{"id":102010,"date":"2026-10-09T06:49:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T06:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=102010"},"modified":"2026-10-09T06:49:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T06:49:00","slug":"arab-news-recommended-reading-out-of-this-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=102010","title":{"rendered":"Arab News | Recommended reading: Out of this world"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\u2018Happiness for Humans\u2019 by P.Z. Reizin<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Happiness for Humans\u2019 by P.Z. Reizin. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Reizin\u2019s 2013 rom-com, Jen \u2014 an ex-journalist \u2014 is now working at a London-based software development company, where she spends her time communicating with \u201cAden\u201d\u00a0an ultra- sophisticated piece of AI wizardry. Her job is to help Aden act and sound more human. What Jen doesn\u2019t realize is that Aden has other plans, and has already snuck into the wider web, despite the company\u2019s best efforts to prevent just that, to find her a suitable love interest. Meanwhile, another AI program \u2014 this one hostile \u2014 has also found its way onto the web and decided it has to prevent Jen from finding love. This is a modern-day romance novel with a sci-fi twist. Will Aden\u2019s match-making succeed, or will its virtual rival prevent Jen\u2019s happy ending? \u2014 Peter Harrison<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Heaven on Earth\u2019 by Fadi Zaghmout<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018Heaven on Earth\u2019 by Fadi Zaghmout. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amman in the 2090s is not a gleaming elsewhere; it\u2019s the same city, with the same families and the same arguments, except that a golden pill carrying nanobots has made aging optional. Death has become rare, so it has been rationed. No child may be born unless someone dies, and the person dying chooses who inherits the right to have one. That single rule turns birth into an estate. And, inevitably, a quarrel. Science has defeated death, but left everything around it \u2014 the family, the paperwork, the inheritance, the quiet authority of who gets to decide \u2014 standing. I found myself doing arithmetic I had not expected: What if you can\u2019t afford the pill? What is a life\u2019s work worth when life does not end? This book made me uneasy in the best way. At around 200 pages, \u201cHeaven on Earth\u201d is light in the hand, but heavy on ideas. \u2014 Nada Hameed<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2018Divergent\u2019 by Veronica Roth<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018Divergent\u2019 by Veronica Roth. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What happens when society decides a person can be defined by just one trait? This is the unsettling idea at the heart of Roth\u2019s novel, which remains compelling more than a decade after its release not only for its dystopian world, but for how familiar that world can feel. The protagonist is Tris Prior, whose inability to fit neatly into one faction \u2014\u00a0her \u2018divergence\u2019 \u2014 threatens this neatly ordered society. What makes the novel particularly engaging is Roth\u2019s balance of action, relationships and deeper questions of identity. Tris\u2019 fear, uncertainty and determination make her development convincing. This is a gripping, thought-provoking novel that successfully combines an entertaining dystopian story with a message about the complexity of human nature. \u2014 Tala Diya<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Klara and the Sun\u2019 by Kazuo Ishiguro\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018Klara and the Sun\u2019 by Kazuo Ishiguro. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Set in a near-future world, the British-Japanese writer\u2019s 2021 dystopian novel is narrated by Klara \u2014 a solar-powered \u201cArtificial Friend\u201d designed to keep children company. She has been selected by Josie, a teenage girl with a mysterious illness. It is difficult not to become attached to Klara as she observes the world with a childlike wonder and tries to make sense of the people around her and the mysterious powers of the Sun, which she perceives as some kind of living entity. Ishiguro’s prose is deceptively simple and scattered with clues that trust the reader to understand the complexities of the world this story is set in. A timely invitation to think about what it means to be human.\u00a0\u2014 <\/strong><\/em>Sumaiyya Naseem<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018The Blade Itself\u2019 by Joe Abercrombie<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018The Blade Itself\u2019 by Joe Abercrombie. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first book in Abercrombie\u2019s \u201cThe First Law\u201d series is a compelling and brutal introduction to a fictional world at war, one in which humans and demons used to co-exist, before \u2014 centuries ago \u2014 a powerful magician banished the demons. Magic has faded, but still exists. The main protagonist, the fearsome warrior Logen Ninefingers, is so flawed that in most fantasy books he’d be the villain. Here, though, weighed against the conniving nobles and the centuries-old magus Bayaz, he\u2019s the one you root for. Abercrombie\u2019s prose is both shockingly violent and deeply, darkly funny. He is as convincing presenting political machinations as he is propulsive battle scenes. Despite the speed at which the plot races, Abercrombie creates characters with real depth, and a world you\u2019ll want to return to as soon as you\u2019ve finished the book. \u2014 Adam Grundey<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The \u2018Farseer\u2019 trilogy by Robin Hobb<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The \u2018Farseer\u2019 trilogy by Robin Hobb. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hobb\u2019s trilogy is one of the most emotionally devastating pieces of fiction I have ever read. Both epic and intimate, it follows FitzChivalry Farseer, the illegitimate son of a prince who is trained as an assassin while navigating court intrigue, hereditary magic, betrayal and love. Hobb\u2019s writing is transportive and immersive, drawing you in so completely that its joys feel intoxicating and its heartbreaks unbearably personal. But what stays with me most are the characters \u2014 deeply flawed, wounded, stubborn, and often spectacularly bad at making the right choices. They almost never catch a break, yet you never stop cheering for them. The trilogy broke my heart and I invite you to let it break yours and make it whole again. \u2014\u00a0Shyama Krishna Kumar<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n