As with most short story collections, Thyme Travellers has a wide range of styles and themes on offer, and I can’t say I enjoyed all of them, but most helped me gain better understanding of Palestinian life under Israel’s oppression and in that respect I think it’s a worthy read. Some of the stories though are are truly good examples of what speculative fiction can achieve when constrained to a limited length.
The highlights of the collection for me were:
The generation chip - the moving story of a family discovering their late grandmother’s identity, past and regrets through memory chips she left to her grandchildren.
Remembrance in Cerulean - a bittersweet, poignant first contact story.
Gaza Luna - young Palestinians secretly build a rocket of Ottoman design.
Soul Searching - this story takes a while to take off, mostly as we’re discovering what’s expected of the protagonist together with them, but the conclusion is touching and satisfying.
Cyrano de AI - a concise but well-orchestrated cautionary tale about the pitfalls of augmented reality.
The Frontrunner - A twisty, compelling spy story in just 6 pages.

Note: I received this book for free as an ARC from #NetGalley but the opinions above are mine and unbiased.

Okay, who wouldn’t love the title + the fact that it is speculative fiction written by authors of the Palestinian diaspora?! As with any anthology, there are stronger and weaker stories, but THYME TRAVELLERS is a welcome addition to the deeply talented pool of Palestinian and Palestinian diaspora writers to keep Palestine on all our minds.

In the preface, editor Sonia Sulaiman makes the interesting note that the call for submissions was made before October 2023. This is worthwhile to know because not all of the stories explicitly touch upon Palestinian culture or issues.

And that’s okay, I think. Because while every Palestinian is marked by the horror of the Nakba, by apartheid, and by genocide, that is not all that they are. The diversity of diaspora Palestinian voices that appear in this anthology reflect that. (And this is also heartbreaking to think about: that there are many more Palestinians outside of Palestine than there are who live there.) I loved that Sulaiman allowed these authors to just run with their ideas and be who they are.

Some of my favorite stories do address issues of Palestinian oppression or freedom head-on. For instance, my absolute favorite is the first one, “Down Under,” in which Jumaana Abdu gives us a taut, thriller-esque story in which diasporic Palestinians resort to digging a tunnel through the Earth’s core to reach Palestine.

In others, violence against Palestinians is like an initially shallow cut at the side of your eye that grows into an oozing, all-consuming sore. “The Third or Fourth Casualty” by Ziyad Saadi is one such deceptively mundane, increasingly horrifying tale of a group of boys who swim out to sea for a regular day of “fun”.

And some are just writers with Palestinian heritage allowing themselves to write anything they want. For instance, I quite enjoyed Karl el-Koura’s “Cyrano de AI” take on a world in which people wear implants that tell them the best things to say to be the funniest, most charming, and most empathetic person in the room, but I wouldn’t go into the story expecting “Palestinian-ness”.

Definitely get your hands on this quirky and moving little collection if you like short stories featuring diverse voices, speculative fiction, and a free Palestine.

In a Nutshell: An anthology of Palestinian speculative fiction. Focusses on the Palestinian identity as well as the speculative content without losing track of either. The OwnVoices writing and the undertone of wistfulness adds to the impact. Much recommended to SFF lovers.

"All Palestinian fiction is speculative; we are always grappling with the past and living in expectation of the future..."
"The world as I know it will be a memory by the time you read these words."
This anthology of fourteen stories was conceptualized before the latest war began. So the above sentences in the editor’s note seem even more poignant. While we know war comes with uncertainty and mayhem, most of us haven’t experienced living under a daily threat of death and destruction. No wonder fantastical writing is the preferred mode of storytelling for Palestinian authors.

Though speculative, there's a strong flavour of Palestine, its people and its culture in these stories. The pulse of the story is not on the weird but on the real, with each tale focussing on the humans and their emotions, even though their world isn't the one we necessarily know.

As every contributing author is from Palestine, their writing depicts their innate awareness of the social structure and the political upheavals. Many of the tales contain an undertone of hiraeth, and of wishful thinking, seeking an end to the turmoil and wanting justice to come to Palestine.

