The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate

A short story set in Baghdad about a merchant's experience with a gateway that travels through time. There are shorter tales interwoven within the overall tale. The science is not really clearly explained, but the foci of the story is on the nature of the past and the future - and it does this quite effectively, focusing on the people, their motivations, and the lessons they away. The closing scene invokes an emotional response, a closure of sorts, very well done.

4.5/5
I found this to be a beautiful tale of storytelling, atonement and science that is closer to magic. In something out of an Arabian tale, Fuwaad ibn Abbas encounters a merchant specialising in intricate metalworks but whose prized possession is a a Gate through time using wormholes in the fabric of space. One side allows his arm to travel seconds into the future, the other sends it backwards through time over the same period. The merchant than conveys three stories, which Abbas then conveys to “His Majesty” the caliph as he explains his story. However, the key concept across each fable is that both past and future cannot be changed.