jethrien

Title: Engraved on the Eye
Author: Saladin Ahmed
Genre: Speculative fiction short story anthology
Thingummies: 4.5

Synopsis: A collection of short stories, both science fiction and fantasy, many with an Islamic and/or Arabic flavor.

Thingummies: So many anthologies, whether a collection by one author or a mix of many, are an uneven mix of brilliance, mediocre, and just plain puzzling. This is one of the most uniformly high quality collections I've read in some time. While I'd stop short of "brilliance", the stories are all engaging, well-written, lovely little baubles.

I also want to avoid the word "exotic", which has far too much Orientalist baggage. But many of these stories play with settings, legends, and characters of Middle Eastern origins which are underutilized by most Western spec fic writers and so have a welcome freshness. We have a complex modern twist on the classic magic lamp, Islamic soldiers in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, high fantasy featuring learned doctors from Baghdad and idealistic dervishes.

I loved the classic-style tales of the apprentice warriors who discover that the real world is more complicated than they had bargained for, but I also appreciated the somewhat more unorthodox stories, such as "Dr. Diablo Goes Through the Motions", about a cynical supervillain, and "Mr. Hadj's Sunset Ride", a creepy Western featuring a mysterious foreigner. There's an interesting tone, overall, which is too world-weary to fully indulge in happily-ever-afters, but too wise to give up into dystopia. Endings are morally shaded and frequently ambiguous, but nonetheless satisfying.

Overall, it's a solid bunch worth reading. I think my only regret was that there were not more. Clearly, I need to keep my eye out for more Ahmed in the future.