Zanzibar

by Giles Foden

The year is 1998. Nick Karolides is a marine biologist working on coral reef protection off Zanzibar - the East African island of slaves, sultans and spices. Soon he meets Miranda Powers, an American who works in the US embassy in nearby Dar-es-Salaam. Nick and Miranda find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy of violence and political terror, one with which CIA veteran Jack Queller has an ancient connection. Zanzibar is both an investigation of the idea of paradise and a powerfully dramatic political thriller, it features Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organisation long before 'September 11' made them notorious.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Contemporary, Travel, Thriller

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Giles Foden was born in Warwickshire in 1967. His family moved to Malawi in 1971 where he was brought up. He was educated at Yarlet Hall and Malvern College boarding schools, then at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he read English. He worked as a journalist for Media Week magazine, then became an assistant editor on the Times Literary Supplement. He was deputy literary editor of The Guardian between 1995 and 2006 and is currently Fellow in Creative and Performing Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and still contributes regularly to The Guardian and other journals.

Reviews

[maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting setting for those interested in Africa but where were the African characters? All of the weight of this story is at the front end. The action when it comes is not so detailed and i found it unsatisfying. Then everybody goes back to their day jobs.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I came across a copy of this book nestled on the shelves of a local charity shop. I must confess It was going cheap as so many do there, and I bought it solely on its title. It brought up images of far-off lands drenched in sun and sand. Also, I can't say that I have read to many books about the African Continent so a part of me was hoping to maybe learn something. This is one of those books that is a thriller through and through. While some delve off into other places this book knows exactly what it wants to be.



We get a collection of leads in this story, first and foremost are Nick and Miranda. They are your entry into the world or international terrorism. They are both likable and I fail to see any reason for you to have any problems with who they are or the actions they choose. But I guess this is the way they are written. You aren't supposed to get lost in some deep dark past. They are not broken or trying to fix some wrong. Add in a heavy dose of romance between the two are you have everything you want from this book. On the flip side we have the "villain " of the book, and to be honest I felt he could have done better. What you get is your stereotypical Islamic extremist, I wanted a bit more depth to him. A reason for his activities beyond the obvious. But when it comes to this book you are not going to be blown away by anything that takes place.



This is a book with a light style which allowed me to get through the book at a fairly quick pace. There are plenty of big set pieces aces throughout as our heroes are in a race against time to stop a madman from blowing up the world. A lot of what takes place will not come as such a big surprise, but that ok when it comes to this story, There is still enough here to keep you entertained. The other thing that did feel off to me was the fact that there appeared to be no locals involved. If you set a book in a very specific location you want to be able to read about the locals and the merriment which it is set. In this case, why not talk about some place or local foods. But by the time I was halfway through I had given up all hope of this. Short of giving a countries name, these people could have been anywhere in the world and it probably would have made little difference.



So having read all this you would have thought that this book was not for me. But sometimes on a cold wet night in the middle of winter, this is precisely the sort of thing you need to spend a couple of hours with. As I said, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, But if you are looking for a book that's a bit of fun and escapism then Zanzibar might just be what you are looking for, Just remember to not take it too seriously.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book- it was engaging and really well written. I would definitely recommend it to a certain set of other people in my circles. I found it particularly amusing to read about the lax security at the Zanzibar airport, as I was sitting in that airport reading that book.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zanzibar is crime thriller set in 1998. Marine biologist Nick Karolides is working on a coral reef around the island called Zanzibar. One day Nick Karolides went to Tanzania, and while he was there, he meets Miranda. Nick and Miranda did not realise that there accidental meeting will affect their lives so much. The Readers of Zanzibar will follow Nich and Miranda to see what happens.

Zanzibar is the first book I have read by Giles Foden. I did enjoy reading Zanzibar. However, I found Zanzibar at times to slow. I like Giles Foden portrayal of his characters. Giles Foden does a great job of describing the settings. However, at times little be longwinded which caused me to take awhile to become engaged with the story.

Readers of Zanzibar will learn about coral reefs around Zanzibar. Also, the readers of Zanzibar will learn about been a Marine biologist and their role.

I recommend this book.

