Cyberabad Days

February 15, 2009
The near-future India of McDonalds River of Gods (2004) has suffered war and famine and now teems with life and creativity. In these stories, the evocation of the subcontinent isnt sugarcoated but nuanced and sometimes remarkably deep. The Little Goddess is a stunning exploration of what it means to be an ex-deity. In The Djinns Wife, a bittersweet romance set in a city long accustomed to the stories of djinns, a woman falls in love with an AI, never suspecting the strange new complications specific to such a relationship. In An Eligible Boy, young men seek women in a culture teeming with their eligible fellows. Kyle Meets the River provides a youthful outsiders view of colonialist nation-building. Vishnu at the Cat Circus tells the story of one of the first generations of genetically altered Brahmins, designed to be nearly immortal, who has journeyed through the last days of human physical existence. McDonalds astonishing world is well worth visiting and revisiting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)