BARNET, England, June 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- In a gripping translation of an actual diary written by a man captured by a terrorist group, Nouman Smyles has released a refined version of this account in Hostage to Celestial Turks (now available through 1stBooks). This diary reveals the mindset of a terrorist group similar to Al-Qaeda and discusses the most secretive empires in world history.
The narrator of the novel, Altaer Magdi, is a translator taken hostage by a militant extremist group. Scribbling broken English in a book used to translate the guerillas' messages, the narrator discusses how he first arrived in Central Asia. He was a hired translator for an American scholar named Luke, who was studying the ancient people of that region known as the Celestial Turks. They uniquely followed all the religions of the world: Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Shamanism, etc. Luke was killed, as were all the previous researchers that attempted to document this mysterious group.
The narrator discusses the history of the Celestial Turks, which were dubbed the Greatest Empire of the Steppe, which extended from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea. After the prince of this kingdom dies, his brother searches for the key to eternity. He orders other countries' holy books to be translated, later sending the representatives of these alternate religions to different countries and cultures.
This book not only gives a rare glimpse into the mindset of a terrorist group, but for the first time tells the story of the Celestial Turks. It provides a true view of the mingling between history and events of today, such as globalization, military affairs and conspiracy theories.
Ahmed Rashid, the author of Taliban, wrote: "It's a wonderful moving spiritual and emotional roller coaster that takes you back centuries and then zaps you into the world of terrorism, ideology and ethnic minorities. This is a book that is so strange that you will remember it for a long time to come. A fascinating read."
Smyles is a writer and member of the Oriental literary-mystical group, Conference of Refined. He is the author of Customs & Cliches, which has been translated into Uzbek.
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