2013: Alif The Unseen

Alif is the screen name of a hacker in an unnamed totalitarian Middle Eastern state. Alif's clients are a diverse group of rebels -- pornographers, bloggers, Islamists, activists -- who challenge authority by using the anonymity of the internet. Alif's life takes a sudden and dramatic turn when his upper-class girlfriend dumps him. He writes a computer program to ensure he becomes completely untraceable. She will never be able to find him online. The program is a work of brilliance and, due to a host of circumstances, it ends up in the states' control. Just like that, Alif is on the run. Besides his challenges with the government, thanks to a gift of his ex-girlfriend – a rather unusual book called the Thousand and One Days – his life becomes a magnet for the bizarre and unexplainable too. This book could just have the power to undo reality -- or totally rebuild it.Why it's on the listThe plot is an excellent blend of cyber thriller and modern urban fantasy. Wilson's prose is spare but wonderfully lyrical and descriptive at the same time, and there's not a page in this book that you can call boring. It's also frequently funny. In short, this novel is vastly entertaining, full of ideas and action, and highly recommended.Wilson has created a story that has a little bit of everything: totalitarian police, demons, imprisonment, politics, religions, hackers, jinn, a mysterious and powerful medieval book, a coming-of-age story, pure love… all taking place in the daily life of a modern Middle Eastern nation.Read if you likeTechnology/magic mashups, or learning about the possibilities of the meanings of words.