The Sword and Laser discussion
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Alif the Unseen
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AtU: Started reading, question about setting
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artofstu
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Sep 24, 2014 06:29AM
I just started, and I'm liking it so far. What is the time period supposed to be? I can't tell yet if it's present or future.
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I kinda feel like it's current. Mentions he's made of processors and computers along the way are current.
Hey, could you add AtU (for Alif the Unseen) to the thread title? It makes it so much easier to know before you click.
I started it today. I'm pretty sure it's meant to be set in the present day, especially with the little comments about the state of the world and the internet currently.
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Mod powers: activate!
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Kristina wrote: "I kinda feel like it's current. Mentions he's made of processors and computers along the way are current."Sorry. It was in the Alif the Unseen discussion folder, so I thought that would be enough to identify what I meant.
S. Lee wrote: "Sorry. It was in the Alif the Unseen discussion folder, so I thought that would be enough to identify what I meant."
The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't work very well for those using the app on their mobile devices.
The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't work very well for those using the app on their mobile devices.
Matthew wrote: "S. Lee wrote: "Sorry. It was in the Alif the Unseen discussion folder, so I thought that would be enough to identify what I meant."The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't work very well for ..."
Interesting. Didn't know that. When I look at the app on my phone and go to the Sword & Laser group, it lists all the discussion folders. I wonder what it looks like on other phones.
Matthew wrote: "S. Lee wrote: "Sorry. It was in the Alif the Unseen discussion folder, so I thought that would be enough to identify what I meant."The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't work very well for those using the app on their mobile devices."
The prefixes also help those of us who get email notifications on topics, either instant updates or digest, to figure out which threads are on which books...especially when there are the same/similar topics for most books (like casting threads). If it's for a book that I haven't read yet or am concerned about spoilers or just wasn't very interested in, I may not want to click through...but with as active as this group is (which is a very good thing), it can be hard to keep all of the threads straight. Even if one accidentally clicks-through and tries to unsubscribe to the notifications, Goodreads doesn't always work with that...
Similarly, if I'm looking at my notifications either on the app or on the web interface, it just says thread titles, not folders...can make it hard to know what's what...
S. Lee wrote: "Matthew wrote: "S. Lee wrote: "Sorry. It was in the Alif the Unseen discussion folder, so I thought that would be enough to identify what I meant."
The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't wor..."
I stand corrected. Either it improved with an update or I just didn't fully utilize the app before. TBH I rarely use it. I switched to an Samsung Galaxy last year and while I love the large touch screen for a lot of things typing isn't one of them. I check notifications from my phone but never reply using it.
The whole folder system on goodreads doesn't wor..."
I stand corrected. Either it improved with an update or I just didn't fully utilize the app before. TBH I rarely use it. I switched to an Samsung Galaxy last year and while I love the large touch screen for a lot of things typing isn't one of them. I check notifications from my phone but never reply using it.
Ah, many of us using the app just click on "unread" and then every thread with a new post is listed, but not the folder.
Back to the original topic, the first chapter 'Chapter Zero', is set 'long ago', and then from chapter one it's set 'now'. I had to go back and double check that also! Further along (I've only read the Kindle sample so far so not spoilers), Alif mentions the Egyptian revolution which was 2011 so that's fairly recent (the book was published 2012).
I have a similar question... Where is it located? I know it is somewhere in Middle-East, and it is not a democracy - but which country? Or maybe the author decided not to pinpoint any specific country for fear of reprisal?
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Yeah, I consulted my friend from the region. He said there's many parts in the story in the beginning which point to a specific country but they all point to different countries.
Well, there's Cloud computing at some point, so probably it sets it within the last 5 years?
They mention America, also India and Egypt, so it's our world but not anchored to any temporal touchstones that I could see (ie Arab Spring).
It's a fictional city state on the Persian Gulf bordering Saudi Arabia. (There's a wifi essid at one point called CityState lol.) So like a fictionalized Qatar, Kuwait or Bahrain.
I just finished reading the book and I remember reading somewhere that it was notionally set around the Arab Spring (so a couple of years ago.) To me the setting feels a bit like a fictional Kuwait more than a UAE state.
Well yea UAE isn't even a city state. Just a tiny nation. :)Wikipedia article on Bahraini's Arab Spring
Wiki article on bloggers being arrested in Bahrain
Bahrain is really the closet match, outside of being an island.
I'm so glad that I get to comment for once. I am only 2 chapters in but I can say without a doubt "the City" is the city I live in, Dubai. If not the entire image is based on Dubai. There is a old and new quarter, and old city wall. There is a very strict internet censor and monitoring policy. Everything in this book screams Dubai to me.
One passage in Chapter 1 mentions pearl divers, something Dubai was known for before oil (which is also mentioned).
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In Chapter 4 Alif talks about fleeing across the desert to either Oman or Saudi Arabia. UAE is the only country on the Persian Gulf that borders both.
I thought Dubai at first too, but there doesn't seem to be a thriving gay community, nor does it seem like there is a huge slave labor force.
...Dubai has a thriving gay community?
Yeah, last I read about it it was one of the safest places in the Middle East for openly gay people. Lots of *unofficial* gay nightclubs and places to chill. They have anti-gay laws that are enforced, but only occasionally. At least, that was the case a few years ago.
Edit: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/c... this old article at least mentions the community.
You learn something everyday...