[Anne Karen Fredrikke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow in the beginning and I feel the author can be a bit to longwinded sometimes in his descriptions, but it's a very interesting book and a great way to learn some historical facts. I feel for the characters and the situations they were in, but the ending seemed a bit rushed, especially compared to how slow the beginning was. All in all a good read and the story sort of sticks with you, despite the negatives mentioned, so as a whole I would recommend it.

[Flyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took quite a while to get to the point of the story. There was a lot about the non essential parts of the story. Some very good descriptive writing (if that is what it's to be called) but much of it didn't add to the storyline. It's as if it was written to fill up page space.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in Tanzania, and was interested in reading it, having just visited Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. It's a fictionalized account of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing, but it was written before 9/11 (as the author notes in a forward), so there are some things that seem a little disjointed to the modern reader. For example, there's only one grizzled CIA veteran who appreciates the threat of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, while everyone else is running in circles.

[Debs · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot came into existence in the 2nd half of the book, with some exciting moments near the end. Overall the book was disappointing though. The characters were not deep enough to make their musings particularly interesting. I love slow moving novels (eg le carrè or Body of Truth) but there weren't enough insights about Africa to make this worthwhile.

[Leni Dytrych · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I picked it because I was honeymooning in Zanzibar, and I enjoyed the description of the places that I could recall.
I felt that the author struggled to write a female that you could identify with, and there seemed to be odd unnecessary details added. The story rolled along though, and I finished it quick enough

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Especially as I read it whilst on holiday in Zanzibar. Involving and exciting whilst also having a lot to read about the culture and lifestyle of the island.

[Curvy Exterior · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Good: Beautiful description of Zanzibar and its surrounding waters. A brief genesis of al-qaida's evolution to its present state, resulting in terror incidents in Dar and Nairobi. Plot set before the famous 9/11 attacks.
The Bad: Story starts at page 209.

[Wal.li · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Ursprünge
Nick Karolides kommt für eine amerikanische Organisation nach Sansibar. Dort soll die Natur erforschen. Alles auf der Insel ist doch anders als in den USA, das Essen, die Menschen, die Wohngelegenheiten. Fast schon froh ist Nick, den Engländer Leggit kennenzulernen. Dieser erzählt ihm von einer kleinen sehr idyllischen Insel, welche Nick dann auch aufsucht und auf der er große Entspannung finden. Als er auf dem Festland seine Taucherausrüstung abholt, lernt er die hübsche Angestellte der US-Botschaft Miranda Powers kennen, die er zu seiner Insel einlädt.
Nachdem ich dieses Hörbuch erworben hatte, stellte ich fest, dass es sich bei dem Autor um den des Romans "Der letzte König von Schottland" handelt, der erfolgreich verfilmt wurde. Dadurch bekam "Sansibar" nocheinmal einen zusätzlichen Reiz. In ihm wird die Entwicklung hin zu den Anschlägen auf verschiedene US-Botschaften durch Al-Kaida beschrieben. In detailreicher teilweise blumiger Sprache legt der Autor die Ereignisse dar. Umfangreiche Hintergrundinformationen zur Entwicklung des Terrors sind in die Handlung um den zufällig in die Geschehnisse hineingeratenen Nick Karolides eingeflochten. Nach dem Hören dieses Romans bin ich nun etwas zwiegespalten, denn wenn es um die Erläuterungen religiöser Hintergründe geht, gerät der Autor und mit ihm der Vorleser manchmal derart ins Salbadern, dass es schwierig wird, den Ausführungen zu folgen. Andererseits ist die Thematik doch interessant und spannend dargestellt und trägt einiges zum Wissen über die Ursprünge dieser Form des Terrorismus bei. Hier hat der Autor, glaube ich, einiges geleistet und seine umfassende und detailgetreue Recherche zu einem informativen und lehrreichen Roman verarbeitet. Allerdings wird er dabei doch hin und wieder so ausschweifend, dass es letztlich den Hörfluss behindert.

