Ian Macdonald's RIVER OF GODS, painted a vivid picture of a near future India, 100 years after independence. It revolutionised British SF for a new generation by taking a perspective that was not European or American. BRASYL will do the same for South America's largest and most vibrant country. A story that begins in the favelas, the slums of Rio, and quickly expands to take in drugs, corruption, and a frightening new technology that allows access to all the multiple worlds that have slipped into existence in other planes everytime we make a decision. This is rich, epic SF that opens our eyes to the world around us and posits mind-blowing alternative sciences. It is a landmark work in modern SF from one of its most respected practitioners.
Industry Reviews
"Ian McDonald is one of the more politically engaged science-fiction writers working today. Brasyl is a unique thriller of ideas." -- Yo Zushi NEW STATESMAN "A dazzling, bold, fast-moving rush through three different worlds. I'm still thinking about it days after I finished reading it, a sure sign of a worthwhile book." DEATHRAY 'An extraordinary thematic narrative that I have no doubt will be featuring on many an award shortlist in the coming year. A genre novel right on the cutting edge of the quantum blades wielded as weapons within its pages, a book that loudly proclaims the arrival of the future' SF REVU 'A major novel from a major talent' SF REVIEWS 'McDonald conveys quite brilliantly the prodigious energy and fecundity of Brazil as it is and could be. ...Brasyl is a feast of fine prose, an able political novel, and an intriguing experiment in cross-temporal storytelling and implication. ...it is without doubt one of the major SF books of 2007' LOCUS 'A mesmerizing ensemble of three different tales. I was astonished... to see how McDonald yet again captures the essence of a country and its people and weaves it in a myriad of ways throughout the novel... Brasyl deserves the highest possible recommendation. It will surely be one of the best - if not the best - science fiction novels of 2007' FANTASY HOTLIST I predict Brasyl will grace multiple shortlists come 2008. It's easily the best SF novel I've read this year. McDonald is a superb writer ... much more often than not McDonald's prose is a wonder, from a hundred vivid and witty details, to sustained passages of perfectly judged atmosphere' STRANGE HORIZONS 'A triptych tale of humanity and all its passions and indignities. McDonald is not for the weak of heart. But oh, the ideas! Having learned and wondered and considered, I am better for having read this novel' SPECULATIVE REVIEWS "It's a great story, wonderfully written, packed with neo-lit images and nifty phrases. A triple stranded SF narrative that glows with stronger colours and throbs to a more compulsive samba beat than mere reality can offer." -- David Langford SFX "A bold, triple stranded novel - a sort of mutant chick lit horror, a historical adventure and a reeling cyberpunk thriller." THE BIG ISSUE "Scintillating. Put this on your must-read list." -- Dave Langford BBC FOCUS "A brilliant, kaleidoscopic novel that's both a portrait of a country and an exploration of the wider shores of theoretical physics. Brasyl is McDonald's best book yet." -- Lisa Tuttle THE TIMES "A big, sprawling, sexy, complex novel. The writing is energetic and economical, the story riveting, the denouement fascinating. Enjoy!" DREAMWATCH "A distinct and convincingly detailed world, full of the horrors of slavery, the Orwellian potential of the surveillance society currently developing, and the casual cruelty of our own celebrity driven culture. An impressive work." STARBURST Brasyl is an accomplished work, a complex, multi-layered narrative which questions the notions of determinism and free will in a universe of illimitable possibilities. McDonald not only paints a stunning portrait of Brazil, which in all its chaos mirrors the quantum uncertainties of the multiverse, but presents a set of characters who come over as real people: multi-faceted, flawed, but ultimately sympathetic." -- Eric Brown THE GUARDIAN Brasyl's worth a look: whenever McDonald's imagination slips free of its narrative constraints it leaves many of his contemporaries standing. A flawed technicolour storm of a book by one of Britain's most consistently interesting SF writers." -- Tim Martin THE INDEPENDENT "Part Blade Runner, part Fast and Furious, part Philip K Dick, part Neuromancer. One of my favourite reads of 2007 so far." SFFWORLD.COM "Brasyl is the best new novel I've read this year: a load of fun and an inventive politico-philosophical story, making it both "entertaining" and "important." Read it now so that when it starts popping up on several short lists later this year you'll know why." SFFWORLD.COM "Probably the most intriguing and stylish SF novel of the year. Gloriously lush." -- Roz Kaveney TIME OUT
