Reviews

Palestine +100: Stories from a Century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini

margw's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad tense

catamongstthepages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

justanothermark's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.0

cass_lit's review against another edition

4.25

This was such an interesting collection of stories stemming from the same question: what could Palestine look like in 2048, 100 years after the Nakba? The foreword did a great job of setting the scene and talking about the role sci-fi plays in the lives of many Palestinians. Obviously there were some stories I enjoyed more personally than others, but the cohesive themes throughout made the collection work as a whole for me as well. It’s particularly disheartening to read from 2024’s perspective, as Palestine is destroyed worse than it’s ever been in recent history. In some ways, it feels even worse than the dystopian stories in this. 

princessmaia's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.0

boogiebeez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

tailsmalone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Book #8 of 2024: “Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba” edited by Basma Ghalayini

An anthology of science fiction stories by Palestinian authors imagining what their world will look like in 2048. Common themes of being trapped by the dream of returning “home” as it’s passed from generation to generation, further oppression and erasure by Israel, families forced apart by new bordered, and the trauma of losing loved ones to genocide. 

sapphfoes's review against another edition

limmy voice check out the curse of the mud ball kid if you get the chance . sound of the summer.

iridescentjemz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A short story collection based around where Palestine will be 100 years after the Nakba (which is only 24 years away from now). They are mainly sci-fi and dystopian with a bit of everything in between, even some ghostly moments and just plain weird moments (which I loved).

It covers topics including parallel worlds, AI, VR, hackers and of course various iterations of what Palestine might look like in 2048. 

I loved all of these stories, they were so well written and absorbing even for someone like me that doesn’t always gel with sci-fi. There are some very interesting ideas in these stories and some very poignant moments. I definitely think this will be a book I’ll revisit in the future and I’d like to explore more works by the authors who contributed works to this collection.

It’s hard to imagine what the world will be like in 2048, but I still have hope in my heart that I’ll see a free Palestine in my lifetime.

amyjo25's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5