Iraq + 100
The First Anthology of Science Fiction to Have Emerged from Iraq
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
One of NPR's Best Books of 2017!
A groundbreaking anthology of science fiction from Iraq that will challenge your perception of what it means to be “The Other”
“History is a hostage, but it will bite through the gag you tie around its mouth, bite through and still be heard.”—Operation Daniel
In a calm and serene world, one has the luxury of imagining what the future might look like.
Now try to imagine that future when your way of life has been devastated by forces beyond your control.
Iraq + 100 poses a question to Iraqi writers (those who still live in that nation, and those who have joined the worldwide diaspora): What might your home country look like in the year 2103, a century after a disastrous foreign invasion?
Using science fiction, allegory, and magical realism to challenge the perception of what it means to be “The Other”, this groundbreaking anthology edited by Hassan Blasim contains stories that are heartbreakingly surreal, and yet utterly recognizable to the human experience. Though born out of exhaustion, fear, and despair, these stories are also fueled by themes of love, family, and endurance, and woven through with a delicate thread of hope for the future.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this landmark anthology, a question is posed to 10 Iraqi writers, living both in Iraq and abroad: what will your country look like after 100 years? The answers to this question are vast and varied. In "Kuszib," Hassan Abdulrazzak imagines a cruel future in which the farming of humans by aliens is rendered in gruesome, visceral detail. In "The Corporal," Ali Bader tells the tale of one soldier's quest for redemption in the face of religious and political turmoil. Editor Blasim's "The Gardens of Babylon" imagines a digital paradise overtaking the Middle East, where people's lives are compartmentalized into video game stories and insects are the new drug of choice. Inventive and surprising, these tales, many of which are translated, blend the surreal with the commonplace, pushing the boundaries of speculative fiction. Readers will savor each story as it probes the deeper questions of existence and the possibilities and perils of the future. This is a must-read for all science fiction enthusiasts.
