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A review by larkspire
The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The Immortal King Rao takes on a lot: the South Asian emigrant experience; historical fiction in three different periods of Indian history and the US technology industry of the 1980s; near- and then still-nearer- future science fiction, with all the attendant speculations about the direction humanity is headed and the nature of identity (Vara is more concerned with raising questions than answering them - I like that, but I know a lot of people don't).
It's easy to follow despite its scope, and only one or two short segments felt meandering. In fact, though I'd say the book is slow-paced over all, some of the "history of the future" segments felt rushed. Nonetheless, I sometimes felt like I had skimmed a Wikipedia article and can't help but wonder if better justice might have been done to some of these themes had others been dropped.
I read this for the sci-fi/climate fiction parts, originally, and at first I was a little frustrated with the book's preoccupation with the past. But I came to be much more interested in the historical characters; the sci-fi ones (even the ones that had also appeared in the historical sections) seemed like sketches in comparison, and I quickly became bored with them. Some of the future geopolitics seemed very blunt and simplistic, which I found hard to mesh with the meticulousness and attention to detail to the historical parts of the book. I guess Vara was trying to show the scope widening from a single coconut grove to the entire world, but for me it doesn't work; the latter part felt clumsy and out-of-place compared to the former even though I could see the obvious parallels between the two (actually, that might have made the effect worse).
A great read overall; if Vara returns to science fiction in the future, I hope she narrows the focus a bit so she can give all of her characters and future speculations the attention they deserve.
It's easy to follow despite its scope, and only one or two short segments felt meandering. In fact, though I'd say the book is slow-paced over all, some of the "history of the future" segments felt rushed. Nonetheless, I sometimes felt like I had skimmed a Wikipedia article and can't help but wonder if better justice might have been done to some of these themes had others been dropped.
I read this for the sci-fi/climate fiction parts, originally, and at first I was a little frustrated with the book's preoccupation with the past. But I came to be much more interested in the historical characters; the sci-fi ones (even the ones that had also appeared in the historical sections) seemed like sketches in comparison, and I quickly became bored with them. Some of the future geopolitics seemed very blunt and simplistic, which I found hard to mesh with the meticulousness and attention to detail to the historical parts of the book. I guess Vara was trying to show the scope widening from a single coconut grove to the entire world, but for me it doesn't work; the latter part felt clumsy and out-of-place compared to the former even though I could see the obvious parallels between the two (actually, that might have made the effect worse).
A great read overall; if Vara returns to science fiction in the future, I hope she narrows the focus a bit so she can give all of her characters and future speculations the attention they deserve.