Review: The Cave by Uthman Hutchinson

Uthman Hutchinson has written numerous books for Muslim children.

The Islamic Foundation of North America, Inc summarized this book.

The first story has an anti-war message, although it probably simplifies, in retrospect, the Afghan rebellion against its Communist government. The second story has a good message of gender equality, or at least an expansion of the spheres in which Muslim women can participate as equals.

I have not been able to find an outlet which sells this book.

Fantasy Academy in Iran

Fantasy Academy is an Iranian science fiction and fantasy club devoted to promoting SF/F.  Read more at The World SF blog.

Review: Teach Us to Live: Stories from Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Diana Wickes Roose

This book can be ordered from Intentional Productions.

Listen to the CD accompanying this book with the recordings of translated testimonies of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I hope no Muslim ever uses the term "Islamic bomb." There's nothing "Islamic" about the bomb, and we should work towards complete nuclear disarmament.

P.S. If you get a chance, watch David Rothauser's Hibakusha, Our Life to Live.

Matt Ruff's The Mirage Sounds Like a Good Read

If you amalgamated the methodical, punctilious, world-building skills of Ian McDonald (“The Dervish House”) with the reality-distortion powers of Philip K. Dick (“The Man in the High Castle”) and then folded in the satirical, take-no-prisoners savagery of Norman Spinrad (“The Iron Dream”), you might very well be able to produce a book approximating Matt Ruff’s “The Mirage” — God willing, as Ruff’s characters are continually cautioning.

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