nobodyatall's review
3.0
This was a pretty mixed bag for me with stories of varied quality ranging from awful to amazing.
A couple of the stories were a bit preachy, very dogmatically presenting atheism as senseless and evil - which almost put me off reading the rest. These stories read a bit like the worst of Christian message fiction, they seemed to be awkwardly fitting in religious dogma and really striving to have a message, which made them (for me) pretty uncomfortable to read.
The last few, maybe 3, stories were all very enjoyable. The last one, Pilgrims Descent, in particular. These incorporated Islam and Muslim culture smoothly into the story in a way that reminded me of G Willow Wilson's Miss Marvel. Islam is just part of the world the story is set in, not a message to be pushed at the reader. Maybe there was a message, but it was subtle and didn't interrupt the storytelling so I could just get on with enjoying reading.
I am looking forward to, hopefully, seeing a second volume at some point.
A couple of the stories were a bit preachy, very dogmatically presenting atheism as senseless and evil - which almost put me off reading the rest. These stories read a bit like the worst of Christian message fiction, they seemed to be awkwardly fitting in religious dogma and really striving to have a message, which made them (for me) pretty uncomfortable to read.
The last few, maybe 3, stories were all very enjoyable. The last one, Pilgrims Descent, in particular. These incorporated Islam and Muslim culture smoothly into the story in a way that reminded me of G Willow Wilson's Miss Marvel. Islam is just part of the world the story is set in, not a message to be pushed at the reader. Maybe there was a message, but it was subtle and didn't interrupt the storytelling so I could just get on with enjoying reading.
I am looking forward to, hopefully, seeing a second volume at some point.
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