Alif the Unseen

Alif the Unseen is something truly unique -- an urban fantasy spin on djinns and the Arabian Nights from a Muslim author, set in the the modern Middle East/Arab world. It sits on the edge between the genres of urban fantasy and cyberpunk in a delightful way, with computer code invoking imagery of the worlds of djinn and fantastical creatures. Like good speculative fiction, Wilson uses the speculative elements to cast a light on aspects of "real life" in the modern world, namely surveillance and suppression of the populace as the true scourge of the Arab world, oppressive to both the religious and the secular.

In the praise column here is also Wilson's beautiful, nuanced, discussion of religion, belief and faith. She contrasts the show more beliefs of several characters who do and don't believe in religion and/or djinn to various degrees of literalism. This exploration is fascinating. Many of the ideas, such as how to believe in the fantastic are generalizable across religions. It also was fascinating as a discourse on Islam.

Usually, any truly unique book on my shelf gets four stars, and this is truly unique and well-done. However, there is a major drawback that I would feel remise if I didn't address, which is the female characters. I know that Wilson is much believed for her work on the Miss Marvel series, which I had not read. However, there is not a shred of evidence of feminism in this book. The female characters have no agency at all and exist largely to be sexualized/romanticized by the male characters who do have agency. No book needs to be perfect in every respect, but the extent to which female characters exist only for male gaze here is beyond just failing the Bechdel test and borders on disturbing. show less

I had no real idea what to expect from Alif the Unseen but I was quickly drawn in by the novels clever blend of technology, religion, magic and politics. Alif is a young computer hacker, part Indian, part Arab, waging a bloodless war against the digital censors of the Arab Emirates. Without much thought for the consequences, he offers digital protection to whomever can afford his services and takes pride in eluding government control, sharing his knowledge and accomplishments in the Cloud. When his relationship with a highborn Arab woman goes sour, Alif creates a program to keep himself from her sight, unwittingly giving the unidentified government censor, called 'The Hand', a weapon that is turned against him. Branded a terrorist and show more forced to run, Alif, with a book gifted to him from his lost love along with his pious neighbour Dina, seek help from Vikram the Vampire, a Jinn, who joins them on their desperate journey through the worlds of magic, man and technology to evade capture, and start a revolution.

Original,intriguing and clever, Alif The Unseen is a surprising and entertaining adventure. Set in a small Arab country under tight government control it also has real life parallels with the protests against digital censorship, amongst other things, leading to the 'Arab Spring' in 2010. Into a tale of modern day oppression, censorship and revolution, Wilson weaves the myths and legends of the Persian Gulf, jinn, genies, devils, shadows and the centuries old fables within the Book of One Thousand and One Days (as opposed to Nights). That such disparate elements mesh so seamlessly is to the author's credit and though the plot is complex at times, its depth keeps the readers interest even when the storytelling lags briefly.
I enjoyed the 'supernatural' element to this novel, Jinns of questionable intent, monsters that lurk in the dark of the Unseen, even Aladin's genie makes an unexpected appearance. I admit some of the computer jargon went entirely over my head and I have no idea if any of what Alif achieved is, or ever will, be possible but it's an intriguing idea. Alif gives technology - code - it's own magic, it's own life in fact.
I grew to like Alif, who initially seems little more than a spoilt, disaffected youth but fumbles his way through adversity with surprising determination and demonstrates loyalty, wit and genius. Dina, Alif's veiled childhood friend is smart, brave and has some great lines. Vikram is both a saviour and the devil's advocate, the Sheikh lends the story his wisdom and dignity.

Equally likely to be enjoyed by a mature teen and adult audience, Alif the Unseen is well crafted, with a unique voice and a fresh story to tell. I'm surprised to be considering it as one of my favourite reads for 2012. show less

A clever mashup of equal parts efreet fantasy and golden hackers in a Big Brother Muslim state seems like a winner at first glance to me. I love everything about the first two and the addition of throwing it into a Muslim culture MAY or may not have been a winning move. Sometimes it can come off strange or cheesy or uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Wilson's strong writing and respectful nature carried a number of complex and interesting characters into a great tale with romantic elements, stronger hackereze, and a massive David and Goliath take-down that rove right into the Unseen world of the spirits of air and fire.

How does this work?

Well, as a matter of fact.

Combining the mystical permutations of Allah with quantum computing is as natural show more as breathing. Has anyone seen Pi? ;)

So, this book mashed all my buttons. I didn't even care it was YA. I'm a fan. show less

Thank goodness there are books like this! I really enjoyed Alif. Wilson daringly takes on techie-fiction (is that a real thing? I think it is now...), fantasy, religion (muslim), and love all at once. And does she pull it off? I sure think so.

So, Alif is a young (~18) but brilliant computer programmer in "The City" (in the middle east and typical of the middle east, where Arabs believe they are superior to the Indians, where light skin is better than dark, where muslim is always known if not always practiced). He "protects" (i.e., hides identities and locations of people online) anyone who is willing to and able to afford his fees. Lurking in the background is the state program and/or person known as the Hand, which is working its way show more through the back channels of the internet and making Alif and his friends nervous about being caught and punished as criminals.

Alif is also engaged in an illicit relationship with someone above his class, and he believes himself in love with the beautiful Intisar. But then, Intisar suddenly ends their relationship, claiming that her father is forcing her to marry some royal person worthy of her lineage. And Alif flies into a first class funk. Alif creates this crazy program that, without going into detail and boring you, basically allows a computer to think, and with it, he shuts Intisar out of his life completely.

Then the Hand finds Alif right around the time that he is graced with the secret book of the jinn (genies), and Alif is forced to both go on the run and discover the secrets of the book and its origin/power. So the book races through technology, fantasy based in religion, religion itself, and love, all while being interesting and novel and accessible and pleasurable.

It was just such a smart and engaging read with likable and unique characters and a plot that flowed with a foreign subject matter that was made readable and accessible by an author who understood the distance. I really enjoyed this and I very much look forward to more fiction from Wilson.

Recommend to those open to fantasy, who are looking for something more.
FOUR of five stars. show less

This book ate my brain. So good! It’s like Harry Potter and the Arabian Nights had a love child raised by Jason Bourne.

I read this for a book club and the discussion was fascinating. I seemed to be on the extreme on one side, loving the book while others liked it with reservations, with a few having serious problems with it. Though the issues others had with the book, I was able to explain away because I saw the story and the characters as a series of allegories. Alif et al represented different parts of a modern Arab society, and I appreciated how Wilson wove the different threads together to show that the culture was at once both a melting pot of the old and new, as well as a renunciation of the old.

There was a bit of handwavium show more going on with the coding (Willow is obviously not a programmer) which I was able to suspend disbelief for, for the most part. And it was interesting that of all the characters, the convert was never named.

I enjoyed it. show less

Alif is a grey-hat hacker in an unnamed Middle-Eastern city, providing protective services for anyone willing to challenge the State and pay for his services - so this includes everyone from Islamists to Communists. But the security services are closing in, in particular the Hand, a hacker working for the State. Alif is a callow young man, in love with a rich girl, but when the girl announces that she will have to marry someone else and the Hand launches a devastating attack, Alif's life starts to crumble around him. From this cutting-edge world of cyberpunks in an oppressive state, we are propelled into the realm of djinn and magic and religion via a mysterious book, and Alif will have a lot of growing up to do if he's going to show more survive, save his city and maybe help launch a revolution.

A great read in a terrifically realised setting, mixing fantasy and techno-thriller and political thriller, gleefully ignoring genre boundaries. Oddly enough, I expected a bit more from Dina, Alif's childhood friend, but mostly she's a rather stalwart and steadying presence and, obvious to the reader from her first appearance, the real love interest in the book. One feels vaguely that she might have made a much more likable protagonists from the get-go, but Alif's growth to some sort of awareness and maturity is still rather satisfying, even as you squint a bit at the idea that she's been waiting patiently for him to cop on to himself.

Cracking read, though: Neil Gaiman meets Bruce Sterling. Top stuff. show less

Having essentially committed literature, you could call this book a work of urban fantasy but it's probably better described as an exercise in fabulism. While Wilson has incorporated a variety of fantasy elements, starting with a prologue involving a scholar who has caught & bound a djinn, she's also writing a commentary on the contemporary scene in the Muslim World through the lens of a rogue IT-operator who protects his clients existing in the "Dark Web" from state "security" elements. At least until things start going horribly wrong, and he's forced by events to rise above his "angry young man" pose to meet the challenge of his life. Well written and fast moving, I'm inclined to agree that the ending seems too positive under the show more circumstances, but there's no denying that we could all use a happy ending these days! show less