Description
'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...
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.
About 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.
Reviews
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 *
Awards
Winner of WORLD FANTASY AWARD 2013 (UK). Long-listed for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9780857895691
Author G. Willow Wilson
Format Paperback
Page Count 448
Imprint Corvus
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 309g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 27mm
Details
Imprint: |
Corvus |
