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chrysemys 's review for:
The Immortal King Rao
by Vauhini Vara
Alternate history→ speculative fiction→ dystopian nightmare.
Although the "present" of this novel takes place perhaps 40 years in the future, the biggest proportion of it is a biography of King Rao, a fictional iconic tech pioneer, born in mid 20th century West Bengal (I think) into a relatively prosperous dalit family. His story is not told in chronological order and is interspersed with the story of his rebelling teenage daughter (born very late in Rao's life) who is learning the (unintended?) consequences of her parents' life work.
Most of the time, I'm interested in the world-building portion of a novel like this. In this case, Vara's shareholder society is depressingly easy to envision from our own 2020s perspective and she didn't have to go any further. The culture of those who opted out--I'd have liked to have known more about them than the author saw fit to write.
Although the "present" of this novel takes place perhaps 40 years in the future, the biggest proportion of it is a biography of King Rao, a fictional iconic tech pioneer, born in mid 20th century West Bengal (I think) into a relatively prosperous dalit family. His story is not told in chronological order and is interspersed with the story of his rebelling teenage daughter (born very late in Rao's life) who is learning the (unintended?) consequences of her parents' life work.
Most of the time, I'm interested in the world-building portion of a novel like this. In this case, Vara's shareholder society is depressingly easy to envision from our own 2020s perspective and she didn't have to go any further. The culture of those who opted out--I'd have liked to have known more about them than the author saw fit to write.