Through selfavowedgeek, I became aware of Ahmed A. Khan (ahmedakhan), a science fiction writer and editor who has put together some interesting-sounding anthologies.

The one that particularly piqued my curiosity was Mosque Among the Stars, which he compiled with Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. The premise—a collection of science fiction stories informed by Islam--intrigued me. He kindly let me have a review copy.

Most of the stories are set in the future; several have been expressly influenced by 9-11 and the war in Iraq (though Tom Ligon tells readers in a postscript that his novella “For a Little Price,” which features a terrorist attack on a starship, was not prompted by 9-11.)

I had two favorites. Jetse de Vries’s “Cultural Clashes in Cádiz” features the genre’s most flamboyant time cops (amusingly named Watt and Krikksen) in pursuit of a time bandit who has managed to persuade no less than the famous Islamic mystic and theologian Ibn al-Arabi to take him on as a disciple. What mischief is this time criminal up to? The language in this one is over the top, sometimes hilariously anachronistic (as when a Moorish juggler reflects on his fifteen minutes of fame), but it’s a time traveling story, so why not have Andy Warhol’s phrase come into the mind of a thirteenth-century performer? My favorite description was of a character “whose curiosity keeps him from keeping any cats at all.” The story is full of heart. It’s exuberant, hilarious, and underneath it all, moving.

Then there was “The Weight of Space and Metal,” by Camille Alexa. This was my favorite of the space-oriented stories, with the drama arising from the tedium of a long, slow journey from Earth to Mars and the stresses of four people trapped with each other for the duration. The psychology of the characters was totally believable and the story was gripping. And where does Islam figure in? One crew member is Muslim. Cultural expectations and behavioral norms play a role.

Another story that lingered in my mind was Donna McMahon’s “Squat,” in which a prison guard is moved to save a boy from being executed for a crime he didn’t commit. The Muslim executioner plays the role of “mysterious other” in this story, though he’s humanized in the end. War stories aren’t my thing, but I was rooting hard for the main character of Lucius Shepard’s “A Walk Through the Garden,” who works himself up to religious conversion in his drive to survive. And then there was Howard Jones’s “A Servant of Iblis,” a Sherlock Holmes-meets –Thousand and One Nights mystery.

ahmedakhan’s own contribution has a slightly didactic flavor and a plot twist you may remember from childhood ghost stories, but some touching personal elements, too, notably when the narrator recalls his childhood home (and the smell of old books) and meeting his wife for the first time.

Other readers might have other favorites. There are a couple with humorous twists and one, “Recompense,” by Pamela Kenza Taylor, features a ghost ship that wreaks vengeance on slavers. I was jarred by some of science fiction’s tricks of the trade in “For a Little Price” (for example, having one character quiz another character on her knowledge in order to introduce key information), but enjoyed some of the humor, as when one character is given “longer hours and more responsibility” and then assured, “but don’t worry, we won’t mess up your tax situation with more pay.” I laughed out loud at that.

I was very happy to spend time with this anthology-–I recommend it.