Alif the Unseen - Hardcover

G. Willow Wilson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857895664 ISBN 13: 9780857895660

Publisher: Corvus, 2012

Synopsis

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013

'I will tell you a story, but it comes with a warning; when you hear it, you will become someone else.'

He calls himself Alif - few people know his real name - a young man born in a Middle Eastern city that straddles the ancient and modern worlds. When Alif meets the aristocratic Intisar, he believes he has found love. But their relationship has no future - Intisar is promised to another man and her family's honour must be satisfied. As a remembrance, Intisar sends the heartbroken Alif a mysterious book. Entitled The Thousand and One Days, Alif discovers that this parting gift is a door to another world - a world from a very different time, when old magic was in the ascendant and the djinn walked amongst us.

With the book in his hands, Alif finds himself drawing attention - far too much attention - from both men and djinn. Thus begins an adventure that takes him through the crumbling streets of a once-beautiful city, to uncover the long-forgotten mysteries of the Unseen. Alif is about to become a fugitive in both the corporeal and incorporeal worlds. And he is about to unleash a destructive power that will change everything and everyone - starting with Alif himself.

'G. Willow Wilson has a deft hand with myth and with magic, and the kind of smart, honest writing mind that knits together and bridges cultures and people. You should read what she writes.' --Neil Gaiman

'An exhilarating techno-thriller but also far more than that... Wilson has created in this rich, literate novel a profound dialogue between tradition and modernity, belief and non-belief, fairy tale and urban reality.' --Guardian

'A fantastical combination of One Thousand and One Nights, Harry Potter and 1984, and yet entirely its own voice as well, fuelled by the intensity of the Arab Spring... This unique combination of philosophy, politics and magical creatures kept me turning the pages.' --Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child

About this title

Review:

Brilliant... witty, imaginative and unorthodox in all senses --Observer

Wilson writes beautifully, tells a great story, and even makes computer hackery seem like magic. --Alison Flood, Sunday Times

Among the most original and challenging books of 2012, and my personal pick for at least one major award in 2013 --Guardian

From the Author:

G. Willow Wilson was born in New Jersey in 1982. After graduating with a degree in History and coursework in Arabic language and literature, she moved to Cairo, where she became a contributor to the Egyptian opposition weekly Cairo Magazine until it closed in 2005. She has written for politics and culture blogs across the political spectrum, and has previously written a graphic novel, Cairo, illustrated by M. K. Perker, and a series of comics based on her own experiences, for D.C. Comics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Corvus
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0857895664
• ISBN 13: 9780857895660
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448