Alif the Unseen

By: G. Willow Wilson

Narrated by: Sanjiv Jhaveri

Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 G. Willow Wilson (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

This Sanjiv Jhaveri Guy...

Honestly, this isn't a bad story. I listened to it during my commute and sometimes while at work. IF (and this is a really big IF) you don't mind the narrarator making the most bizarre and uncharacteristic voices for some of Wilson's characters. It really took me out of the story sometimes. One of the djinn characters had the voice of some creepy rapist/pedophile. Even though he's one of the best written characters, I just couldn't handle it. Obviously written by a man, because every time the boy protagonist meets a new woman character, he is always "uncomfortable" at the way that they look him up and down. I appreciated some of the imagery, having grown up on the Arabian Peninsula myself. Accurately described social dynamics. If you can get past the weird performance, as well as all of the pseudo-mysticism (it's like he forgets about it sometimes), then you might enjoy this.

Not what I expected

Would you listen to Alif the Unseen again? Why?

I expected to enjoy this book as I am already a fan of GWW, but I was pleased with the broad scope of this story. It was fun, funny, action packed, smart, techy, fantasy, with tons of social commentary.
Lovely fun ride.

Interesting

Any additional comments?

I found this listen entertaining though not engrossing. The author presumes that things are understood without explanation. I find it questionable the abilities of the actions by those in the book. The book highlights the good though of the Muslim and Islam people, something lately misunderstood.

Fascinating Story, Learned a Few Things

Interesting story, new culture. Cool ideas about holy books, religion--Not quite L'Engle but sort of.

A great adventure

Tagged a fantasy—and rightfully so, but for those believing they don’t like fantasy I encourage you to suspend a modicum of belief in order to enjoy a wonderful adventure that informs us about culture, religion, philosophy, politics, and technology.

Disappointing

Promises to be a great story at the beginning but quickly becomes repetitive and grating. At least the insight into cultural nuances is interesting.

great look at today's world

Any additional comments?

This book is a very entertaining adventure story that also gives a great picture of some serious issues, from repression in today's Arabian peninsula to the hubris of technology geeks who think that computers can solve life's basic dilemmas.

Unfufilled Promise

This book promises so much and seems to be delivering on it for some time, however, as the story move toward the ending the author seems to lose all steam and the reader is left feeling empty. I cannot recommend it.

Nicely done

Not a fan of fantasy, religion, romance, or books written for or about young people, but managed to enjoy this nonetheless. Guess the author was pretty good, and the narration was spot on, or maybe I was just in the mood for something different, Or maybe it's my appreciation of computers and the Internet as useful tools, though the idea that anyone could program up a jinn or two is way off somewhere. Wilson has a wild imagination.

Charming contemporary fantasy with djinn

Taking place in an unnamed country in the Middle East, Alif the Unseen is a mix of alternate history/contemporary political thriller with fantasy elements.

Alif, the eponymous main character, is a pseudonym for a young hacker in an autocratic Islamic country where he is a poor immigrant offering anonymity and Internet access to anyone who wants it. He helps Islamists, secularists, feminists, religious minorities, anyone who wants to evade the state's Internet firewall and ever-present monitoring.

He also has a rich girlfriend and poor (girl)friend with a crush on him, setting up the rather obvious climax. His rich girlfriend dumping him for her arranged suitor is the precipating event which causes Alif to write a computer program to "erase" him from her presence on the Internet. This program proves to be one that would be very useful for a hyper-monitoring regime like the state, which brings Alif to the attention of the Hand, the head of the state's secret police. Alif becomes a fugitive, on the run and putting everyone he knows and cares about in danger. That's when he runs into djinn.

Alif the Unseen is a work of Western-style fantasy but from a sympathetic Muslim perspective; almost all the characters are Muslims, of varying degrees of piety, and presented from within the context of a modern Muslim country, they manifest as very believable and non-archetypal, for the most part. Alif himself is only nominally a believer, though the author's own Islamic belief can be seen in the way that all the good guys are eventually guided towards some level of faith, or at least appreciation of faith, without hammering the point home with divine intervention.

Rather, the supernatural in this book comes from the various types of djinn, evil, good, and in-between, as befits the original Arabian and Persian myths. Alif walks between the two worlds of humans and djinn. He cleans one djinn's computer of viruses so she can check her email again - these are djinn who also have been touched by the modern world.

The climax, in which humans and djinn alike play a part in bringing down the evil Hand, with uncertain consequences for the future, reads a bit like a more optimistic prelude to the Arab Spring. Even Alif admits, in the finale, that what comes after the revolution may not be particular benevolent.