Overview

'Driven by a hot ionic charge between higher math and Arabian myth, G. Willow Wilson conjures up a tale of literary enchantment, political change, and religious mystery. Open the first page and you will be forced to do its bidding: To read on.' - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Out of Oz Welcome to the Empty Quarter, the domain of Djinn, ghouls, demons and the effrit who take the shapes of beasts. You used to walk among us, and we among you. Now things are different. Now we are Unseen. Alif is a 23-year-old Arab/Indian hacker working in the Arab Emirates. His job is to provide security to enemies of the Arab states, ranging from pornographers to militant Islamists. Alif has fallen in love with the beguiling Intisar, an aristocratic woman he meets online. But their budding love affair is cruelly ended when her father arranges a marriage for her with a man of her class. a man who turns out to be the state's leading censor, a shadowy and powerful figure known only as 'the Hand'. The state security forces come after Alif with guns drawn, and he must go underground, trying all the while to fight back against a piece of code he wrote to protect his lover but which the Hand is using to create the most sophisticated state surveillance the world has ever known. As their final communication, Intisar sends the heartbroken Alif a mysterious old book. Bound in what looks like human skin, and titled The Thousand and One Days, Alif soon realizes that this token of affection is actually a dangerous source of old world magic. And as the keeper of this amulet - the secret book of the jinn - Alif is about to become a wanted fugitive from both the corporeal and the celestial worlds.A life and death struggle ensues as the might of heaven and earth is unleashed.

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9781742378923

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Reviews

Tom writes: Set against the backdrop of the Arab Spring, Alif the Unseen is a remarkable blend of science and magic, it's a rollicking good read which quickly became one of my favourite books of 2012. Alif is a computer hacktivist for hire who has no agenda of his own, he's happy to work for the highest bidder. This all changes when he is handed a manuscript that tells the secret history of the Jinn. The Jinn are the unseen spirits of Middle Eastern culture, over time their story has become that of the wish granting genie you might see in a Disney movie. In Alif the Unseen they exist both within our world and outside of it; as knowledge of their existence has waned their presence has diminished. Once Alif gets caught up in these two worlds he is confronted by a number of Jinn. They're portrayed as fearsome and powerful creatures that are not to be trifled with. But they can also be quite charming too, which has something of a disarming effect. The central Jinn for example, Vikram the Vampire is playful, flirtatious and at times absolutely hilarious. He is a much needed source of relief from the continually mounting tension. Vikram often comes across as quite human thus continuing the theme of blending the real and the supernatural. I have always been a strong believer in genre fiction, not only because it's wildly imaginative but because it takes the fantastical and holds it up as a mirror to society. Alif the Unseen may very well be reworking the ancient history and culture of the supernatural in the Middle East, but is also very deliberately set during current events. It takes a serious look at how censorship and aristocratic power, represented by the pragmatic head of internet security in the novel called "The Hand of God", will inevitably come into conflict and fall before freedom. The ancient fairytale creatures represent freedom of thought in of themselves and are in fact the physical manifestation of new ideas. They cannot be held down forever by a dictatorship no matter how desperately in clings to its power.

'Driven by a hot ionic charge between higher math and Arabian myth, G. Willow Wilson conjures up a tale of literary enchantment, political change, and religious mystery. Open the first page and you will be forced to do its bidding: To read on.' - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Out of Oz

Author Information

G. Willow Wilson was born in New Jersey in 1982 and raised in Colorado. Shortly after graduating from Boston University, Willow moved to Cairo, where she converted to Islam. She divides her time between Cairo and Seattle. Wilson's graphic novel, Cairo, was named a Best Graphic Novel of 2007 by Publishers Weekly, the Edmonton Journal/CanWest News, and Comics Worth Reading. Wilson is also the author of two comics series: Air, which was nominated for the 2009 Eisner Award for Best New Series; and Vixen, winner of the 2009 Glyph Comics Fan Award for Best Comic; she is the first Muslim writer to be recognised for either award.

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