The Warning

The Prophecies of Karma #1

by Nael Gharzeddine

‘The Prophecies of Karma: The Warning’ is a novel about a prodigious young boy who struggles to escape unlucky conditions and the murderous greed of those around him.

Born a genetically engineered “diplomat” in Lebanon in 2052, Jamal Nader becomes embroiled in the midst of a raging family conflict. In a futuristic world where robots are the helpmeets of humans and the human abuse of natural resources is on the brink of causing global devastation, Jamal, eight years old, loses his millionaire father in a car accident.

Jamal lives with his mother for two years, until his grandmother sends his mother to prison and takes custody of him. With the support of social services, and the weight of the company that created him, Jamal wittingly changes his destiny. He has his pedophile, human-trafficker uncle thrown behind bars, and then manipulates his “dream father,” a priest named Father Fadi, to pull all strings to adopt him.

When environmentalist fanatics shake the world with global riots, Jamal and Father Fadi seek refuge at a college. Unfortunately, Jamal’s uncle has been let loose from prison and comes looking for revenge. Jamal escapes his uncle, only to collapse from exhaustion.

He does not wake for eight years. When he first opens his leady, drugged eyes, Jamal begins to realize the evil influences that have manipulated his existence from day one. Everyone is suspect, and only one thing is sure: Jamal’s life is on auction, and the closing bid is his twenty-first birthday.

The Prophecies of Karma will be a series of novels about the future of humanity projected from the trajectory of current events and crisis. The novels forecast an imminent future troubled with environmental, political, social and cultural challenges with the great advancements in technological achievements and little change in the human behavior.

377 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2011

About the author

Nael Gharzeddine is the first science fiction author from the Middle East; a Lebanese thinker, writer, philanthropist, artist, and entrepreneur.

Reviews

[Roba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is definitely catchy (I finished the book in a two-hour sitting), but the writing lacks beauty and the plot is like an Egyptian movie. Interesting attempt at first shot, and I would read rest of the prophecies, though I wouldn't spend more than a couple of hours on them.

[Tania · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an Arab myself (who doesn't read much arabic lit.), I felt compelled to read the book. I have been following the news of the series for a couple of years now. Finally I was able to get a copy of the book, unfortunately, I was disappointed :(

The mere purpose of my review is constructive criticism. So, first of all, and I noticed this before reading the book, the synopsis is far too long and not surprisingly, it described all events up to two thirds of the book . There was too much stuff going on in it..

As I continued reading the book, for a first book of a series, the pace was good and everything was indicating that the book is rather ok/good. But then the whole passing out for 8 years happened and honestly at that point of everyone explaining everything and the whole agents thing coming and shooting and trying to kill people, I was too confused to be curious about what is going to happen next.

And maybe I wasn't paying too much attention, maybe I just wanted it to be emphasized more in the book. Why did it say in the first half that Jamal will get his inheritance as he will be turning 16, but after he woke up they said it's 21.

I don't see a reason for them (whoever is chasing Jamal) to be this interested in the main character. If it is true that it is the inheritance that is what they want, I don't get how people who can afford to recruit agents and infiltrate prisons and all that would be interested in mere inheritance of the guy.

And my final point is that the book was supposed to be a warning about global pollution, resources' depletion and all that. But the only mention of it was only brief. Too brief for it to be the topic of the book. It doesn't make sense to me for "the warning" to be only something that contributed in the main story line of Jamal instead of it being the other way around.

Anyway, I just finished the book, I am honestly too confused to be reading the other books because in all honesty nothing made sense or logic in the first, I came out with nothing of the first book to made me read the second.