The Wandering Falcon

By: Jamil Ahmad

Narrated by: Piter Marek

Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Traditions that have lasted for centuries, both brutal and beautiful, create a rigid structure for life in the wild, astonishing place where Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan meet - the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). It is a formidable world, and the people who live there are constantly subjected to extremes-of place and of culture. The Wandering Falcon begins with a young couple, refugees from their tribe, who have traveled to the middle of nowhere to escape the cruel punishments meted out upon those who transgress the boundaries of marriage and family. Their son, Tor Baz, descended from both chiefs and outlaws, becomes "The Wandering Falcon," a character who travels among the tribes, over the mountains and the plains, into the towns and the tents that constitute the homes of the tribal people. The media today speak about this unimaginably remote region, a geopolitical hotbed of conspiracies, drone attacks, and conflict, but in the rich, dramatic tones of a master storyteller, this stunning, honor-bound culture is revealed from the inside.

©2011 Jamil Ahmad (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"I''ve been talking about this book to anyone who will listen. From page one, I was transported to a land of nomadic tribes who live and die by ancestral codes. But The Wandering Falcon is not only about tribes. It is about honor, love, loyalty, and grace. And it is about borders--geographical, political, and personal. The terrain where Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet may be cruel and unforgiving, but every page of this book is filled with beauty and humanity. By the final pages, I found myself transformed." ( The New York Times)

"A striking debut...The power and beauty of these stories are unparalleled in most fiction to come out of south Asia." ( The Guardian)

"Tautly written... Fantastic... Drawn with tenderness but without sentimentality... Ahmad is a deft storyteller and his slim volume possesses a strong allure." ( Financial Times)

Great Insight into a Changing Time and Place

Loved this book. It offered a glimpse of the sociology and psychology of a people living at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border during a time of great change in that region. Unfortunately, the narrator's performance was horrid and was without any understanding of the material he was reading.

Terrible, just terrible.

Don't waste your time reading this book. It really goes nowhere. Nine chapters of pointless.

Tribal lands in northern Pakistan

Story is very rambling thru characters and time. Description of scenery and life's struggles good.