The lengths of the stories differ, as do the ages of the central protagonists. Some of the stories are on the longer side, but they don’t feel dragged. However, a few of the stories were a bit too disjointed for my liking. They leaned far too much into the speculative side, which my pragmatic head struggles with. Those who are bigger fans of SFF might not face a similar issue. That said, every single one of the tales was imaginative and distinct, never creating a feeling of déjà vu.

I can’t help contrast this experience with another anthology I read in November last year. ‘Embroidered Worlds’ is also an OwnVoices speculative fiction collection, written by writers from yet another war-torn nation: Ukraine. However, most of the stories in the Ukrainian collection had no glimpse of Ukrainian culture or beliefs or the politics. Instead, the focus was solely on the speculative. On the contrary, this Palestinian collection makes sure that the stories don’t lose track of their cultural identity even while exploring the speculative. No points for guessing which approach I preferred.

There is a detailed glossary at the end this book, and to my surprise, discussion questions as well. I have never seen this in any anthology I've read to date.

The bio of each contributing author is present at the end. I wish these details had been placed immediately after their respective stories; this makes it so much easier to know more about writers whose work clicked well for us.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the fourteen stories, seven stories reached or crossed the four-star mark. The rest were more varied in performance, getting anywhere between 2-3.5 stars. These were my top favourites.
🍉 Down Under - Jumaana Abdu: A strong speculative story that offers an ending but doesn't offer closure. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍉 The Third Or Fourth Casualty - Ziyad Saadi: Wish the ending had worked better for me but this was still a powerful story. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍉 The Generation Chip - Nadia Afifi: Such a beautiful story of a life not lived to the fullest! Excellent blend of fantasy and reality. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍉 Soul Searching - Rana Othman: This took an expected pattern of storytelling and made it magically speculative. The child narrator’s perspective made it even better. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🍉 Cyrano de AI - Karl El-Koura: An interesting look at a world where human interactions are entirely enhanced through AI add-ons. This might just be the future, and if it is, I don't think I'm looking forward to it. Loved the ending! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🍉 The Frontrunner - J.D. Harlock: Started off as a typical story about a psychic warning about potential catastrophe. Ended in a totally unexpected way. Enjoyed the turn-around. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🍉 The Centre of the Universe - Nadia Shammas: Probably one of the most bizarre stories I have read in my life! I just didn’t see where it was going. I wish there had been more detailing at the end. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

On the whole, I enjoyed my first flavour of Palestinian fiction and would love to read more from the region. Here’s wishing for a quick resolution to the conflict.

Definitely recommended to short fiction lovers looking for a dash of Palestinian flavour and a splash of speculative storytelling through OwnVoices perspectives.

3.5 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale, rounding up for the theme and the OwnVoices factor.

My thanks to Roseway Publishing for providing the DRC of “Thyme Travellers” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This is a beautiful collection of speculative fiction which explores Palestinian history, folklore, and 'futures'.

***Trigger Warnings**
- death & grief - gun violence/violence in general - genocide & war - bullying - colonialism

All the stories were amazing in there own ways, making it hard to choose favorites; but I did enjoy:
"Remembrance in Cerulean" by Elise Stephens
"The Third or Fourth Casualty" by Ziyad Saadi
"The Centre of the Universe" by Nadia Shammas

Plus, I know they were short stories but I do wish some of them were a bit longer! But to soak up these stories, I'd suggest taking your time and reading maybe 1 or 2 chapters/stories a day.

Thank you NetGalley and Roseway Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thyme Travellers is a collection of speculative fiction stories written by Palestinian authors. These covered a wide range of topics, but my favorites were about the social consequences of implanting an AI chip in one’s brain and an inheritance consisting of memories that reveal secrets and bring family together. While there few a few stories that didn’t quite land for me, I thought the collection overall was well-done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This is a wonderful anthology of short speculative fiction stories written by Palestinian authors from the diaspora, that range in length as well as subgenre.

While some draw attention directly from Palestinian history as well as present times others are more subtle in their messaging but each and every piece though vastly different, share themes of belonging, connection, resilience and remembrance.

