Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar is a masterfully crafted alternative history novel that takes readers on a mind-bending journey. The story follows Lior Tirosh, a writer who travels to his homeland, Palestine, to uncover the mystery of his father's death. What he discovers is a world that could have been, a world where history took a different turn, and the State of Israel never came into existence.

Tidhar's writing is exceptional, and he weaves a complex narrative that is both immersive and captivating. The characters are well-developed and engaging, and the story's pacing is perfect, keeping the reader hooked from start to finish. The alternative history concept is brilliantly executed, and the author seamlessly blends real-world events with fictional elements, creating a vivid and believable world.

Overall, Unholy Land is a must-read for anyone who loves alternative history or just a great story. Tidhar's writing is outstanding, and his ability to create a world that feels so real is a testament to his skill as a writer. This book will leave you thinking long after you've turned the last page, and it is not to be missed.

A fantastic novel. Imaginative, extremely well written, and quite original. If you're looking for some science fiction with a difference, then I'd highly recommend Unholy Land (and Central Station).

DNF @ ~40%

While I adored Lavie Tidhar's Central Station, which was a brilliant mash of strange sci-fi and human, I found this one to be a little too disorienting of a narrative to really get into. I do love Tidhar for his originality and willingness to tackle subjects that are beyond the mainstream, and will continue to read more of his work in the future.

This was a really thoughtful and enjoyable alternate history, one which reminded me a bit of "Judenstaat" and "Everfair." I found myself spending a fair amount of time on Wikipedia and other websites familiarizing myself with recorded history and geography, which is actually one of my favorite bookish experiences. This is one that I may need to revisit in future in order to fully comprehend and "take in," so to speak--but again, that's no bad thing.

This book was quite a wild ride. I loved how it went from a mystery, to an alternative universe, to a science fiction book. It's a deep examination of identity, the Jewish condition, belonging and home. It's interesting because it examines a world where Isreal never happened. It's an interesting "What if?" It examines, a one time historical idea, of creating another country next to Uganda for Jews. It's an interesting bit of history that most never know or have heard of. It's face-paced and unique, but I really wish that the alternative histories were examined a little more.

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p><em>Human history repeats itself</em>.</p>
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<p>This is a central thesis of <em>Unholy Land</em>, but what shapes the book is what <em>ways</em> Tidhar wants to show human history repeating itself. There is no good solution in this book. There is no timeline in which people treat each other generally decently. This is a very meta book, a book full of layers of alternate worlds, histories that might have been--but they all come back to guns and oppression and prejudice and fear.</p>
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<p>Tidhar is Israeli-born and has lived in lots of places. He's speaking from a position of knowledge, personal knowledge, when he writes about the permutations of Jewish homeland and disapora Judaism. There are all sorts of things that he does quite well in this. But the overall thesis is not an upbeat one about the nature of people in general, and you should be prepared for that going in.<br></p>
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Amazing experience, tailored approach of the Israeli problem, a fantastic adventure through space and time, an intimate and poetic vision of this Middel-East and African landscapes.

This book treats genre boundaries with the same disregard it has for the borders of nation-states and our notions of space-time. A great premise that is fully realized in this compelling and thought-provoking novel.

A strange foray into alternate history mashed up with trans-dimensional slipstream weirdness... where the swirling particles of story, character, and theme never quite crystallize. On the upside, upon finishing you're left with a vague impression of pleasant writing and slippery ideas. I read this a while back and basically sat on my hands, unable to resolve a clear picture of what I had just consumed, so I've delayed in reviewing this for a few months. Now, with some time to reflect, my feelings are clear: the prose was rather good, but the characters were a hair's breadth better than flat and the plot, if not quite non-existent, was at least non-engaging. Emotional involvement? Not so much. I appreciate the willingness to be weird and the deliberately provocative historical choices, which kept this afloat and let me finish with a shred or two of dignity. I really shouldn't be so harsh; at the time, I thought this was reasonably decent. If the premise sounds fun to you, by all means go for it. Tidhar can certainly assemble words into interesting sentences, but the sum total of those sentences in a pile is more shifting-pile-of-rubble than glorious mountain of literature, if that makes any sense. At the end of the day, not really my cup of tea.

I
never quite settled into this highly praised novel. I really wanted to like it, but found myself reaching for something else to read. The review in Publisher’s Weekly said, “Fantasy Award winner Tidhar (Central Station) will leave readers’ heads spinning with this disorienting and gripping alternate history,” and I think that’s an accurate description of my experience. I could never tell which of many connected alternate worlds I was in, or sometimes which character’s point of view I was in.

