Alif the Unseen
by G. Willow Wilson
Introduction
Alif the Unseen seems to confirm the trend that in-person book clubs (as opposed to Goodreads groups) don’t pick books I particularly like.
Genre /Intended audience
Urban fantasy for adults, with middle eastern traditions of jinns, demons, and ifrits.
Narration
Close third person past tense from the POV of the main character Alif
Characters
Alif - a hacker in an unnamed/fictional middle eastern country
NewQuarter01 - an online friend
The Hand (Abbas Al Shehab) - a government security censor
Dina - Alif’s neighbor and childhood friend
Intisar - an upperclass woman, Alif’s lover
Vikram the Vampire - a jinn, known as a fixer to some humans
Azazel - a jinn, Vikram’s sister
Shakina - a jinn who aids Alif
Sheikh Bilal - a holy man who gives shelter to Alif and his friends
The Convert - a nameless American woman
Shaytan - the marid, a supernatural protector of Dina and the Convert
The Alf Yeom - a book of tales told by a jinn and transcribed by a human
Setting
Present day fictional unnamed middle eastern country, similar to Qatar or the UAE
Theme
Symbolism and metaphor as a means to convey truth
Plot
Alif is the online name of a young Indian-Arab hacker. He spends most of his time in the anonymous world of the internet, shielding people from government censors. That gets more difficult as a presence known as The Hand of God systematically tracks down perceived threats to the Emirate. In real life, Alif faces heartbreak as his illicit upperclass lover leaves him for a suitable marriage. Things go from bad to worse when the Hand breaches his computer and his ex-lover sends him a mysterious book, The Alf Yeom (The Thousand and One Days). Running for his life, he discovers the world of the Jinn, existing alongside the human world but unseen by most.
About the Author
Alif the Unseen is G. Willow Wilson’s debut novel. She has extensive experience writing graphic novels including Ms. Marvel. Find her on Goodreads or her website.
My Opinion
I liked much of Alif the Unseen, though overall it didn’t wow me. It’s an unusual take on urban fantasy due to its emphasis on middle eastern mythology, and it’s full of religious mysticism and symbolism. Even the most cynical characters accept their religion as a given.
Almost everything and everyone in the book is a symbol. People are rarely known by their given names. Only Dina, Alif’s childhood friend and neighbor, is consistently called by name. Even after we learn their real names, the online names of NewQuarter01 and The Hand are still used. Character development is nonexistent as each fulfills an archetypical role without deviation.
Alif is a passive main character, swept along by the story rather than driving it. Even his most important actions in the narrative are reactive. He starts the story as a spoiled entitled boy and ends up little changed. The book might have been more compelling if told from Dina’s POV. I did like some ideas in the book - the use of stories to tell multiple levels of truth and a book that changes for each reader. The book’s best features were depictions of the hidden world and stories from The Alf Yeom.
Once you realize the author has a history of graphic novels, shortcomings in character development make sense. Her writing style is good otherwise, and her ideas are interesting. It made for a lively book club discussion, though three members (out of ten) disliked it so much they didn’t finish it and half the others had mixed feelings. The rest liked it.
I give it a solid three out of five stars for writing style, originality, and those stories within the story.