Barzakh: The Land In-Between

Moussa Ould Ebnou

ISBN 10: 1957810009 / ISBN 13: 9781957810003

Verlag: Iska Press, US, 2022

In the distant future, while studying the land of Barzakh in the Sahara, members of the Institute for the Archeology of Human Thought unearth the bones of Gara, a young man, whose Myelin will unravel the secrets of his ancient consciousness. A foreigner in his own land, Gara, in search of a better humanity, has traveled through three eras, from the 11th-century deserts of Mauritania to the dystopic future, inadvertently sowing the seeds of his own destruction. An innovative masterpiece that symphonizes mysticism, religion, and Mauritanian culture into a dystopian reflection on the human condition, this unique blend of science fiction and philosophy will interest those looking for new voices and perspectives in science fiction. Translated from French by Marybeth Timmermann, this would be the first official English publication of the work. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers LU-9781957810003

Inhaltsangabe:

From the sands of the Sahara to a dystopian future, one man’s ancient memory holds the key to humanity’s fate.

Gara awakens dying atop a desert mountain, his final memories encoded like fossils in crystal. Sold into slavery by his father, he survives the merciless salt caravans and the slave markets of medieval Awdaghost until alKhadir—the Green One—offers an irreversible gift: leap forward through time in search of a better humanity. Each jump hurls him into new eras of bondage and revolt—slave rebellions, colonial violence, and, at last, a dystopian regime where his own descendant, Tangalla, rules a toxic empire that turns the Sahara into the world’s dumping ground.

Across lifetimes he is bound to Vala, a love that flickers through the dark like a desert wellspring, as Gara grapples with memory and trauma, slavery and resistance, the fates of slaves and masters, and whether the cycle of power can ever be broken.

Blending historical realism with visionary speculation, Barzakh: The Land In-Between channels the metaphysical intensity of African folklore and the stark poetry of a world unraveling—literary fiction about slavery reimagined through time travel, archaeology, and cosmic reckoning. Readers who come to the page for time travel romance books will find a fierce, tender thread between Gara and Vala; readers of dystopian and slavery books will recognize a chilling mirror in Barzakh’s environmental collapse and tyrannies across centuries.

For readers of Octavia Butler books—Kindred and Parable of the Sower—as well as Nnedi Okorafor books (Binti Trilogy) and Connie Willis; for fans of Beverly Jenkins books who enjoy sweeping historical fiction with high stakes and heart; and for anyone browsing top 10 historical fiction books lists.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor: Moussa Ould Ebnou, one of Mauritania’s greatest novelists, earned his Ph.D. at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and is a philosophy professor at the University of Nouakchott in Mauritania.

He has written several novels and short stories in French and Arabic.

He was a consultant for the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office in New York and served as a cultural advisor to the Presidency of Mauritania for fifteen years.

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Barzakh: The Land In-Between
Verlag: Iska Press, US
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Einband: Paperback
Zustand: New