From considering alternative history, to the exploration of different types of technology, to characters being touched by magic the level of imagination across this collection is fascinating. There were definitely some stories that I connected to less than others but this mostly came down to the fact that they were too short and I was left wishing the authors of those ones had expanded on them a little more.

My personal favourite was Nadia Afifi’s ‘The Generation Chip’ but two other standouts which I am not going to forget any time soon were Ziyad Saadi’s ‘The Third or Fourth Casualty’ and Nadia Shammas’ ‘The Centre of the Universe’.

Packed with heartfelt emotion and thought-provoking sentiments, Thyme Travellers will without a doubt have something for everyone.
Final Rating - 3.5/5 Stars

I often track my feelings and ratings of each separate story in an anthology, and give my overall rating as an average on that - however, in the case of Thyme Travellers, the stand-out tales were so exceptional that they were given a heavier weighting. The collection as a whole has a good balance, with all of the stories engaging me in some way. My particular favourites were Nadia Afifi's The Generation Chip, and Elise Stephens' Remembrance in Cerulean. I feel that I will keep mulling these over for a long time after finishing reading. Although both tales focus on memory, they do so in vastly different ways. This is prevalent throughout the collection - whilst themes of colonialism and forced displacement are always present, some tales hone in much more directly with Palestine itself. Other highlights included Nadia Shammas' The Centre of the Universe, Rana Othman's Soul Searching, Jumaana Abdu's Down Under, and Samah Serour Fadil's Gaza Luna. There's a wonderful range of narratives within Thyme Travellers - from the poetic, to the humourous, to the deeply moving. I can see myself revisiting particular stories again and again.

My favourites from this speculative fiction anthology were:

Down Under by Jumaana Abdu: this was captivating and bizarre and I loved it. Dig your way to Palestine? Yes.

The Third or Fourth Casualty by Ziyad Saadi: a heart breaking story of boys swimming in the sea; an important truth, a much needed reminder of what is potentially already happening in real life as I type this.

Soul Searching by Rana Othman: a sweet magical story involving children, riddles, a cat, and Tata Jameela!

The Heart Knows the Truth by Layla Azmi Ghoushey: dreamy and whimsical and lovely.

Remembrance in Cerulean by Elise Stephens: I loved what the author created — these memory-absorbing-infusing species of “aliens”.

Got an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

This collection of speculative fiction written by Palestinian authors was incredible!

Each story was hard-hitting to read as someone who is not Palestinian, and I cannot understand the full depth of the stories, but I held some understanding from the language used in each story; they hold so much raw emotion that it was difficult to read sometimes, but the constant idea of Palestine being free one day in each one urged me to continue reading them.

From the preface in the beginning of this book, it seems these stories were being compiled in 2023, before the current genocide began, giving these stories a new hauntingly tragic perspective when reading it in 2024, almost a year later. Even the Author's Notes emphasised the importance of listening, highlighting how Palestinians still need our help.

I cannot stop thinking about Generation Chip and Remembrance in Cerulean. These made me feel all the feelings in the best way possible.

My only wish would be that some stories should have had a little more development or explanation, but that doesn't take away from the meanings behind them at all.

This collection of short stories includes a multitude of themes from colonialism, invasion, loss, genocide, hope, memory, identity and many more. I highly recommended adding this to diversify your reading, especially with the current genocide of Palestinians who need their voices to be heard now more than ever!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when picking this up, but I was pleasantly surprised!

It’s a short read, filled with short stories written by or about Palestine and Palestinians. The stories range in emotion, theme and length, but the ongoing undercurrent is that Palestine is a beautiful place, a home to so many people who deserve to be allowed to live, love and revisit their homeland. The message that Palestinians are just as talented as anyone else in the world came across rightfully loud and clear.

I especially enjoyed the stories involving AI, as I’m a huge nerd and those ones touched base with me. The one about the rocket-ship was a personal favourite too. And the queer grandmothers, that one also felt personal as I myself am queer!

I also learnt quite a bit about their culture while reading this, that I really appreciate. I look forward to doing my own research and finding out more in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think that trying to make short and direct reviews for anthologies is a somewhat difficult task, however I will say, that Thyme Travelers as a collection of narratives from Palestinian authors is a very poignant and unique compilation. Every story delves into the feeling of diaspora, the alienation from home and the fear of staying, and they all encapsulate those feelings in deep ways.

