Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands

This is a belated #SFFBookClub read for me, as I finally was able to get my library's only copy of this book.

Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands reads like a set of short stories in a travelogue, where each chapter in this book felt like its own self-contained adventure. Most loose ends for each story get (almost too) neatly tied off before the next, and Qamar felt to me emotionally as almost a different character each time around. All of this together made the book feel a little shallow to me, as most of what I got out of it thematically was just a desire for travel.

The in-world "Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands" book connects both Qamar's parents as well as Qamar with other characters, especially given that we find out that there's only a half-dozen copies of it made, but it felt underused. By the end, it seemed to be more of an easter egg to have the book appear in itself; at best, it's an overt symbol of the spirit of travel, and I wanted a little bit more oomph to it.

This all sounds very negative, but I enjoyed a lot of the short stories. They just don't stand as a whole together, and I think the book is weaker for it.

Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands is a beautifully envisaged feminist adventure tale set in a fluidly historic era that recounts the amazing life and travels of storyteller, Qamr. We are never told exactly how many hundreds of years ago this story takes place so my imagination rooted it in a kind of Arabian Nights fairytale context which suited the prose style and Qamr's adventures. I loved how Nimr weaves many different tales into the narrative. The literary device of the book I read, Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands, also being a tangible book within the story is inspired and its frequent fortuitous appearances added a deep sense of magic. Qamr's storytelling talent gets her out of several awkward situations and I often wondered how much of her adventures were 'genuine' and how much she embellished for the sake of a compelling tale!

Qamr herself is a memorable heroine. Brave and quick witted, her travels take her from her isolated, superstitious childhood village across deserts by camel caravans and across oceans in a pirate ship. Qamr is very much a woman in a male-dominated world, but she finds ingenious ways to further her travels. Her character and motivations always felt authentic to me with a convincing depth that I really appreciated. Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands is the kind of classic adventure tale I couldn't get enough of as a child and I would have adored that this one centres on a woman's expeditions. I still adore that about it now!