Years of Solitude, though very different in writing styles and endings, as Amir Hamza always makes good, or at least in book one.  Enjoyed the book, though some of the story is repetitive in theme, though different ways of getting there.  A classic, especially in Arabic culture, so for that reason, worth reading to broaden perspective.  And yes, the heroes do end up triumphant!