Books

The Last Upper

If you’ve read the previous two of this trilogy, you won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t read them, pick up the entire set.

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The Last Upper
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T
Lord of the Rings
LOTR

Actually, Terry Pratchett thought up the ape-librarian when he chucked humour into the Tolkienian recipe. Pratchett’s fantasies use the backdrop of the magical Discworld to do mocking, self-referential send-ups of our planet.

Samit Basu’s Gameworld Trilogy, of which The Unwaba Revelations is the last, leans on both Tolkien and Pratchett in terms of format, while liberally borrowing from the Ramayana, John Brunner, George Lucas, Lovecraft et al.

Gameworld isn’t derivative because it’s a satirical treatment. Events are set in an internally consistent universe with back stories, quests, heroes, monsters, orangutans etc. It’s post-modern—there are no real heroes. It’s also post-racist—all the races are morally ambiguous and there are no real villains. It’s disrespectful about the concept of divinity.

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In style, Basu is both assured and flippant, inserting cute little in-jokes such as names borrowed from Bengali street argot. Little twists to the wildly entwined and racy plotlines (note the plural) always keep the reader guessing.

Obviously, you cannot read the concluding book in a trilogy in isolation. It has to resolve threads left dangling through the first two. Basu manages that successfully and without obvious recourse to McGuffins. If you’ve read TheSimoqin Prophesies and The Manticore’s Secret, grab Unwaba. You won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t read the previous two, pick up the entire set.

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