History Literature / AlifTheUnseen

* AuthorAvatar - The Convert has many similarities to the author, a female convert to Islam [[spoiler:who becomes pregnant during the story, which was written while the author was pregnant]].

* {{Catgirl}}

* [[spoiler:FirstGirlWins]]

* OurGeniesAreDifferent: The Jinn are nonhumans who can change forms at will. They have WiFi. There is one 'marid' who states that she was imprisoned by that thief Aladdin. [[spoiler:She is imprisoned by The Hand in a bottle of Mecca Cola. New Quarter nearly asks her for wishes but Dina makes him let her go.]]

* AnotherDimension - The land of the Jinn

* NotSoDifferent: [[BigBad The Hand]] gives Alif one of these while the latter [[spoiler: is being held in a HellholePrison]]; although he and Alif are on opposite sides, he argues that both of them are motivated by the rush of what they do far more than any ideology.

* ArabianNights: The ''Alf Yeom'' is an inversion of the Arabian Nights: A Thousand and One Days instead. The actual ArabianNights is used as a decoy.

* UsefulNotes/IslamicDress: Dina shocks her family and the community by choosing to veil like the Arab upper caste.

''Alif the Unseen'' is a 2012 novel by [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 G. Willow Wilson]] about a young man who lives in a {{Qurac}}-style state, complete with extensive Internet censorship. Alif (his online handle) makes a living as a 'grey hat', providing ways around the repressive state security system. He also is in love with an aristocratic Arab woman, and this leads him into an adventure complete with mysterious books, [[OurGeniesAreDifferent jinn]] and a computer code that could remake the world.

''Alif the Unseen'' is a 2012 novel by G. Willow Wilson about a young man who lives in a {{Qurac}}-style state, complete with extensive Internet censorship. Alif (his online handle) makes a living as a 'grey hat', providing ways around the repressive state security system. He also is in love with an aristocratic Arab woman, and this leads him into an adventure complete with mysterious books, [[OurGeniesAreDifferent jinn]] and a computer code that could remake the world.

* AIIsACrapshoot: The programs based upon The Alf Yeom, have an unexpected effects.
* ArabianNights: The Alf Yeom is an inversion of the Arabian Nights- A Thousand and One Days instead. The actual ArabianNights is used as a decoy.

* HollywoodHacking: Alif seems to be able to hack and program intuitively, without really knowing how his own code works. This allows him to suddenly revolutionize computing after a single burst of inspiration, writing programs that understand metaphors and layers of meaning instead of binary ones and zeroes.

* TomeOfEldritchLore - The Alf Yeom can be this. [[spoiler: It apparently shifts due to whoever reads it.]]

* GoodShepherd: Sheika Bilal

* GoodShepherd: Sheika Bilal is an Islamic version.

* TheAlcatraz- The only way out of HellHolePrison is through a burning dangerous desert.

* BreakingSpeech: The Hand to Alif.

* BlandNameProduct - [[WorldOfWarcraft World of Battle Craft]].

* DefectorFromDecadence -[[spoiler:New Quarter 01]] who is a prince, but hacks to fight the regime.

* EmbarrassingFirstName - Alif refuses to be called by his first name for much of the book, since he says it's too common. [[spoiler: His name is Mohammed]]

* ForcedIntoEvil - [[spoiler: Intisar is somewhere between this and Face Heel Turn]]

* OurGeniesAreDifferent: The Jinn are nonhumans who can change forms at will. They have WiFi. There is one 'marid' who states that she was imprisioned by that thief Aladdin.. [[spoiler:She is imprisoned by The Hand in a bottle of Mecca Cola. New Quarter nearly asks her for wishes but Dina makes him let her go]]

* ShadesOfConflict - Alif helps people hide from StateSec with his hacks whether they are jihadists or just porn lovers, the jinn have a code of honor, but mostly are out for themselves (although they [[TheCavalry save the day]] for our heroes several times) and the Hand has people locked in [[HellHolePrison prison]] for hacking in which prisoners are starved, tortured, and in some instances, raped. [[spoiler: both Alif and the Hand end up breaking half the computer systems in the city, with various consequences from the internet going down to riots, looting and hangings]].

* TomeOfEldritchLore - The Alf Yeom can be this. [[spoiler: it apparently shifts due to whoever reads it]]
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized - [[spoiler:After the grid is taken down by Alif's code, revolutionaries gather in the street, and a prince is hung. Alif believes it's New Quarter and chews them out, but it's really the body of the Hand]]. The crowds are composed of everyone from Islamists to Communists, all groups Alif helped with his hacking.
* UptownGirl: Alif, a poor man, is in love with an aristocratic woman from the other part of town. They met online, but in real life, their love is mutual. [[spoiler: In the end [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Dina]] gets Alif]].
* VillainousBreakdown: The Hand after [[spoiler: the royal family disowns him in a (failed) attempt to appease the uprising.]]

This work has examples of:

* ShoutOut: [[Film/ANewHope "These are not the banu adam you are looking for."]]
** At least two to Creator/NeilGaiman: a short dream sequence taken right out of AmericanGods, and game of wits from the first arc of ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.
** The entrance to the jinn's alley is hidden the same way as the entrance to the {{Labyrinth}}.
** Or it could be Diagon Alley from the {{Harry Potter}} series.
** 'Son of Adam' is from ''Literature/{{The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe}}''

** 'Son of Adam' is from {{The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe}}

** The 'Convert' is a 'plain' woman who appears to be in love with a handsome vampire who seems to be stalking her {{Twilight}}

* ShoutOut: [[StarWars "These are not the banu adam you are looking for."]]
** At least two to NeilGaiman: a short dream sequence taken right out of AmericanGods, and game of wits from the first arc of {{Sandman}}.