The Empty Quarter was a spectacular short story. Wilson's writing is so deliciously lyrical and mesmerising, I was almost annoyed when the descriptions were interrupted by the plot.
The protagonist was frankly a bit annoying, understandably and obviously intentional but I'd rather spend more time with someone else. Vikram the Vampire was amazing in the Bird King and wonderful here as well, sarcastic, curt and witty and other worldy. It was a delight and so much fun reading his banter. The story is a quick delightful read which I highly recommend.

4★
“Jean almost told him she’d never before thought of an Arab as being ‘well-bred’, but she stopped before the words left her mouth, silently pleased by her own sensitivity.”

Jean is along for the ride on her new husband’s oil survey trip to a country unlike anything she’s known. He is busy, the other wives in the group are boring and uninquisitive, while she is revelling in the chance to be taken sightseeing by her husband’s colleague, Masoud, a handsome, black-eyed Arab.

When she says she’s never seen such black eyes before, he says that they are “common among the City's oldest families, considered a mark of good breeding” – hence the introductory quotation above.

She frequently pats herself on the back for being observant and broad-minded (and “sensitive”), obviously unlike the aforementioned boring wives.

She enjoys the little thrill she feels with the attention she gets from Masoud as they watch the sunset and he tells her about his country. She convinces the men that she is going to go with them for their survey work to the area known as the Empty Quarter, so hot it has “not so much as the memory of shade”.

“‘Out of the question,’ said Masoud. ‘The deep desert isn’t safe. They don’t call it the Empty Quarter for nothing. You could get heatstroke, or break your leg in a gully. Women never go on these sorts of expeditions’.”

Well, maybe his women don't, but she's different. Right? Not like those wives who stay in the City and shop. She does go, and her desert experience is nothing like I expected – certainly nothing like she expected – but it could have come from Masoud’s book of Indian folk tales.

What a lot of fun her rude awakening is. This is one from the series of Amazon Original Stories that I have been enjoying. You will find them on your country’s Amazon website under Kindle / Kindle Singles / Amazon Original Stories.

Thanks to Amazon for promoting one of my favourite genres and to NetGalley for the preview copy.

I really need to rethink my aversion to short stories because clearly, I've just not been reading ones by the right authors. This is the second in a row that's caught me off guard by just how good it is...

This is such a layered and bright little tale. I remember reading Alif The Unseen years ago and being struck by the complexity behind Wilson's simple writing style, and it was even more prominent here. It's not something I really do in general, but I feel like this is a short story I could reread a few times, and I would still find some layers to peel back on each return.

I would absolutely recommend going into this blind. There are some small elements that you might be able to anticipate as being a part of the narrative, but the beauty lies in exactly where Wilson decided to take the story and how she decided for it to get there. So good.

I enjoyed this book, and was a nice short read. I feel it could also be expanded into a larger story. Great characters and story. Will need to read more of G Willow Wilson. #IntheEmptyQuarter #NetGalley

A newly-married wife accompanies her husband to the Persian Gulf where he is to do survey work for a soon-to-be-build hotel, and insists on further travelling to the site itself, which is located in the so called Empty Quarter.

She doesn't say she's different than other girls, which is a plus. Instead, she considers the lifes the other wifes who travel with their spouses to be boring and wants to explore this new to her area, a last time of surprises and fun before she settles down for child rearing.
Because of the times she's considered to be an annoying burden. Which makes the encounter than ensues so much more fun.

I knew the author from her work on Ms Marvel and thought a short story would be a great way to peek into her prose, and I am not disappointed and will look up if the library has other works by her.
This was fun. I don't know if this ties into one of her novels, but it works on it's own.

The pretty cover did draw me in and I don't regrett it.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a historical fantasy short story that follows Jean on a journey of self-discovery. At under 40 pages there wasn’t much in the way of development. G. Willow Wilson managed to build a brilliant setting and convincing characters but the main events of the story went by so quickly that there wasn’t much room for convincing development. The conclusion of the story felt too quick but I enjoyed the other elements of the story enough to read something else by this author.

3 out of 5 stars!

I had never read anything by G. Willow Wilson before, but I may now have to find more. This short story was a quick, easy read, but was full of depth and nuance to unpack. I really enjoyed this quick glance into the world of Jean, a woman in 1952 in the Persian Gulf with her husband. The explorations into the world of women during this time, the meaning of marriage and love, and the prejudices of the world were fascinating woven together with fairy tales and history. I was impressed with how quickly I got a feel for the characters and felt invested with them despite this being a short story. I will most definitely look for more from this author!

This is my first reading experience of G Willow Wilson's writing and I am certainly keen to read more after this stellar short story set in 1952, in the Rub' al-Khali desert, near the Persian Gulf. American Jean is the young, bored, selfish and self centred wife of Harold, a TransAtlas businessman, searching for oil in the area. Bored with the company of the other wives, she is looking for adventure and romance, she fixates on Mahmoud, working with her husband, pushing the limits of acceptable behaviour as he acts as her guide to the town, its culture and history. When Mahmoud turns down her request to accompany him and Harold on a oil well testing trip, Jean turns to Harold who doesn't have the heart to deny her. She fails to understand the discomforts she will face, and compounds her problems when she refuses to listen to Mahmoud's advice, which in turn leads her to falling into a cave.

Jean becomes enveloped by a rising tide of primitive fear as she encounters ancient legends, 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here', that force her to face unpalatable truths about herself, and questioning and re-evaluating the decisions she has made in her life. Considering the constraints of the short story format, the author does an superb job with characterisation in this complex tale that touches on issues of race and colonialism, and the treasure and curse that is oil for the locals. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Amazon Original Stories for an ARC.

In this simple, but profound short story, we meet Jean--a headstrong young woman who traveling around the Persian Gulf with her husband who happens to be in the oil business. Jean is discontent with her life and prone to being petty and impetuous. Hoping for adventure and intrigued by her husband's colleague, she talks her way into going out in the desert with them, but things come to head when she makes a series of poor decisions.

For all the constrains of a short story, Wilson accomplishes some really great character development. Jean looks like a very unlikeable character, but she's still relatable and grows a lot in the few pages we have to get to know her. Wilson also tackles racism and colonialism in a way that doesn't feel heavy-handed, but really works well with the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. There were moments where I actually laughed out loud, but I've also been left with things to think about and ruminate on. This is definitely worth a read!

Thank you to G. Willow Wilson, Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this short story!

This is a really clever, interesting little short story.

I loved how well the characterization came across, and Wilson set it up so quickly! A really brilliant piece of writing. There were also a lot of tropes she was playing with here, and I really loved how they got spun around like a handful of tiny, colorful tops.

I'll be thinking about this one for a while.