It took me a long time to get through this one, not because its particularly long but because pesky life kept intruding into my reading time. Finally finished it on Waitangi day..and it will be the last physical book I'll be reading for while-the rest of my collection, both read and unread now being boxed up and stowed away. Never fear I've stocked up on ebooks..so here's my brief review.
'Alif' (his real name isn't revealed until the last chapter) is a part Arab part Indian young man living in an unnamed middle-eastern city-state. He spends his time using his elite hacker skills to aid the city's various dissident groups. After he breaks up with his higher-class girlfriend his online activities bring him to the attention of 'The Hand', the state's online security chief . A mysterious old book comes into his posession and soon he's catapaulted into a supernatural-tinged adventure.
There's a lot of rich detail about modern Arab life, Islam and mythology mixed with pop- and 'cyber-' culture. Being somewhat interested in all of the above I was gripped as the story unfoled but ended up being somewhat disappointed - the story told is somewhat simplistic and linear..I guess after the strong start I was expecting something in the vein of Neal Stephenson or similar. Having said that its still highly entertaining and well-written. its the author's first novel so things can only get better.
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