On the positive side, I loved the premise: in another world, the Jewish people find a homeland in the early part of the 20th Century, not following the horror of the Holocaust. And not in the Middle East but in Africa, in Kenya. As in modern Israel, where Palestinians are exiled from the lands they have lived in for millennia, Africans are relegated to the other side of the (literal) wall and systematically disenfranchised. I appreciated the evocative parallels between this African Palestina and the modern American immigration debate or Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Our guide to this world is pulp fiction writer Lior Tirosh, returning home (to Kenyan Palestina) from Germany. At first the story reads like a murder mystery, alternating Lior’s discovery of a body (and so forth) with the first-person narrative of a police officer. However, the initial mystery is quickly superseded by others, eventually centering on the breakdown of the barriers between alternate worlds. That’s a pretty tall order for one book, and I found the switching of worlds and viewpoints (third, first, and even second, which just knocked me out of the story every time) to be confusing rather than intriguing.

Others may find Unholy Land to be a brilliant tour de force, but for me it was frustrating to be repeatedly baffled and to be thrown out of the story line just when things were beginning to make sense.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything about it. Although chocolates might be nice.

The idea and historical detail were really interesting. The execution however was lacking. The characters were hard to connect with and the changing first-person point of view and use of second person was hard to follow. The random worlds were an unneeded reference to well-known fantasy worlds in what otherwise was more of political commentary. It seemed disjoined.

This is the first book I've read from this author, and I was attracted to it by the description. Overall, it was a thrill to read. The subtext of conflicts over land and race is very relevant to current events, and the narrative structure and author's background really put things into perspective. I found the parallel timelines to be a bit confusing at points, but found this aspect to be generally a plus.

Addictive and exciting. In line with Central Station, Lavie Tidhar elevates his bet with a great detective/historical/thriller story.

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love books that take things that nearly happened in history and play about with the idea of ‘What if that really happened?’ Like Sarah Gailey in River of Teeth – “What if the USA really did import hippos into Louisiana?”

This is what Lavie Tidhar has done in Unholy Land. A little-known point of history was that someone thought of creating a country in Africa for Jewish people to settle into. Tidhar takes this idea and runs with it, giving us a fully fleshed out alternate history of what might have been. I love this sort of fiction; it is the definition of Speculative.

The protagonist of this novel is a very clear stand-in for the author themselves. From sharing initials to their bibliography, it reinforces the idea of this only being a sideways step away from our own world.

Tidhar examines in this book, the idea that even though this alternate history may have stopped evil in our own timeline (namely, WWII and therefore the Holocaust), new, different evils spring up to take its place.

There are lots of different plots across different timelines here (without giving away any spoilers), and some of them are not fully realised. I am certain that was intentional, but it did leave me at times feeling disappointed and disjoined, wishing there was more of it.

This is a book about a feeling, an idea, about examining what history teaches us and how even though we can change things, we can’t change the nature of the human condition. It’s an unconventional book, from an author who is wildly imaginative and innovative. The prose is wonderful, the ideas are fascinating, and the whole book is very sensual, in that it evokes all your senses and gives you a great feeling of place.

If you require a plot in your book, maybe avoid this one – that is not really the purpose of this book.

While difficult to describe, I am very glad that I picked this one up and will recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys these types of books.

I wanted to like this story, but I just couldn't get interested. It's kind of strange, bizarre and confusing. I'm not a fan of this type of mash up story.

2.5 stars

I originally found this book because it was described as SFF. Let me make sometime clear: While this book contains a few elements of a typical SFF novel, I would not jump to calling it SFF. I can understand why it could be categorized that way, but I also don't feel like SFF themes were predominant in this book. In some ways, that could be really refreshing, but for me, it fell flat.

And that may be where some of my disappointment comes from. I was expecting something with a lot more SFF and a lot less getting kidnapped and interrogated and traveling around Africa. For the first third of this book, it's a straight pulp fiction novel - and that was kind of interesting, though I struggled to stay motivated to keep reading during that part. The story was just so slow and so full of this one man's meanderings and thoughts - I struggled to care about him that much.

And then, the book suddenly gets really trippy - (view spoiler) - and the trippy part really felt like it came out of nowhere. It disrupted the flow of the book in a really annoying way and, since I had already been having trouble caring too much about the characters and plot, I took a break for several weeks at this point. After a few more chapters, things flow a lot more easily, but the change to fantasy is jarring in a very unenjoyable way.

In addition, the narration is very unclear. You have 3 different voices - 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person. And it gets really confusing when you're trying to keep track of who is narrating which part and who is doing what. This probably contributed most to my struggles to keep track of the plot - it was so hard for me to tell who was narrating and what was happening for each character.

