Unholy Land, by Lavie Tidhar

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've read many SFF books by writers of Jewish origin, but Lavie Tidhar is the first Jewish author I have read that really brings his Jewish voice and heritage to his work, so this was a treat for me. It was also really interesting to learn about the alternatives being considered for a Jewish homeland--the way Tidhar explores these alternatives shows exactly what speculative fiction can do that no other literature can.

As for the book itself, it's a good read but not quite perfect. One of the features of this set of alternative universes is that the author is in it. Tidhar attributes his most famous work, Osama, to protagonist Lior Tirosh, an author who has since that time descended into formulaic detective novels. The novel is a bit heavy in the middle--maybe not quite enough of the interesting explication for me, and a little rushed at the end. But it's good stuff--reminds me of China Mieville's "The City & the City", in a whole lot of ways. I have yet to read Central Station but this does tempt me to do so.



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