The Carrier - Review

New Internationalist, Oct, 2001

The Carrier by Jamal Mahjoub (Phoenix House ISBN 1861591004)

This novel is set at the start of the 17th century as Rashid al-Kenzy, incarcerated in the prison of the Dey of Algiers, is offered a deal: his freedom in exchange for agreeing to travel to Europe in search of a mysterious Dutch device -- the telescope. Things do not go to plan, however, and he is shipwrecked off the coast of Jutland. Saved by Heinesen, a pupil of the Astronomer Tycho Brahe, Rashid is enlisted to help build a tower to the stars. The Carrier is a fast-paced and continent-spanning story of one man's thirst for knowledge and the quest for enlightenment that manages to combine high drama and serious scientific inquiry. Other books by Jamal Mahjoub include Wings of Dust and In the Hour of Signs. He has also contributed short stories to the New Internationalist. Jamal Mahjoub was born in London in 1960 and grew up in Sudan. Originally trained as a geologist, he now lives in Denmark, working as a writer, translator and journalist.