Author: Lavie Tidhar
Title: "Unholy Land"
Publication: November, 2018
Page Count: 290
POD(s): Multiple
Main POD (mentioned in foreword, so not spoiling anything): 1904. Upon his return from the fact-finding expedition, Nahum Wilbusch recommends to the Zionist Congress the creation of a Jewish homeland on the territory of British East Africa. The British and the Congress follow through.
Setting (time): Modern day
Setting (place): Primarily, the Jewish state, located between Uganda and Kenya
Publisher's synopsis: "Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father. Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina - a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century - has grown dangerous. Unrest in Ararat City is growing; the government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Tirosh has become state security officer Bloom's prime murder suspect, while rogue agent Nur stalks them through transdimensional rifts - possible futures to prevented only by avoiding the mistakes of the past."
TL;DR review summary: I enjoyed it, and it's exceptionally written and engaging, but it is very ASB, full of mysticism and has some rather on-the-nose political commentary.
Tidhar is not a science-fiction writer, he's a fantasy writer who operates within the science-fiction genre. As such, while another author might have created an alternate Israel on the shores of Lake Victoria to tell a fairly straightforward tale of how it came about, and how the world changed as a result, via the aid of a murder-mystery plot, Tidhar uses the premise as a launching pad into the realm of the fantastic, weaving a story of multiple worlds, policed by a corps of transdimensional agents who become aware of an accidental traveler between alternates. How much you'll enjoy the tale depends on your willingness to go along with the ride.
One of the main strengths of the novel is the primary setting, because of the great job Tidhar does in its world building. The new Jewish homeland is a fully realized fictional locale, populated by real sounding and looking people (not denizens of Exposition Land who speak "plot"), who eat strange new food (Kenyan cuisine meets Jewish tastes and I would love to try it), speak their own language ("Judean" is a mixture of Yiddish, Hebrew and Swahili) and have their own customs, societal norms, cultural interaction and unique world views. It felt real, and was made real by the skillful writing of a mature author in total command of his craft and the English language.
Therefore, when a new strand of the plot kicked in with the introduction of new characters who brought with them new concepts (I am going to avoid spoilers here), I was not entirely pleased. It worked fairly soon, once I let it, and I rather enjoyed it, but I could also see it losing some of the readers who might have been looking for an AH story of a Jewish state founded in Africa and did not have any ASB in mind. In fairness to the publisher, their synopsis clearly spells out the "transdimensional" part of the plot, but they fail to mention the more explicitly mystic parts of the plot. After all, alternate dimensions and the travel between them can explained away with the aid of hard sci-fi (and have been explained, for better and worse, in other AH works), but "Unholy Land" relies more on the fantastic. Here more readers might be lost, but I was not. I am not a fan of magic in my AH, and would hesitate to use the term here, as it was more mystic, than magical, but the Sphinx does make an appearance in the tale. Please be forewarned.
In addition to the good writing and exceptional world-building, the other strengths of the tale are the pacing and the story telling. There is an element of danger, high stakes and a ticking clock. The hero has to overcome all three to save the day, and he is at first completely out of his element and knows he is utterly unsuited for the task. Sadly, too many AH novels lose themselves in the plot and forget to tell an entertaining story, "Unholy Land" does not and does a fantastic job at being a thriller.
The plot, when taken as a whole (and without going into spoilers), works more often than it does not. Some of the plot points, however, are spoiled by the foreword, the synopsis and the laws of economy of characters. And while I want to avoid talking politics, or use this thread (or forum) to do it, Tidhar is a political creature and has observations to make about the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. They are also far from subtle. They did not detract me from enjoying the story, but just as I felt compelled to point out the part of the story where the characters meet the Sphinx, I want to take the time to point out there will be some anvilicious takes on Israel.
One other, minor, point. For those of you who have read Tidhar's "A Man Lies Dreaming," or perhaps heard of it and chose not to read it as a result of the reviews and commentary on it, "Unholy Land" is not as shocking, provocative, graphic, violent or indulgent. I would go as far as to say your maiden aunt could read "Unholy Land," without you getting a horrified phone call about it afterwards. While there is plenty of violence, direct and indirect in it, and people do get shot and die, there is only one sex scene to be found in it and it is rather sweet.
In conclusion, "Unholy Land" is probably as good as mainstream AH gets in 2018, though it is ASB AH.