[Janine Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

intrigerend boek, waarin bioloog Nick Carolides naar Zanzibar gaat om onderzoek te doen naar koraal, naar zeeschildpadden en dat ook te beschermen. In zelfde periode wordt Miranda Powers een ambitieuze jonge vrouw in opleiding voor secret services, uitgezonden naar de ambassade in Dar es Salaam. Derde verhaallijn is Khaled, geboren op Pemba, eilandje vlak bij Zanzibar. Nadat zijn ouders bruut vermoord zijn heeft hij zich tot de islam gewend en is in een opleidingskamp van Al Quiada terecht gekomen. Hij wordt nu op missie gestuurd naar Tanzania. Alle verhaallijnen komen samen op eilandje Lyly, waar Nick onderzoek doet mede op advies van oude Engelsman. Het eilandje is eigenom van een Afghaanse sheik (Osama bin Laden) en de Al Quiadagroep houdt zich hier schuil om bommen te maken voor aanslagen op de ambassades in Kenia en Dar es Salaam.
Zowel Nick als Miranda komen in levensbedreigende situaties terecht.
Leuk extra aspect is de verwijzingen naar bv Stonetown, naar de kruidnagelproductie en naar natuurgebieden in Tanzania.

[Lukerik · Rating 1 out of 5]

My enjoyment of this novel was impaired by the author's insistent use of sloppy and incompetent writing. Some of the problems are linguistic. On page 20 we have the sentence “It was the day after his twenty-first birthday.” This comes in the middle of a scene and turns out to be Nick remembering back, yet it's in the same tense as the rest of the scene. Other problems are with the mechanics of the story. Page 39. Nick's arrived at the hotel and the electricity is off so he sits down and watches television. These are just two of many instances. Also, the tone throughout is forced and self conscious.

A shame, because he's obviously done a huge amount of research and when he's not making mistakes his writing is quite readable. In those sections you only have to deal with boredom, which is easy in a novel packed with riveting scenes like the one when Miranda makes filter coffee.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely out of my normal realm of books. I received it as a Christmas present because I spent a semester in Zanzibar in college. I generally enjoyed it, as the story was quite compelling and the mystery-type component was interesting. But I felt like the characters were rather flat, which sort of frustrated me. And I kept getting pulled out of the book when reading words like "colour" and "tinned beans" coming from the perspective of Americans (i.e. out-of-place British-isms). Otherwise, the descriptions were in-depth and I felt transported back to Africa, although it was rather more dour than I remember it (of course, I was not trapped in the midst of a terrorist plot...). Overall, a good action/adventure book, albeit a bit lacking in character development.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book in Dar-es-Salaam, where part of this story takes place. It is a fictional depiction of the events surrounding the 1998 Tanzanian American Embassy bombing told through the eyes of four main characters: an male American scientist working in Zanzibar; a female American staffer working at the embassy; a counter-terrorism specialist; and a fictional Zanzibari man who gets caught up in setting off the bombs at the embassy. The story concentrates on the first two characters. The book has never been published in the US and I read something about how the author has tried to get it published here but never been able to do so possibly because of the subject matter. It is a good book. The author knows East Africa well.

[Khalekan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very perspicacious novel, written circa 2000, in the years leading up to 11/9.

The story is very much tied in with contemporary events and Queller, one of the main characters, helped Bin Laden get started in the days when the former was a CIA honcho and the latter an angry young man on jihad.

This book delves into the roots of the current conflict between the west and Islamic terrorists but it illustrates perfectly why thosae two planes smashed into the WTO.

The attacks didn't come from nowhere.

[Zeena Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having been a huge fan of the movie adaptation of Foden's best known novel, The Last King of Scotland, I really wanted to like this book more. The premise was strong, but the characters, plot, and scenarios weak. If I did manage to feel any empathy with the main characters, it was often spoiled by poorly linked scenes- it almost felt a little forced. That said, Foden writes more gripping, convincing Africa related fiction than almost any other author- so I shall continue to devour his books!

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giles Foden writes an interesting thriller about Africa, Al Queda and Osama Bin Laden set in 1998 prior to the acts that make them world famous.

[Jscorse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining, but very poorly written. One of the first to foresee Muslim extremism on a grand scale.

[Laura Shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter (the 1998 American embassy bombing in East Africa)but the story didn't really come together or gel until the last few chapters.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see how this would have made an impact at the time of release but all the Bin Laden background stuff is a bit of a bore now. I am not a big thriller reader and this is not gong to convert me.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

First rate plot & great descriptive writing. Puts you the reader into each exotic location - you can almost feel the wind on your face & the spray from the sea.