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Imagine a future engineered to be perfect, each member coexisting in perfect harmony with one other, in a miraculous world.
Yusuf, a quiet and modest man, has always had dreams. One night his dreams take him to a strange place where an even stranger man dwells.
Together they will embark on a journey that will not only change Yusuf’s future but that of all humanity as well.
This book will challenge your perceptions and leave you thinking long after the last page is read.
Yusuf, a quiet and modest man, has always had dreams. One night his dreams take him to a strange place where an even stranger man dwells.
Together they will embark on a journey that will not only change Yusuf’s future but that of all humanity as well.
This book will challenge your perceptions and leave you thinking long after the last page is read.
330 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2010
12 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Ali Shams
12 books23 followersIn the sea of life I will never ride the boat, but swim freely until I find find Neverland.
في بحر الحياة لن أركب القارب, بل سأسبح حرا حتى أجد أرض الخلود
The e-book version of SOLO-The New World order and The Transcendent is available in most e-book readers including Apple’s iBook and Kindle.
Twitter account: @alishams2266
في بحر الحياة لن أركب القارب, بل سأسبح حرا حتى أجد أرض الخلود
The e-book version of SOLO-The New World order and The Transcendent is available in most e-book readers including Apple’s iBook and Kindle.
Twitter account: @alishams2266
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 25, 2014
I just loved it! It's a *one more chapter before falling asleep* type. A philosophical novel that analyzed nearly all life sides and fields. The author made his thoughts clear, he used tons of examples and adorable simplicity! Realistic, but has some science fiction as well.
If I am to categorize this piece then it would be nothing but a must read.
If I am to categorize this piece then it would be nothing but a must read.
June 21, 2012
Overall Review (No Spoilers)
WHAT I LIKED: This book transgresses Arab themes and literary genres by delving into sensitive subjects: revolution, social engineering, Arabian relation to Western capitalism and free market ideology. It deals with a variety of sources that range from academic studies to pop culture. I also liked the alternation between dream narration and the protagonist's quotidian life.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: This book is riddled with typos, bad writing, and narrative earthquakes. There are only some passages that I liked, and even these were overwritten. The publication itself is messy (some paragraphs are separated by a double space, whereas others follow one another without indications of a new paragraph); and the font is ENOURMOUS; which would be great for old people, except the shallowness of the tale makes me think it was written for teenagers. Pages are unnecessarily glossy. It makes the book much heavier, preventing portability and contradicts its plea for green energy and recycling. I am even more perturbed by the use of copyrighted material in the book. The author quoted lyrics of popular songs, from bands such as Metallica, Greenday, and Nickelback. Sometimes entire pages are quoted without permission. One of my biggest grievances against this book is that it won't in fact "embark on a journey that will not only change Yusuf's future but that of all humanity;" there is no journey, and narrative action is so miniscule you'll wonder why the author has chosen to write a narrative when he could have written a philosophical account of his own personal beliefs instead. To top it all, the book was fundamentally moral in nature (and by that I mean it advocated congealed Islamic ideals sugarcoated in pseudo-scientific jargon). This would have been much more pleasing, I suppose, if they were injected into the tale as part and parcel of the plot itself. As such, it breaks the cardinal rule of storytelling: show, don't tell. It doesn't show anything. We don't see Yusuf's beliefs morph throughout the tale and we don't get to experience the Utopian world in action. Rather, we are told "this and that" until the last page of the book is turned.
CONCLUSION: I am sorely disappointed with this book.
RATING: I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I want to encourage more Arabs to write in English.
WHAT I LIKED: This book transgresses Arab themes and literary genres by delving into sensitive subjects: revolution, social engineering, Arabian relation to Western capitalism and free market ideology. It deals with a variety of sources that range from academic studies to pop culture. I also liked the alternation between dream narration and the protagonist's quotidian life.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: This book is riddled with typos, bad writing, and narrative earthquakes. There are only some passages that I liked, and even these were overwritten. The publication itself is messy (some paragraphs are separated by a double space, whereas others follow one another without indications of a new paragraph); and the font is ENOURMOUS; which would be great for old people, except the shallowness of the tale makes me think it was written for teenagers. Pages are unnecessarily glossy. It makes the book much heavier, preventing portability and contradicts its plea for green energy and recycling. I am even more perturbed by the use of copyrighted material in the book. The author quoted lyrics of popular songs, from bands such as Metallica, Greenday, and Nickelback. Sometimes entire pages are quoted without permission. One of my biggest grievances against this book is that it won't in fact "embark on a journey that will not only change Yusuf's future but that of all humanity;" there is no journey, and narrative action is so miniscule you'll wonder why the author has chosen to write a narrative when he could have written a philosophical account of his own personal beliefs instead. To top it all, the book was fundamentally moral in nature (and by that I mean it advocated congealed Islamic ideals sugarcoated in pseudo-scientific jargon). This would have been much more pleasing, I suppose, if they were injected into the tale as part and parcel of the plot itself. As such, it breaks the cardinal rule of storytelling: show, don't tell. It doesn't show anything. We don't see Yusuf's beliefs morph throughout the tale and we don't get to experience the Utopian world in action. Rather, we are told "this and that" until the last page of the book is turned.
CONCLUSION: I am sorely disappointed with this book.
RATING: I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I want to encourage more Arabs to write in English.
November 8, 2010
its so realistic , and with agreat learning points, that will make you think after you finish the book
November 23, 2015
nice work
January 7, 2018
Solo book review: ⭐️⭐️ Weak English, dissapointing ending. The book was okay till his dreams got too technical. It represents the perfect world the writer would love to live in.
April 18, 2023
Since the beginning of reading this book. It didn't catch me and it didn't make me enjoy reading it. I have tried many times after stopping and saying I'm not gonna finish it and reread it trying to complete it and I reached 71% of it but it's an absolute waste of time to read it it's so boring.
October 17, 2015
Imagine a future engineered to be perfect, each member coexisting in perfect harmony with one other, in a miraculous world. Yusuf, a quiet and modest man, has always had dreams. One night his dreams take him to a strange place where an even stranger man dwells. Together they will embark on a journey that will not only change Yusuf’s future but that of all humanity as well. This book will challenge your perceptions and leave you thinking long after the last page is read.
November 10, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews