Alif the Unseen

Reviewed by Laury on February 26, 2013

It should be enough review to say that Alif the Unseen made it to the NY Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2012 or maybe that Neil Gaiman himself has sung its praises. It is the story of Alif, a hacker, who lives and works in the digital shadows in an unnamed Gulf state on the brink of revolution and under the thumb of despotic security forces. He is drawn into the world of the djinn with his childhood friend, Dina, for answers concerning mysterious manuscript sent to him by his lost love, a manuscript that may help him overcome a computer program threatening to infiltrate and destroy digital and real life freedoms. I read this book with feelings I can only describe as delight and relief. Halfway through the book in one sitting, I realized I was rushing through an exquisite meal. I have been so hungry. But I needed to stop, slow down, and enjoy every word. Wilson’s language is perfect, her characters, perfect, her world, perfect. No one could have written this book but her. I am a fan of Neil Gaiman. I love that he loved the book, too. But really, Gaiman could not have written this book. It is more fulfilling than any of his I have read. The world Wilson has created is our world. A Muslim’s world. A world, too, that is created by a woman. It doesn’t read in any overtly gendered way. It is just that I felt safe traveling in it as a Muslim and as a woman. I love this genre of literature, but I feel like I am always reading other people’s stories, never my own.