Review – Thyme Travelers

In my never-ending quest to discover new works of fiction from around the world, I recently finished reading a fantastic collection of speculative fiction. Thyme Travelers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction is a great read. The stories are original in concept and give insight into the lives, hopes, and dreams of the Palestinian people. 

Sonia Sulaiman, the editor, did a great job of selecting a variety of stories and perspectives for this collection. While the stories are all uniquely Palestinian – with references to their culture and beliefs – they all stand apart as individual voices on the page. 

One of the many things I enjoyed about this collection is that each story was incredibly unique. They ranged from futuristic to alternative universe, from heartrendingly beautiful to horrific. And the authors weren’t afraid to take on different viewpoints and to represent different walks of life. I appreciate both their candor and their inclusion.

It goes without saying that a few of the stories were political in nature and addressed the ongoing situation in the Middle East. A couple of the stories hit on it in an indirect way. The situation is part of the backdrop, but not the focal point. Still, Palestinian pride is apparent on every page, and I feel I learned a lot about both the people and the culture. 

In the end, though, it was the writing and storytelling that won me over. There are stories about alien encounters, time travel, space travel, and even political intrigue. Some of the stories are straightforward, others are metaphorical, and they all left me with something to think about after the final words. The writing itself was also captivating. One of my favorite opening lines is from “Remembrance in Cerulean”: 

“The morning skies over Port Townsend Bay were steel-gray and twisted, like bedsheets after endless hours of nightmares.”

While it opens like a horror story (and there are some terrible things that happen in this piece), it turns into a beautiful tale of remembrance and forgiveness. It also shows that things aren’t always what they seem on the surface.

Thyme Travelers is a quick read, only 143 pages. There is also a collection of biographies of the authors, a glossary of terms (which was nice to have), and a collection of discussion questions. I assume this is for instances where the book is read in a classroom setting, but I took the opportunity to review the questions and consider my thoughts and feelings after reading these stories. 

This is definitely a good read and a short story collection I recommend. I found it fascinating to get a new perspective on a culture I don’t know much about and I feel like I’ve a new respect and admiration for the Palestinian people and their writers. 

RB