Divided Species is the debut novel of Muhammad Omar Iftikhar. It is a science fiction story set in Karachi. The writer and columnist, with over 800 articles published to his name, has brought alien beings to Karachi in his exciting novel.

These aliens or extraterrestrial beings, as the author prefers to call them, are in search of an ancient mineral resource that their kind buried in Karachi many years ago. The story is about Rayan, a 21-year-old resident of Karachi who accidentally befriends the arriving aliens, the Taleykens, from the Planet Arplon. They have to locate the mineral resource before it is too late.

Some members of the Taleyken race want to extract this resource for their own selfish motives. Doing so without precaution will expose human and animal life to the mineral’s extreme radiation that will cause immense destruction.

The interesting aspect of the story is the presence of an alien-based mineral in Karachi. The readers will learn how this mineral resource made its way to the city of lights. This resource becomes the origins of the human-Taleyken conflict. While Rayan has no animosity against the alien beings he befriends, it is the evil General Gooztan, who wants to make matters worse for the humans and the species of his kind.

Omar Iftikhar has presented the life, sights and sounds of Karachi very well. Divided Species is one of the first sci-fi novels by a Pakistani anglophone fiction writer, with Karachi as the primary setting. Omar decided to bring the action of an alien presence on the streets of Karachi for he thought such species never arrive in Karachi in any fiction form or narrative. The story will appeal to those who are residents of Karachi and also be of interest to those who have visited Karachi and are aware of the city’s popular areas. Such areas are mentioned in the story with prominence.

The story has a balance between good and evil. The moral qualities of those following good are portrayed through the character of Commander Kropnock. He strictly follows the rules governed by his species on Planet Arplon and by the humans on Earth. He has a policy to never hurt any species across the universe.

On the other hand, General Gooztan is the epitome of all that is evil. He has no remorse over his actions, nor does he cares for the feelings of any being living in the universe.

An author needs to strike a balance between fiction and facts with the concept of believability binding them. Omar’s storytelling remains simple, yet appealing as he finds equilibrium between facts that are real and fiction that is believable. The readers will be delighted to read humans dealing with the presence of aliens in Karachi through Omar’s smooth and agile sentence structures. The novel is an exciting read and a great new addition to the list of fiction set in the backdrop of Karachi or Pakistan, and definitely a first science-fiction novel.

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 10th, 2021