Fantasy Finds

YA Arabic Fantasy Fiction

• Sonia Nimr’s middle-grade novel طائر الرعد / Thunderbird – See here for Marcia Lynx Qualey’s interview with the author. Qualey’s recommendation of طائر الرعد / Thunderbird in the third Bulaq podcast won me over! Arabic review by Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi here. Available in 2022 in English (from Amazon and other booksellers).
• Future Files/ملف المستقبل series by Egyptian Nabil Farouk – I would recommend his book “Tamima” to young adult readers
• إكسير الحياة / The Elixir of Life by Moroccan Mohammed Aziz El-Habbani
• الطوفان الأزرق / The Blue Deluge and other books by Moroccan Ahmed Abd El-Salam El-Baqqali – He writes for young adults, and his writing has been compared to Jules Verne and Ralph Ellison.
• اجوان trilogy by Noura Noman – see this discussion and interview

Adult Arabic Fantasy Fiction

• There’s an exciting new generation of Egyptian fantasy writers. The following are on my to-read shelf: Muna Salama’s قزم مينورا and كيغار, Asma Qadri’s ديتون, Hassanein Mutaz’s صانع الأحلام, and Muhammad al-Dawakhli’s من حكايات الغول الأحمر الأخير
• Algerian Amar Boukhroufa, pen name Djamel Jiji, has a novel published in French. It’s translated from Arabic (unpublished thus far). For Algerian SciFi see Nadia Ghanem’s blog and her post on ArabLit.org. There is also an Algerian fantasy series in French (on my to-read shelf) by Anys Mezzaour.
• مجرد حلم / Just a Dream by Moroccan Abd El-Rahim Buhayr – treats social and political issues
• السيد من حقل السبانخ / The Guy from the Spinach Field – futuristic novel about state politics, freedom, and illusions of freedom
• For a combination of Arabic culture and Sci Fi fandom, see the work of Sophia Al-Maria, who coined the term ‘Gulf Futurism’. I have a brief review of her book, The Girl Who Fell to Earth.
• Here are a couple “supernatural” story collections… The Square Moon: Supernatural Tales (Arabic Translation Award and The Seventh Heaven: Supernatural Tales
• Throne of the Crescent Moon – not written in Arabic, but may be of interest to readers (it was to me!) – And if you like that, you’ll also like books by S.A. Chakraborty!
• Only in Arabic: كنتُ أميرً / I Used to Be a Prince, by Rabee Jaber (also spelled Rabie Jaber) of Lebanon, inspired largely by the tale “The Frog Prince.” My Review: I liked the first and last chapters. The rest was bizarre and/or rambling. Jaber is a talented writer, but I prefer a more focused plot and more developed characters. That said, this book is remarkable for its use of a fairytale / folktale for part of its inspiration. Based on the tale “The Frog Prince,” the first and last chapters form a sort of frame story. It has nice parallels to two other famous pieces literature: 1) The Thousand and One Nights / ألف ليلة وليلة in that the prince is like the king, Shahrayar (they have almost the same fear), and 2) Beauty and the Beast in that the prince receives the same curse / عقابة. Finally, the ending has a surprise twist for readers familiar with The Frog Prince. Altogether, the first and last chapter provide a pleasantly refreshing Arabic contribution to folklore-inspired fantasy.

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‘Warrior’ by Matt Leines

Historical/Classical Selections:

• A True Story: Parallel English and Greek by Lucien de Samosate, the Syrian, who was born in the 2nd century when eastern Turkey was part of Syria, and whose tale A True Story concerned a voyage to the Moon: he was therefore one of the early proto-SF authors.
• The story “Jullanar” in 1001 Nights (which tells a mermaid tale – one of my personal favorites).
• The Time Travels of the Man Who Sold Pickles and Sweets ( رحلات الطرشجي الحلوجي) by Egyptian Khairy Shalaby, translated to English by Michael Cooperson
• Arabic Epics
• Layla “the Chaste”: “The Tale of al-Barraq Son of Rawhan is an anonymously-authored heroic epic and song cycle set in the fifth century, CE, about a knight-in-shining-armour who rescues his beloved Layla, a young Arab woman who has been kidnapped and threatened with forced marriage to a Persian king.  It seems to have emerged as a fictional narrative by the beginning of the 18th century…”

Science Fiction:

Speculative fiction fans, tune in to these two Intralingo Spotlight interviews with author Dr. Monther Alkabbani and translator Tim Gregory. The Arabic bestseller فرسان وكهنة (compared to Dan Brown and Brandon Sanderson) is now available in English as Warriors &Warlocks. It’s printed on demand, so you can order through almost any bookstore. It’s available on Amazon in a variety of formats. And if you’re interested in hard copy Arabic, you can it from Jarir here.

• Islam and Science Fiction
• And on the topic of science fiction, see Ed Finn’s post on science fiction in popular culture and higher education here.
• Also see this discussion and this interview with Ana Barbaro
• For a scholarly introduction to Arabic SF, see Ian Campbell’s Arabic Science Fiction in the “Global Science Fiction Series” (2018). Also see Barabara Dick’s Doctoral Thesis (2016)

Disclaimer: What Appeals to Me

This post is a list of notable fantasy and science fiction, motivated mostly by my own personal interest in fantasy fiction. What do I mean by this? I like imaginative fiction that portrays imaginary worlds (although I happen to prefer them Earth-like, not space-like). I also have a preference for well-developed female characters (well-developed male characters are welcome too, but not at the expense of female characters). I have a special appreciation of nature (animals, plants, natural environments, magic that occurs in nature in an imaginary world). Some of my favorites include: Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley, Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, Siraaj and Granada by Radwa Ashour, and Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson.