“Alif the Unseen”, G Willow Wilson
Published June 19, 2012
In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients—dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups—from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif—the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. The aristocratic woman Alif loves has jilted him for a prince chosen by her parents, and his computer has just been breached by the state’s electronic security force, putting his clients and his own neck on the line. Then it turns out his lover’s new fiancé is the "Hand of God," as they call the head of state security, and his henchmen come after Alif, driving him underground.
When Alif discovers The Thousand and One Days, the secret book of the jinn, which both he and the Hand suspect may unleash a new level of information technology, the stakes are raised and Alif must struggle for life or death, aided by forces seen and unseen.
“If man’s capacity for the fantastic took up as much of his imagination as his capacity for cruelty, the worlds, seen and unseen, might be very different.”
When I read this book a decade ago, I did not expect to be swept into a dazzling fusion of cyberpunk, political rebellion, Islamic mysticism, and… jinn! Because this novel refuses to fit neatly into a genre box, I think about it often because it’s just that memorable.
We start with Alif, a young Arab hacker who gets caught in a digital cat-and-mouse chase with a corrupt state surveillance regime, and then the story transforms into a magical tale that explores censorship, faith, and identity where technology and folklore collide. You jump from firewalls and secret police, and then hidden realms and mystical text—it’s all unexpected and imaginative.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
torture • violence
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Owned: thrifted hardcover