Indie Books by Arab Authors You Should Be Reading

Written by H. Shamsi (Booknerdection)

Looking to dive into Arabian fiction? Start here.

A teenager faces a jinni in Muscat. A woman grows old among her books in Beirut. A Palestinian family finds its life turned upside down by displacement. Arab authors writing in English cover a lot of ground, from genre to setting to generation. 

If you’re not sure where to start, indie publishing has plenty to offer. You’ll find self-published novels next to titles from literary presses and well-established independent publishers. Some are quiet studies of a single character, and others are big, sweeping adventures. 

For all six books in this list, the authors wrote initially in English. They include fantasy, historical fiction, literary fiction and short stories. A few draw on Arabian folklore. Others look at family, belonging, and the private lives people build around their books.

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#1. Sarim by Ammar Al Naaimi

Mishal has had a jinni living in his head since he was ten. Now he’s fifteen, and sometimes his hands burst into yellow flames. Neither he nor his parents have any idea what to do about it. Then an older man named Shayib Ghalib turns up, offering help and an invitation to join Sarim, an organization that deals with dangerous jinn.

Ammar Al Naaimi, an author from Oman, sets this urban fantasy in Muscat, so the supernatural danger plays out in a city that feels recognizable and current. What draws you in is the clash between one teenager’s private struggle and a far bigger world of magic and prophecy.

Why you should read it: if you like urban fantasy, Muscat gives the action a setting you don’t often see. Mishal’s fight with the jinni inside him makes the danger personal first, well before it grows into a wider magical conflict.

#2. Titanlord: Of Death and Sacrifice by M.G. Darwish

In Titanlord’s world, a mortal who kills a Titan can take its power. That idea looms over a kingdom where the crown and a growing rebellion are already heading for a clash.

Vendel is a sixteen-year-old village girl who defies the Crown and gets banished for it. The exile is meant to keep her home safe, but the village is destroyed anyway. She, her best friend and their sword master get pulled into a conflict much bigger than anything they knew in the village.

M.G. Darwish, an author from Bahrain, starts his dark epic fantasy series with a story about dangerous power and the fight against a ruling dynasty. If you like battles and political conflict on a big scale, this one’s for you.

Why you should read it: Once a mortal can gain a Titan’s power, every fight for control gets riskier. And Vendel’s ruined village shows what that larger conflict costs real people, which gives readers who enjoy rebellion and high stakes a way in.

#3. Daughter of Light and Dark by Ahlam Faris

Mina can see and talk to jinn, which is rare in a world where seers keep them under control with enchanted rings. She wants to free the jinn bound to her mother’s ring, but there’s a catch. To free him, she has to free them all.

So she sets out to find eleven golden rings, and the only company she has is a grumpy jinn called the Lord of Chains. He’s got secrets of his own, and the rings aren’t her only problem. She has to find her way through royal schemes, help a friend who’s in trouble, and deal with something dark that’s stirring inside her.

This is the first book in Ahlam Faris’s Rings and Chains series, a young adult fantasy built on Arabian folklore. The quest begins with Mina simply wanting to help someone she loves, and that gives readers a personal reason to follow her into the bigger world of jinn and magic.

Why you should read it: Mina’s wish to free her mother’s jinn gives the quest a clear emotional pull from the start. With its enchanted rings and the uneasy trip she makes alongside the Lord of Chains, it’s a promising pick if you like Arabian folklore and magical companions.

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#4. The Guardians of Erum and the Calamitous Child of Socotra by A. Ali Hasan Ali

Fada grows dates for a living, and his newborn son, Dileel, has come into the world under an ominous star. A powerful jinn master is convinced that children born under it will threaten the world, and he sets out to kill the boy. Someone tries to save Dileel, but things go wrong and confusion follows. Then an unknown force carries him off.

Fada leaves home to find his son. Along the way he looks for allies and runs into sorcery and forces he barely understands. The author, Emirati writer A. Ali Hasan Ali, draws on the folklore and ancient history of Arabia for this fantasy adventure.

The novel won Bronze in Fantasy at the 2020 Foreword INDIES awards.

Why you should read it: Beneath all the sorcery and the dark prophecy is a father trying to get his child back. It’s a simple, urgent reason to keep turning pages, and it makes the ancient Arabian setting feel welcoming even if you don’t usually pick up epic fantasy.

#5. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

Aaliya is seventy-two and lives alone in Beirut, with books all around her. Every year she picks a favourite work and translates it into Arabic. Then she tucks the manuscript away and never shows it to a soul. That private life of reading and writing is what keeps her going, even though her family treats her like someone who doesn’t quite fit.

Rabih Alameddine, a Lebanese-American author, follows her thoughts as they wander through memories of war, strained relationships and the everyday business of getting older. If you know the comfort of vanishing into a book, you’ll find good company in Aaliya. She’s opinionated, she likes her own space, and she’s devoted to literature.

Why you should read it: anyone who has found a friend in reading will recognise Aaliya’s love of books. Her solitary life also raises some questions worth sitting with, like whose lives society chooses to value, and how much meaning a person can find without meeting other people’s expectations.

#6. Him, Me, Muhammad Ali by Randa Jarrar

Randa Jarrar’s collection slips back and forth between everyday life and fable. Its characters are dealing with love, loss and displacement, and the settings and voices keep changing as you go. There’s room for humour here as well as hurt, and questions of home and survival run through the stories.

Jarrar is a Palestinian-American writer, and if you don’t feel like committing to a long novel, this is a good alternative. You can read it one story at a time, and each piece goes at its people and relationships in its own way. Sarabande Books, an independent nonprofit press, published it, and it won the Story Prize Spotlight Award.

Why you should read it: The shifts between realism and fable let you come at home and displacement from several different directions. It’s funny, it’s varied, and it’s a handy place to start if you like getting a sense of a writer’s range through short fiction.

Choosing your next read.

Pick a book that fits your mood. If you want jinn and magical quests, Sarim and Daughter of Light and Dark are the ones to try. An Unnecessary Woman goes the other way and settles into a reader’s private world. Him, Me, Muhammad Ali lets you dip into a number of lives in shorter sittings. The rest of the fantasy titles bring ancient Arabian adventures, rebellion and illustrated kingdoms.

Go with whichever premise catches your interest. Read a sample if there’s one on offer, and don’t be shy about trying an author you’ve never heard of. And if a book really gets to you, a thoughtful review or a word to a friend can help someone else find it.

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About the Author

H. Shamsi is the founder of Book Nerdection, a book blog she has run since 2022, featuring book reviews, reading guides and free writing tools for authors.