Alif the Unseen
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Atlantic Books
Published:6th Jun '13
£9.99
Available for immediate dispatch.
Winner of the 2013 World Fantasy Award: a compelling and bewitching first novel, perfect for book groups, that mixes old world magic with modern adventure.
'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, a young man born in a Middle Eastern city that straddles the ancient and modern. When Alif comes into possession of a mysterious book entitled The Thousand and One Days, he discovers 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.
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. And he is about to unleash a destructive power that will change everything and everyone - starting with Alif himself...
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 *
Brilliant... witty, imaginative and unorthodox in all senses * Observer *
Among the most original and challenging books of 2012, and my personal pick for at least one major award in 2013. * Guardian *
Charming and original * Sunday Telegraph *
Wilson writes beautifully, tells a great story, and even makes computer hackery seem like magic. * Sunday Times *
A Harry Potter-ish action-adventure romance [that] unfolds against the backdrop of the Arab Spring... Improbably charming... A bookload of wizardry and glee. * New York Times *
Marvelous... Intoxicating... Hugely entertaining... It doesn't take magical powers to predict it will be one of the year's best-loved books. * Washington Post *
- Winner of WORLD FANTASY AWARD 2013 (UK)
- Long-listed for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 (UK)
ISBN: 9780857895691
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 27mm
Weight: 309g
448 pages
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