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speculativebecky 's review for:
Iraq + 100: stories from a century after the invasion
by Diaa Jubaili, Ra Page, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Anoud, Ibrahim Al-Marashi, Khalid Kaki, Mortada Gzar, Ali Bader, Zhraa Alhaboby, Jalal Hasan, زهراء أزهر الحبوبي, Hassan Blasim
One of the things I found immediately interesting in the introduction to this volume, is Blasim’s description about their efforts to realize this idea. He explains that there is not a large tradition of science fiction writing in Iraq, and asserts an overarching trend of Arab writers’ avoiding works addressing the future. In this light, the claim on the cover that this book is “the first anthology of science fiction to have emerged from Iraq” becomes perhaps less grandiose. To build this collection, Blasim and Page were open to writers from varied backgrounds, from academics to novelists to writers of short stories, rather than selecting specific writers to include in the project. They didn’t require the stories to be classifiable under the science or speculative fiction genre, as long as they fit the premise of imagining an Iraqi city in a hundred years.
After the valuable insights of the introduction, the collection as a whole completes an interesting picture of Iraq, the devastating impact of the US occupation, and the struggle to speculate on how the country/world might move forward. At times I could feel the reluctance to write speculative fiction in these stories, which would instead incorporate significantly the present, through diary entries, or in one case the protagonist is actually a time traveler from the Iraq war into the imagined future.
At times these stories felt a little lackluster to me, whether because they didn’t lean as far as I’d hoped into the realm of the speculative, or because they were difficult to follow. I will say though that that discomfort of being immersed in a cultural viewpoint that is completely outside my familiarity is actually what I’m looking for when reading a collection like this, so rather than only detracting from the experience, I feel that it also enhances it.
Of course also some of the inconsistency comes from the inherent nature of an anthology, collecting multiple voices across different skill sets and passions. I burn out quickly on anthologies so I think it was a mistake to tackle two in a row. Next few collections I read I’m going to treat myself to what I’ve grown to love most in short stories, a deep dive into a collection by the same author.
My favorite story in this anthology would have to be Kuszib by Hassan Abdulrazzak, which envisions a future not only-post US invasion of Iraq, but post-alien invasion of Earth. Set in Baghdad and from the perspective of a pair of aliens, this story went some weird directions, but also provided fascinating commentary on the dehumanization of invasion.
After the valuable insights of the introduction, the collection as a whole completes an interesting picture of Iraq, the devastating impact of the US occupation, and the struggle to speculate on how the country/world might move forward. At times I could feel the reluctance to write speculative fiction in these stories, which would instead incorporate significantly the present, through diary entries, or in one case the protagonist is actually a time traveler from the Iraq war into the imagined future.
At times these stories felt a little lackluster to me, whether because they didn’t lean as far as I’d hoped into the realm of the speculative, or because they were difficult to follow. I will say though that that discomfort of being immersed in a cultural viewpoint that is completely outside my familiarity is actually what I’m looking for when reading a collection like this, so rather than only detracting from the experience, I feel that it also enhances it.
Of course also some of the inconsistency comes from the inherent nature of an anthology, collecting multiple voices across different skill sets and passions. I burn out quickly on anthologies so I think it was a mistake to tackle two in a row. Next few collections I read I’m going to treat myself to what I’ve grown to love most in short stories, a deep dive into a collection by the same author.
My favorite story in this anthology would have to be Kuszib by Hassan Abdulrazzak, which envisions a future not only-post US invasion of Iraq, but post-alien invasion of Earth. Set in Baghdad and from the perspective of a pair of aliens, this story went some weird directions, but also provided fascinating commentary on the dehumanization of invasion.