Monday, October 16, 2000
Dragon Fire -By Humphrey Hawksley
Siddharth SinghSiddharth Singh is a lost soul of sorts. Born of parents afflicted by wanderlust, he spent most of his nineteen years in Pakistan, USA and Southern Africa, and the Himalayas. A student of Statistics at Hindu College, Delhi University, his aim in life to be stinking rich, but with style. His favorite quote is "I used to be an atheist till I realised I was God." So under no circumstances should he ever be taken too seriously as a literary critic. Read him at your own risk. |
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Book Title:Dragon Fire
Author: Humphrey Hawksley
Publisher: Macmillan
Year of Publication:Aug 2000
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The time: 2007. The month: May. The region: South Asia. The event: Indo-Tibetan paratroopers invade a prison complex in Lhasa.
Welcome to the political thriller of tomorrow: "Dragon Fire". Humphrey Hawksley, veteran BBC journalist and China expert, and also co-author of the earlier "Dragon Strike" has scripted a new and gripping book, based on a nuclear war between India and the Pakistan - China alliance.
Hawksley works a gripping narrative. The entire episode begins with a group of renegade Tibetan fighters, who are in the service of the Indian government, launching a surprise attack on a Lhasa prison complex to rescue a monk. The gentleman in question strongly advocates violence to overthrow China's illegal occupation of Tibet, and his liberation could change the course of the Tibetan freedom struggle. "Dragon Fire" ends with full-scale nuclear war between India, Pakistan and China.
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While Hawksley has obviously done research, he makes some fatal flaws in the novel. His initial ploy of how the renegades manage to commandeer equipment and helicopters is very far fetched. A bit too fictionalized for the kind of realistic work he projects "Dragon Fire" to be, he somehow gains back the narrative towards the middle. Another rather glaring error, one among some others, is how the terrorist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is described as the Asom Gana Parishad, which just happens to be a political party currently in power in the state.
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A lot of what Hawksley writes is actual reality. He uses the political scenario of today to extrapolate what may happen seven years hence. However, Hawksley suffers from the ailment of most British analysts today: unable to cope with the loss of Great Britain's stature in international polity and policy, he resorts to viewing contemporary politics with the blinkers of Cold War hang ups. Hence, his theory of Russia threatening retaliation if the US, Europe and Japan intervene against China on India's behalf is a tad too incredible. And his conclusion is also not very plausible.
However, Hawksley drafts an interesting story, however implausible it may be. His Chinese analysis is generally accurate, but he falters in other places. His world-view is anachronistic, and you get the feeling that somehow he is out of his depth regarding India and its relations with the rest of the world.
Do not approach this book as a realistic account of the next major international conflict; do not consider it as a prediction of things to come. If you regard it as a piece of entertaining fiction, and if you are interested in the kind of thriller that Tom Clancy and Frederick Forsyth specialize in, then do read this. You will enjoy this fast paced, racy and action packed tale. Otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you.
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