Jamal Barbari Elevates the Short Story Genre With ‘Shades of Mortality’ (Stories from the Lost and Found)

A Fresh Debut That Feels Like a Conversation Across Universes

Some books feel like a single journey with a clear beginning and ending. Others feel like a collection of doorways, each one opening into a different reality. Shades of Mortality (Stories from the Lost and Found) by Jamal Barbari belongs firmly in the second category. It is a debut short story collection that invites readers to step into shifting worlds where the ordinary becomes unsettling, the impossible becomes believable, and human emotion stays at the center of everything.

Right away, the premise stands out. The reader is guided by three interdimensional storytellers who travel across universes and timelines, gathering experiences and retelling them like modern mythmakers. That framing gives the collection a sense of motion. It feels like listening to travelers who have seen too much and still cannot stop searching for meaning.

The result is a book that reads like a mosaic of life itself. Each piece is different. Each one carries its own mood. Together, they create something larger than the sum of their parts.

Stories Built from Life, Death, and the Quiet Spaces in Between

At its core, Shades of Mortality explores what it means to be human. It does this without relying on overly familiar storytelling patterns. Instead, the collection leans into themes that feel intimate and personal: mortality, memory, regret, love, despair, and transcendence.

The stories do not rush toward big climaxes. They often linger in quieter moments, the kind people usually overlook. A conversation that should have happened earlier. A choice made too late. A memory that refuses to fade. These moments are where the book finds its power.

Jamal’s writing captures how fragile life can feel, even when everything appears stable on the surface. There is a sense that time is always slipping through the fingers. Some stories hit with emotional weight, leaving readers with the feeling that they have witnessed something deeply honest. Others deliver a sharp twist of humor, offering relief while still keeping the themes grounded.

That blend of touching and comic storytelling makes the collection feel natural. It reflects how people actually live. Grief exists beside laughter. Hope appears in strange places. Even despair can carry a strange kind of beauty.

Readers who enjoy stories that stay in the mind long after the final page will likely find themselves returning to certain passages. The book has a quiet way of echoing.

A Rare Creative Touch: Illustrations That Strengthen Every Tale

One of the most distinctive aspects of Shades of Mortality (Stories from the Lost and Found) is its artistic structure. Every story is paired with an illustration created by one of nine different artists. This gives the collection a rich visual identity and makes the reading experience feel immersive.

The illustrations are not simply decorative. They act as emotional extensions of the stories, offering another way to interpret what is happening on the page. Sometimes an image sets the mood before the first sentence is even read. Other times, it deepens the final impression once the story ends.

Because each artist has a different style, the visuals never feel repetitive. They match the variety of the storytelling itself. It becomes clear that this book is designed as a collaboration, a creative meeting point between writing and art.

That decision adds personality to the entire collection. It also gives readers something rare: the sense that they are holding a book that was built with passion rather than routine. It feels curated. It feels intentional. It feels like a project that mattered deeply to the creator.

An added creative detail is hidden in plain sight: the cover itself functions as an easter egg, with visual elements representing each story in the collection—inviting readers to finish the book and then return to the cover to uncover how every tale is subtly embedded within the artwork.

The Author’s Global Life and the Inspiration Behind the Collection

Jamal Barbari’s personal story adds another layer of interest to the book. Born in the Bronx, New York, and raised in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area, he has spent much of his adult life traveling and teaching abroad. Those experiences shaped his worldview, and that influence is woven throughout his writing.

Living among different cultures, meeting people from diverse backgrounds, and encountering different religions and perspectives often sparks new ways of thinking. That type of exposure naturally creates a storyteller who sees the world in layers. In Shades of Mortality, those layers show up through the emotional depth of the characters and the wide-ranging tones of the stories.

Outside of writing, Jamal enjoys gaming with friends, trying new recipes, and listening to a wide variety of music. That mix of hobbies makes sense when reading the collection. There is a playful creativity running through it, even in its darkest moments. It also reflects someone who pays attention to detail, whether that detail is a flavor, a sound, or a fleeting feeling worth turning into fiction.

His gradual shift into becoming a digital nomad also fits the spirit of the book. The stories feel like they come from someone who has spent years observing life from different angles, always moving, always learning, always collecting moments.

For readers searching for a debut collection that offers imagination, emotional truth, and artistic flair, Shades of Mortality (Stories from the Lost and Found) delivers a memorable experience. It is available on Amazon, ready for anyone willing to step into its strange worlds and come out seeing their own a little differently.

We had the privilege of interviewing the author. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Hi, thank you so much for joining us today! Please introduce yourself and tell us what you do.

Well, hello! My name is Jamal Barbari, and besides writing short stories, I work in the field of international education, specifically in the realm of study abroad. I help students and adults both study and travel to different countries around the world to explore new cultures, languages, food, perspectives, etc. 

I got the travel bug from my mother, who works in the travel industry, and I combined it with my passion for education, which has brought me to my current professional career and has also been a huge influence on my literary journey as well. 

Please share your journey with our readers. 

Literature has always been a passion of mine. Even at a young age, you could find my face glaring at some type of book, even if I couldn’t read it at the time. As I got older, my favorite places to visit were libraries and bookstores (and still are my favorites for the record), which introduced me to a variety of authors, genres, and ultimately different mediums in which I could explore my own personal niche within the realm of literature. 

This eventually led me to writing poetry, which then grew into writing short stories. I dabbled writing long-form stories and novels, but felt it wasn’t my true calling, as I always had a plethora of ideas I wanted to explore creatively, and I couldn’t realistically do that with poems, novels, and/or epics. As such, I really began to hone my skills as a short story and flash fiction author and decided to put a variety of my stories into a collection, which is the first of many to come by the way. You’ll also find that I am someone who appreciates art, as it is a skill which I personally am not well-versed in, but respect and adore immensely. As such, in all my collections, you’ll find that each story is associated with an illustration from talented artists from around the world. I will continue doing this for each of my collections in the future as well. 

What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey? 

Honestly, a lot of exposure to countries around the world has inspired much of my writing. That’s one of the reasons why there is such variety, and it is also reflective in a lot of the meanings (hidden or otherwise) that you will find in my stories. Readers will be able to interpret many of my stories in a myriad of ways, and one of the main reasons for that is purely because there are numerous global influences incorporated within the different settings, characters, and stories themselves. I’m not sure if that counts as a strategy, but it has helped a lot when developing unique and original stories that have influences from the diverse world we live in. 

Any message for our readers? 

For my stories, since there is such a diverse lineup of genres (fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary, etc.) I’d recommend my readers to enter each one with an open mind since each story may not align with what they’re typically used to reading. All my collections will have stories for everyone, but I also don’t expect everyone to like every story (although I’d be happy if you did)! Regardless, I want all my readers to enjoy at least one thing I’ve written, and if you haven’t yet, you will in the future. I promise!

Thank you so much, Jamal, for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!