Negara Hutan

Book excerpt: Jason Tan, a Eurasian from the near future of our world falls through a portal to land in South East Asia in a parallel universe. The story covers his confusion and his struggle to get home. The society in which he lands is totally Asian. The great powers are Indian and Chinese empires; the local powers are Greater Khmer, and the Bugis. This new world is peopled by all these groups interacting with each other. During his journey he experiences the surface differences between this world and his own, but gradually realizes the underlying similarities. This new world is in a feudal, pre-industrial age but great things have been achieved. What he eventually understands is that under totally different circumstances, people are still the same and a social situation develops that in many ways closely mimics that existing in our world.