All this being said, the premise of the book is very interesting: If a Jewish colony had been set up in Africa before WWII, how would the world be different? Apparently there is some historical precedent to this, as a group of explorers actually went to evaluate an area in Africa to see if it would be fit for a colony and the head explorer submitted a poor review of the area, while most of his assistants were interested and thought highly of the place. A lot of the book takes place in a universe where the head explorer submitted a positive report, many European Jews moved to Africa, and the Holocaust didn't occur as a result. It's a really interesting idea that I think could be expanded upon- but the focus of the book was more on people's ability to transport between universes rather than this possible alternate universe and for me, that made the book far less interesting than it had the potential to be.

Recommended for lovers of portal and alternate universe SFF.

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > Unholy Land

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar
Unholy Land
by Lavie Tidhar
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Dec 28, 2018 · edit
really liked it

Once again Tidhar provides us with a complex tale of alternative possibilities utilizing lush prose and a twisted narrative. Hack writer, Lior Tirosh returns "home" to Palestina to visit his ailing father - long ago general and war hero. He travels from his home in Berlin to the Jewish homeland he grew up in so long ago. Even from the window of the airplane old memories and tribulations are dredged up into his consciousness. Almost incidentally he notices the ongoing construction of a wall encompassing his homeland. Upon his arrival he finds a long ago friend in his hotel room ... helping himself to the liquid refreshments from the mini-bar. Apparently a niece of his has gone missing ... one that he can barely remember. She has been connected to the demonstrations against the building of the wall. His old friend has been poisoned ... most likely which was meant for him.
Although certainly not a detective, he starts an investigation , in the vein of his pulp writing detective novels. Suddenly realities slip and slide between alternative time lines. Tirosh finds himself in competing timelines ... at times being involved and at other times investigating suspected terrorist activity and being pursued by government forces, all the while being considered an "outsider" in his own homeland.
The premise of the story has roots in historical reality. In 1904 the Zionist Congress was petitioning the British government for a parcel of land to establish a Jewish homeland. Some were adamant on seeking land encompassing Jerusalem ... the Holy Land ... others would consider any parcel of land to avert the gathering storm of anti-semitism in Europe. They were offered a such a territory in British East Africa ... area between Uganda and Kenya. An expedition explored the area and came back with a negative report and the offer was refused.
Which raises the possibility of an alternate reality. What if the proposal was accepted and the Jewish homeland took place in Africa ... would the Holocaust never have occurred?
Tidhar utilizes this premise not only to explore the possiblities of various alternative time lines, but also the consequences of borders, ethnocentrism and feeling of being an "outsider"
Thanks to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for providing this thought provoking and complex narrative Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. Although this is my first encounter with the writing of Lavie Tidhar and can certainly understand the multiple accolades he has received.

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar combines several familiar Tidhar themes – detective stories and alternate worlds –- and tosses them smack in the middle of Africa, where the British established a Jewish state in this novel. Unholy Land reveals a compassion for characters who do horrible things to keep others safe, while illuminated the spider-webbing consequences that follow. It’s thought-provoking, weird, and everything we expect from Lavie Tidhar.

A dreamlike, beautifully written fantasy of an alternate reality where a Jewish state was established in Africa prior to World War II. The book is a little bit hard to follow at times because we have a bit of an unreliable narrator living in a world of shifting realities, but if you don't try too hard to figure out every detail of what's going on then the book is quite engaging. I've seen it compared to the work of China Mieville, and that is definitely a valid comparison.

It is actually really hard to review Unholy Land after reading its afterword by Warren Ellis.

"Unholy Land is one of those lovely books that starts out presenting itself as one thing, and mutates into another almost without you seeing it."

In a way, that’s spot on. This book starts with a “what if.” What if a Jewish state had been founded in Uganda? It was a scheme in the early 1900s, but one that was never acted on. And, if you’re familiar with Lavie Tidhar’s style of writing, this what if is a tasty morsel. Tidhar’s forte is in providing settings that you feel like you’re walking through, sweating in, having dinner and drinks at. It’s even better when the setting is a mash-up of cultures and technologies.

But I disagree that Unholy Land‘s transformation, from an alternate world noir to a more politically charged thriller, occurs without notice. Tidhar does things that are designed to put the reader off-kilter. Point of view changes happen not only between chapters but within scenes. Memories shift for characters. It’s obvious early on that something more is going on than originally meets the eye. This isn’t a comfortable book despite my wanting to spend time in the world. I enjoyed it, but I also feel like I’m going to need to reread it. And that’s not a bad thing.