Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

This is a speculative fiction (a few would say science fiction I guess, some urban fantasy) set in present day middle east. We follow a hacker calling himself Alif who comes into possession of The Thousand and One Days, a book containing secrets of the Djinn, and fundamental truths about reality. The book, and the fact that Alif has been providing digital hiding places for regime critical groups as well as criminals, make him a target of the secret state police.

I read a favorable review of Alif the Unseen somewhere and when I happened to see it at my local bookshop I simply picked it up and read it. It is quite nice and I think deserving of the 2013 World Fantasy Award (though of course I don't know much about the other competing books). I was perhaps sometimes a bit put off by the descriptions of technology, but on the other hand, this is not hard SF, or even idea SF.

It is adventure, a techno-fairytale worth reading.