A review by mia_difelice
The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A sprawling multigenerational story center on King Rao, the favorite child in a huge clan of Dalit coconut farmers, he goes on to invent the Coconut (an analog to the iMac) and changes the world into a corporatist shareholder government. The novel switches between his family history and the story of his daughter, Athena, all told from her point of view.

Events unfolds slowly and carefully and the jumps in POV and time help unwind it. We jump from the world of Rao’s mother, her sister, her husband, and his brother; the politics and family scandals and history of how the Dalit Raos came to own a coconut farm; Rao’s young adult years studying in America; Rao’s rise to fame and the creation of a dystopian shareholder government run on algorithms and a currency of social capital.

But all that is nested in the story of Athena, whose world unravels when she is framed for her father’s death.
Twists and turns, reveals, history, social commentary that can be heavy but not unbearably so, at least for me, a heavy dose of satire, tight, beautiful prose. The book wasn’t an unadulterated dub for me, but I loved it, warts and all. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings