Review

Not a whole lot to report for now. I'd meant to mention in my last post that on Friday I finally got around to writing that review for The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad, so here it is:

This is an absolutely fantastic collection of stories. Ahmad's stories have a tight focus on absurd scenarios involving historical figures. The level of surrealness varies from story to story, but throughout, time itself is treated as a character, twisted and stretched and compacted to Ahmad's whims. It runs the gamut from multiplying Napoleons who can pull the moon from the sky to the relationship drama of Nellie Bly and Julius Caesar as they grow old together. Every single story is well-crafted and excellent, but a few of my personal favorites are "The Napoleons Are Multiplying", "Inside the House of the Historian", and "Choose Your Own Apocalypse". And the greatest strength here is the force of Ahmad's skillful writing. I was completely unfamiliar with her before reading this, but I have been thoroughly captivated by this book and I strongly recommend it. I am absolutely going to be watching for whatever comes next from Ahmad.