Full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Iron is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar.
With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose.
Full of Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Hugo Award-winning and nominated stories, Seasons of Glass and Iron includes "Seasons of Glass and Iron," "The Green Book," "Madeleine," "The Lonely Sea in the Sky," "And Their Lips Rang with the Sun," "The Truth About Owls," "A Hollow Play," "Anabasis," "To Follow the Waves," "John Hollowback and the Witch," "Florilegia, or, Some Lies About Flowers," "Pockets," and more.
This is a short read comprised of many short reads; some stories with plots, some feelings with bits of stories, some magical and some real, some both, and even some poems.
Overall, I think this is a wonderful journey, whether you sit and devour them one after another or chip away at them over time. And even though I didn't love all of them, I did enjoy most -- whether by marveling at it, taking something from it, appreciating it, or just simply having a good time with it.
Full review to come.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) exchange for an honest review. **
A lovely collection from a much-loved author! I'm glad that her stories were compiled in this because I probably wouldn't have sought them out individually.
A woman cursed to wear iron shoes meets a women cursed to stay on a glass hill. A women seemingly resides within the pages of a book, prompting the obsession of its readers. A women keeps findings items that don't belong to her in her pockets.
All short story collections are hit or miss, but even though these stories were written over many years and for many different projects El-Mohtar's unique style shines through. I always think of her writing being unintuitive but welcoming, like it wants you to do some of the work to understand it but is also fully willing to reward you for the effort. I also really liked the intro and her thoughts on the common threads across her works. I didn't really care for the poems between stories because that's not really my thing and there were some stories that didn't work for me, but a great showing nonetheless!
Thank you to Amal El-Mohtar and Tordotcom for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Amal El-Mohtar has beautiful writing that doesn’t always make sense. Overall I enjoyed this collection but I didn’t love it. Some stories I liked more than others. All of them have a magical feel to them or are outright fantastical. The overarching theme of the collection is women: women being strong and independent, women learning truths about themselves, women going on adventures, and women loving women.
Seasons of Glass and Iron—4/5 stars I liked the writing and the cadence of the words. This story gives off fairytale vibes mixed with the modern day. A woman hiking in iron boots meets a woman who lives on a glass hill. I liked it all quite a bit.
The Green Book—1/5 stars A woman gets turned into a book. Sadly not as interesting as it sounds. This story honestly made no sense to me.
Madeleine—2.5/5 stars A woman starts seeing visions of another woman in her memories and dreams and forms a friendship with her. Good concept, but it won’t stick with me.
The Lonely Sea in the Sky—3/5 stars Theoretical sci-fi story about a woman who develops a condition that is basically an addiction to diamonds found on Neptune. Strange. But I liked it. Even if I didn’t understand the ending.
Song for an Ancient City—2.5/5 stars Poem. Fine but forgettable.
And Their Lips Rang with the Sun—2/5 stars I didn’t really care for this story or understand it either. A woman has an affair with the Sun and births its child? Meh.
A Tale of Ash in Seven Birds—3/5 stars Literally just a long poem about seven birds, but with a fantasy twist. Enjoyable.
Qahr—3.5/5 stars Powerful.
The Truth About Owls—4/5 stars I liked this story a lot. You do learn a lot about owls, but it’s also the story of a girl. Worth reading.
Wing—3/5 stars A girl wears a book around her neck, a book which holds a secret. I liked this story but I wanted it to be quite a bit longer.
A Hollow Play—3/5 stars This is probably the longest and most developed story in this collection. It was enjoyable. Magical realism. The ending made me feel like I was missing something though.
Thunderstorm in Glasgow, July 25, 2013—1/5 stars Huh?
Anabasis—2.5/5 stars I don’t have much to say about this. It was fine.
To Follow the Waves—2.5/5 stars I think El-Mohtar’s writing is beautiful, but this story was just okay. It’s about a gem and stone worker. Once again I didn’t really understand the ending.
Pieces—2/5 stars Each set of words in this poem was lyrical and beautiful on its own. But as a whole I don’t know what the poem was about or was trying to convey.
John Hollowback and the Witch—4.25/5 stars John Hollowback has a hollow back, so he goes to a witch for help. This was a unique story and I really enjoyed it. It felt like a fairytale. It’s the longest story in this collection.
Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers—3/5 stars A retelling of the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, which I didn’t know about prior to reading this book. It was interesting, but I don’t know how accurate it is.
