Book Review: Iraq + 100: The First Anthology of Science Fiction to Have Emerged from Iraq edited by Hassan Blasim

 

 

Iraq + 100: The First Anthology of Science Fiction to Have Emerged from Iraq edited by Hassan Blasim  

224 pages, Paperback

September, 2017 by Tor Books

In the many side effects of the Trump years one that really bothers me is softening of the anger toward GW Bush and his misadventures in the middle east. One sickening aspect of the Bush years was the terrible inexcusable lack of American empathy for the people and the suffering the American invasion caused in Iraq. It is hard enough to get people to watch the news, or read the history so perhaps there is a different war. 

Enter this book of stories by authors from Iraq or the Iraqi diaspora. The idea is that the stories take place in 2103 - one hundred years after the invasion. Published by Tor I was excited as soon as I saw this not only because I wanted stories about this theme, but I also was hoping to discover Iraqi genre writers. 

Sadly I don’t think there is an Iraqi SF scene, in the way I was envisioning. Some of these writers use surrealism, or the fantastic, but I don’t think there is an Iraqi scene per se.  With each story, I would flip back to the author bios, all respected writers and filmmakers. A few seemed more than comfortable using genre tropes but mostly the 100 years plus prompt was excellent for kick starting these excellent writers imagination. 

This is an above average collection of science fiction, not just because of the quality and yes all the stories are worth reading. In the text of the stories different cities are represented, different parts of Iraqi culture and all with an eye for the long range effects of war. There are a couple of the stories that I think are stand-outs and we should talk about them.

My favorite stories included. The Gardens of Babylon by Hassan Blasim, The Corporal by Ali Bader, Kuszib by Hassan Abdulrazzak, Najufa by Ibrahim Al-Marashi

Written by the editor of the collection wrote the Gardens of Babylon, a story with a slight Philip K. Dick vibes. A game designer is haunted by the past and after taking a hallucinogenic drug the past comes alive.  The story has excellent vibes and weird tone that made it one of the coolest feelings. It also is the story with some of the best world-building. This moment spoke to me. “No one can deny the ingenuity of the giant domes. Each district is a circular space like a giant sports ground, roofed over with smart glass dome that absorbs the sunlight, which is the main source of energy in babylon. All the districts are linked by amazing underground trains.”

This is some of the best world building in the collection, the name Iraq is gone in this story, Babylon or Mesopotamia is what the people call the region which is included in Chinese holdings. Still under colonial rule, but one where the people are offered Chinese citizenship. This makes it a rare SF story that envisions a heavily Chinese influenced future much like the Maureen Hugh classic China Mountain Zhang.

All around excellent story.

The Corporal is a fantastic story about an Iraqi soldier who despite being very in favor of the Iraq war is accidently killed by a U.S. soldier. He convinces god to send him back 100 years later as a prophet. One problem: the roles of the two societies have been reversed. “I am not sure how it happened exactly but history has taken a big turn. Just take America: now it’s an extremist state, gripped by religion.”

It is hard not to think of this story (written in 2013) as correctly forseeing a bit of the culture wars in this country. It is easy to see the MAGA heads who want this Christian great American revival as they are dragged screaming into a progressive future.  

The absolute banger of the collection without a doubt  Kuszib by Hassan Abdulrazzak. It has really cool world-building “Ur parked the Paradigm Hover in the vehicle dock, and the couple took the magnet capsule to Alliance City Station (in a part of town that used to be called Revolution city in the old days). “

I hate to spoil this story but the way the story unfolds is very sly. You might be mistaken at first to believe this is a vampire story. This story is the most wild of Science fiction concepts and the most effective story in every way. The story is so well written and contains so laugh out loud characters and irreverent moments. This story has gross moments, funny moments and super cool moments of creative invention.

Iraq + 100 is far from a normal Science Fiction anthology. It is important, it is a must read for fans of socially important political Science Fiction.