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This is a fascinating snippet of story - a bit of an origin story, it seems like - but I really hope it becomes a longer book at some point. There are so many unanswered questions just waiting to be explored.
Good and intriguing story, but lacks an ending!
I enjoyed this story much more than the prior one, probably because I love books. So, a story based upon the safekeeping of the ancient texts of the library at Timbuktu was sure to touch my creaky ol' heart. Here, a young Malian returns to his childhood home to find that al-Quaeda forces are destroying cultural artifacts, and his city is in danger. As Issaka discovers that there a queer force afoot in his iPad, he also realizes that his parents had been keeping secrets from him. There's no happy...
Extremely Difficult Emotionally, Interesting Plot, But Feels UnfinishedI'm in a daze after finishing this one. I feel distant and kind of sick.I suppose I should have DNF when I had a chance - when I felt the emotional, empathetic turmoil and borderline triggering caused by religious fanaticism and religiously fueled hate crimes - but I was deeply curious about the spirit Faro who possessed an iPad. By time I was quite literally triggered by the brutal murder of someone's close relatives at the
That was a weird story, but I liked it since it involved books, libraries, and how important words (even those not yet written) are. "The Black Pages" follows a supernatural being named Issaka that has been released from their prison after a book they were in somehow is set aflame. From there we have Issaka revealing things and eventually running into a young man named Faro who is dealing with the death of his family, but has something that Issaka needs. I liked this a lot. There's a lot to be r...
A multi-layered story which explores the subject of religious fanaticism and religiously fueled hate crimes told through the lens of magical realism. Issaka is a Physical Therapy student in the US, he comes home to visit his mum and dad in Timbouctou. And is surprised to find that he’s returned in the middle of an al-Qaeda raid. As his home and family history goes up in flames, he is introduced to Faro. Only he knows her already. He soon uncovers his parents’ secrets and with the help of the mag...
2 / 5 starsDefinitely better than the first story in this collection, but I won't remember it for long.. It was fine, and I think this set-up could be very intriguing in a longer format with more time for world-building.content notes:◦ moderate: murder, death (parent)
This was a unique short story and I quite enjoyed it.
Cliffhanger, but an excellent story about books and the importance of books and words.