Pockets—4.5/5 stars This was a really delightful story of a woman who pulls random items out of her pockets that just show up there without rhyme or reason. I loved the direction this story went in, and I would enjoy a much longer version of this.
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher via Edelweiss.
A collection of short stories that are great to be read all at once or story by story. I will say, not all the stories were my cup of tea. There definitely were stories that I would have loved to have been a full-length book while others I almost wanted to skip. Even with that, I enjoyed the collection. The center of all the stores is women, even if only a brief part of story. The inclusion of their wins, their losses, and their actualization of themselves really kept me interested.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
From the moment I began reading This is How You Loose the Time War, I knew I needed to read more from Amal El-Mohtar. The River Has Roots was nearly as enthralling, of which the ARC included a sneak peek of John Hollowback & the Witch and I was feral for more. Thank you a million times over for providing a physical ARC of Seasons of Glass & Iron, Tor Dot Com!
It is challenging to review an anthology as there are multiple plots, characters and themes throughout the collection. El-Mohtar’s imagination, outlook and voice is unique to any other author I’ve come across. The imagery of prose pulls me into a whimsical dream of which I do not wish to wake up from (oh, and there’s a lovely story incorporating dreams as well!). One thing I adore about anthologies is that you can read it from cover to cover, or savor it by reading a story, a poem or two between larger books.
I was already gushing while reading the introduction, which set the stage for a collection of stories while quite different from each other, still felt cohesive as a collection with El-Mohtar’s stunning prose, all of them tugging my emotions in one way or another. I love that this collection of stories also includes a couple of poems in both English and Arabic. I was giddy when I discovered we are both of Lebanese descent! Although I cannot speak or read it, seeing Arabic brings fond memories of my grandmother’s church.
If you're already an El-Mohtar fan, I am confident you will enjoy this. If you haven’t begun your El-Mohtar yet, you are in for a treat!
“She wonders at how change comes in like a thief in the night, dismantling our sense of self one bolt and screw at a time until all that’s left of the person we think we are is a broken door hanging off a rusty hinge, waiting for us to walk through.”
“You gathered flowers and read woman. You read woman and gleaned docile, pretty, fragrant, weak. But you misread me, Lleu. I have in me the hearts of great ships, the bones of cathedrals. I have in me the sharpness of claws.”
I could honestly pull pages upon pages of favorite quotes, but I urge you to pick up a copy for yourself ✨
While I enjoyed everything, the below were the standout stars for me: ✨ Seasons of Glass and Iron ✨ To Follow the Waves ✨ Pieces ✨ John Hollowback & the Witch ✨ Florilegia; Or, Some Lies About Flowers ✨ Pockets
ARC provided by Tor — thank you so much for letting me read this early! “She wonders at how change comes in like a thief in the night, dismantling our sense of self one bolt and screw at a time until all that's left of the person we think we are is a broken door hanging off a rusty hinge, waiting for us to walk through” — this quote made me sob. Full body, sit-in-silence-for-a-minute sob.
I’ve loved Amal El-Mohtar’s writing for years, but this collection reminded me why she feels elemental to me — like someone who can look directly at the seams of the world and name every fragile thread. Seasons of Glass and Iron brings together a selection of her short fiction, and while not every story worked for me, the ones that did… absolutely did. “Seasons of Glass and Iron,” “Pockets,” “Madeline,” and “John Hollowback and the Witch” were my absolute standouts — each one sparkling with that precise, lyrical, devastating magic Amal is known for. Even when a story didn’t land for me, the collection as a whole felt cohesive, like an incantation stitched from girlhood, grief, wonder, rage, and tenderness.
The introduction alone is worth the price of admission. It’s stunning — intimate, thoughtful, and deeply grounding for what follows. This line in particular feels like the thesis of the entire collection: “Mostly, what emerged is that I love women. I love women talking to each other. I love women reading each other, through letters and journals and flowers, offering up the stories of themselves to each other's tender scrutiny. I love women being friends and being lovers, in all of their shapes, across the breadth and depth of their lives. Over and over, in these stories, I find myself returning to what Emily Yoshida called ‘the terrifying magic of two women in a room, talking,’ and agreeing that ‘there's still so much of it we haven't explored yet.’”
And truly — that “terrifying magic” permeates everything here. The stories are full of women naming their pain, their power, their thresholds. Women reshaping themselves. Women refusing to be small. Women speaking impossible truths to each other. If you love El-Mohtar’s work, you’ll adore this.
An exquisite collection of short stories written in Amal’s poetic prose that might leave you shedding a few tears or staring at the wall after reading, contemplating life, love, and the many joys and horrors of our world.
If everyone loved women the way this author so dearly loves women, the world would be a more beautiful and safe place for all. The way my heart ached for the women in these stories, for all the evils the world of men has put upon them, for the way they were healed by fellow women, sisters, mothers, friends...the way they were accepted for who they were, not for who others (men) wanted them to shaped like...
My auto-buy author list has one more addition!
A standout story in this collection was the title track, Seasons of Glass and Iron. This was a story of women discovering new possibilities through their relationship with each other after being conditioned by men/systems into harmful beliefs. It was beautiful, and I cried.
Another poignant tale is John Hollowback and the Witch. This perfectly encapsulates the horrible habit men have of seeing something beautiful, wanting to cage it and shape it to their liking, thinking they are doing a wonderful service, demanding to be the hero, the main character in everyone’s story, and completely blind to the reality where they smother someone’s soul so much it shrinks to barely a whisper and it isn’t until this crushed and bruised soul breaks free that the full scope of such a harm is realized...and everyone hates the men for it but they don’t even know because they cannot see themselves in a poor light, it must be everyone else’s fault.
While these two might be the ones I point out in this review, it by no means diminishes the rest. Each piece in this work is as precious as any other. You’ll find stories, perspectives, and representations of queer, Palestinian, and immigrant characters. There are also West Asian supernatural entities such as the Peri and Djinn. In every piece, there is magic.
This book is for everyone; everyone should read this book! Highly recommend!!
Thank you to Tor for the eARC copy via NetGalley for review consideration. All my opinions are my own.
⇢ John Hollowback and the Witch: ★★★★ This story was included at the end of the audiobook of The River Has Roots, so I listened to it when I read that novella a few months ago. It introduces us to a young man who seeks the help of a witch to cure a hole in his back, the origin of which he can’t recall. In exchange for her help, the witch asks him to tell her stories related to objects he carries in his bag, which helps his memories resurface. A tale of greed, revenge, and redemption. I really enjoyed it; it felt like reading an old fairy tale. I didn’t see where it was going, and the twist surprised me.
I can’t wait to read the rest of the stories in this collection when it comes out in March!
Amal El-Mohtar's writing is absolutely brilliant. Every page spurs so many thoughts and pulls me into whatever magical world she's created. While I have read on of the stories so far, the rest were all new to me. Even the one I've read before had me thinking more deeply then I did the first time. For anyone whose doorway is writing, this book and author are a must. It's lyrical and poignant and inescapable. I find myself thinking about the stories constantly. It's definitely a book I will be preordering and rereading over and over.
As is the norm for Amal El-Mohtar, this anthology brimmed with creativity and exhibited her signature prose and style. Like other short story collections, they are a hit or miss; cautionary tales fully open to interpretation.
There were stories already familiar to me, such as Madeleine and John Hollowback. I’m glad works from her other projects were compiled in this since I wouldn’t have known of them otherwise.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the arc!
El-Mohtar has a life long fan in me and any book that she comes out with, I will read. So I was incredibly excited when I got my hands on this one -short story collections can be hit or miss but I found myself loving this all the way through. This was heartwarming with a creative twist on the traditional fairytale that had some important and relevant commentary. This has El-Mohtar's signature prose and style, it's not for everyone but it is 110% for me.
Each of these short stories felt like modern day fables-so beautifully written, fantastically enchanting yet relevant to our time, and just an utter delight to read. Sometimes short stories feel like slices of life where the character walks into and right out of the story to carry on with their lives-each of these felt whole and satisfying to complete.
I can’t wait to purchase my own copy of this since I just finished an ARC ebook.
This was a really lovely short story collection! Of course not every story was perfect for me, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many I truly enjoyed and that resonated with me. The genres range a bit between stories, but I loved the queering of fairy tales/folk stories and the general romantic, lyrical nature of El-Mohtar's prose. Definitely pulled on my heart strings and left me feeling hopeful and inspired regarding human connection and empathy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I had the pleasure of getting a sneak peek of this short story collection which was included in “The River has Roots” audiobook. The story will be part of the author’s upcoming collection being published in March 2026.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.