This collection of speculative fiction by Palestinian diaspora voices is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. There is much to love in those 14 stories that ask “what if?”. Some stories take that question very literally (what if AI prompted our every interaction, what if we could go back in time and change the future of Palestine), while others are much more poetic and leave things open for interpretation. I was delighted to find a story by Nadia Shammas, author of Squire (one of my favourite books of the year), and really loved it, but there are many strong short stories in this collection and more than a few that will linger in the back of your mind.
Rep: Palestinian cast, lesbian and non-binary rep.
CW: death, colonisation.

Thank you Roseway Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As with all anthologies, there were some hits and some misses. There were quite a few stories I felt needed another round or two of edits, some lines that felt clunky and some bits that felt unpolished.

There were also some incredibly moving stories in here with some really beautiful prose.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this. I felt like it gave me some insight into a culture I know very little about through an incredibly interesting lens.

This book was an absolute delight! As an anthology of speculative fiction by Palestinian authors, I was immediately intrigued. What I found was an amazing collection of short stories that made me think hard about the world we live in today, and what awaits us in the future.

Thank you to Roseway Publishing for the ARC copy of this book.

This is a collection of speculative fiction short stories by 14 Palestinian writers. The stories were all incredibly unique and ranged from science fiction to fantasy to horror. This collection was started before the current war on Palestine but each story exemplifies the way that apartheid and genocide attempt to destroy not only entire populations of people but their cultures and histories as well. Just as with any collection of stories, I enjoyed some more than others but they were all impactful. My favorites were Down Under, Gaza Luna, and The Centre of the Universe.

These stories are stunning. A beautiful collection of short speculative fiction by Palestinian authors, it is an exploration of Palestinian culture and history, colonialism, family, connection to community, what is, and what could be. Many of these feel a little Black Mirror-esque with stories encompassing AI, time travel, aliens and more. Some were heart-breaking while others were hopeful or longing. I loved them.

I can’t even begin to explain the rollercoaster of emotions this collection of short stories took me on. As usual with short story collections, there were some that were a miss for me BUT overall, I really really enjoyed so many of these stories. I will be looking into the other works of many of these authors!!!
I highly recommend picking this up and a huge thank you to NetGalley and Roseway publishing for the e-arc.

Fantastic collection of speculative fiction from Palestinian writers. Some of the stories are shorter than others, but they still manage to tell gorgeous stories in the space they have. Definitely pick this up this fall; these voices need to be amplified more than ever currently.

I am thrilled to review Thyme Travellers, an excellent collection edited by Sonia Sulaiman. This collection of short speculative fiction by Palestinian diasporic authors accomplishes so, so much in a relatively short page count. There are a wide array of speculative motifs here – AI, alien species, space travel, and time travel to name a few – and there is a range in terms of story length, mood/tone, and themes. I appreciate the inclusion queer representation in several stories.

Inevitably with a collection one will find certain stories stand out, but it is very difficult to choose a few favourites given how consistently strong this one is. Several stories have really stuck with me after having finished them; I suspect this is a book I’ll revisit to re-read some stories again.

I had only read a few of these authors before: Emad El-din Aysha (whose work also appeared in Palestine +100), Nadia Afifi (whose novel The Sentient I enjoyed), and Sonia Sulaiman (whose short fiction I’ve read, and whom I’m happy to call a friend). I am looking forward to reading more from the authors featured here & absolutely recommend this collection wholeheartedly.
Content warnings: violence, war, murder, death, death of a parent, suicide, police brutality, classism, racism, colonization, bullying

Thank you to Roseway Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

This anthology feels particularly timely. When reality seems too surreal, too violent, too alienating to take in, what better than speculative fiction full of alternative realities, imaginaries and even actual aliens to explore what might be, and what should be.
There are stories about futures where there is no more conflict as well as futures where Palestinian characters respond to and engage in conflict in new and different ways.
There is a glossary at the back for terms that are unfamiliar.