Title: "Unholy Land"
Publication: November, 2018
Page Count: 290
POD(s): Multiple
Main POD (mentioned in foreword, so not spoiling anything): 1904. Upon his return from the fact-finding expedition, Nahum Wilbusch recommends to the Zionist Congress the creation of a Jewish homeland on the territory of British East Africa. The British and the Congress follow through.
Setting (time): Modern day
Setting (place): Primarily, the Jewish state, located between Uganda and Kenya
Publisher's synopsis: "Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father. Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina - a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century - has grown dangerous. Unrest in Ararat City is growing; the government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Tirosh has become state security officer Bloom's prime murder suspect, while rogue agent Nur stalks them through transdimensional rifts - possible futures to prevented only by avoiding the mistakes of the past."
TL;DR review summary: I enjoyed it, and it's exceptionally written and engaging, but it is very ASB, full of mysticism and has some rather on-the-nose political commentary.
Tidhar is not a science-fiction writer, he's a fantasy writer who operates within the science-fiction genre. As such, while another author might have created an alternate Israel on the shores of Lake Victoria to tell a fairly straightforward tale of how it came about, and how the world changed as a result, via the aid of a murder-mystery plot, Tidhar uses the premise as a launching pad into the realm of the fantastic, weaving a story of multiple worlds, policed by a corps of transdimensional agents who become aware of an accidental traveler between alternates. How much you'll enjoy the tale depends on your willingness to go along with the ride.
One of the main strengths of the novel is the primary setting, because of the great job Tidhar does in its world building. The new Jewish homeland is a fully realized fictional locale, populated by real sounding and looking people (not denizens of Exposition Land who speak "plot"), who eat strange new food (Kenyan cuisine meets Jewish tastes and I would love to try it), speak their own language ("Judean" is a mixture of Yiddish, Hebrew and Swahili) and have their own customs, societal norms, cultural interaction and unique world views. It felt real, and was made real by the skillful writing of a mature author in total command of his craft and the English language.
Therefore, when a new strand of the plot kicked in with the introduction of new characters who brought with them new concepts (I am going to avoid spoilers here), I was not entirely pleased. It worked fairly soon, once I let it, and I rather enjoyed it, but I could also see it losing some of the readers who might have been looking for an AH story of a Jewish state founded in Africa and did not have any ASB in mind. In fairness to the publisher, their synopsis clearly spells out the "transdimensional" part of the plot, but they fail to mention the more explicitly mystic parts of the plot. After all, alternate dimensions and the travel between them can explained away with the aid of hard sci-fi (and have been explained, for better and worse, in other AH works), but "Unholy Land" relies more on the fantastic. Here more readers might be lost, but I was not. I am not a fan of magic in my AH, and would hesitate to use the term here, as it was more mystic, than magical, but the Sphinx does make an appearance in the tale. Please be forewarned.
In addition to the good writing and exceptional world-building, the other strengths of the tale are the pacing and the story telling. There is an element of danger, high stakes and a ticking clock. The hero has to overcome all three to save the day, and he is at first completely out of his element and knows he is utterly unsuited for the task. Sadly, too many AH novels lose themselves in the plot and forget to tell an entertaining story, "Unholy Land" does not and does a fantastic job at being a thriller.
The plot, when taken as a whole (and without going into spoilers), works more often than it does not. Some of the plot points, however, are spoiled by the foreword, the synopsis and the laws of economy of characters. And while I want to avoid talking politics, or use this thread (or forum) to do it, Tidhar is a political creature and has observations to make about the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. They are also far from subtle. They did not detract me from enjoying the story, but just as I felt compelled to point out the part of the story where the characters meet the Sphinx, I want to take the time to point out there will be some anvilicious takes on Israel.
One other, minor, point. For those of you who have read Tidhar's "A Man Lies Dreaming," or perhaps heard of it and chose not to read it as a result of the reviews and commentary on it, "Unholy Land" is not as shocking, provocative, graphic, violent or indulgent. I would go as far as to say your maiden aunt could read "Unholy Land," without you getting a horrified phone call about it afterwards. While there is plenty of violence, direct and indirect in it, and people do get shot and die, there is only one sex scene to be found in it and it is rather sweet.
In conclusion, "Unholy Land" is probably as good as mainstream AH gets in 2018, though it is ASB AH.
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