msjamgochian'sinfinitebooklist

At last! A superbly written, craftily woven, incredibly wonderful fantasy-adventure-techno tale that I can recommend to fans of Ready Player One (which sadly left me in the lurch back around December: I had no hope of finding anything quite like it and begrudgingly moved on to other genres), brought to you by award-winning graphic novelist G. Willow Wilson . Alif (his handle - the first letter in the Arabic alphabet) is a young hacker living in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. He spends most of his time providing his clients with secure connections and invisible digital footprints with enviable skill, diligently protecting them from state surveillance, run by the terrifying head of state, or, The Hand of God, as Alif and his gweek friends have nicknamed him. Alif is also in love with Intisar, a high-born girl who is out of his reach in the real world due to his mixed Indian-Arab background. The two sign a "stock marriage contract," but when Intisar becomes engaged to som...

Craig Thompson's long-awaited graphic novel is a stunning, gorgeous, epic, masterfully crafted work of art. Set in a futuristic undefined Middle East, the story travels back and forth through time, spanning the lives and relationship of two orphans, Dodola and Zam, who are beset by misfortune. I appreciated the book as an objet d'art much more than I enjoyed the storyline, which at times felt like a ruse. Did Mr. Thompson simply want to draw Dodola naked? Over and over again in a variety of compromised positions? Click here for the Guardian review. Grade 11+