Alif the Unseen

This is a great cyberpunk fantasy taking place in a fictional Arab country just before the Arab Spring uprising begins. Despite being in the computer biz, I don't always care for cyberpunk, but I really enjoyed this one. I think it's because of the setting, the Arab world. I do like jinn stories and this one has many different types showing up throughout the book. I think it also grabbed me because it immerses the reader in modern Arab culture and shows the clashes between the old and the new, not much unlike Black Water Sister, which I read just a few days before this. It was received pretty well, winning the 2013 World Fantasy Award and garnering a few other nominations.

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