The City Inside - Moé for Solarpunk Books

Hardcover, 256 pages

English language

Published June 6, 2022 by Tordotcom.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-82748-7

(2 reviews)

“They'd known the end times were coming but hadn’t known they’d be multiple choice.”

Joey is a Reality Controller in near-future Delhi. Her job is to supervise the multimedia multi-reality livestreams of Indi, one of South Asia’s fastest rising online celebrities—who also happens to be her college ex. Joey’s job gives her considerable culture power, but she’s too caught up in day-to-day crisis handling to see this, or to figure out what she wants from her life.

Rudra is a recluse estranged from his wealthy and powerful family, now living in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood. When his father’s death pulls him back into his family’s orbit, an impulsive job offer from Joey becomes his only escape from the life he never wanted.

But as Joey and Rudra become enmeshed in multiple conspiracies, their lives start to spin out of control—complicated by dysfunctional relationships, corporate loyalty, and the never-ending pressures of …

“They'd known the end times were coming but hadn’t known they’d be multiple choice.”

Joey is a Reality Controller in near-future Delhi. Her job is to supervise the multimedia multi-reality livestreams of Indi, one of South Asia’s fastest rising online celebrities—who also happens to be her college ex. Joey’s job gives her considerable culture power, but she’s too caught up in day-to-day crisis handling to see this, or to figure out what she wants from her life.

Rudra is a recluse estranged from his wealthy and powerful family, now living in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood. When his father’s death pulls him back into his family’s orbit, an impulsive job offer from Joey becomes his only escape from the life he never wanted.

But as Joey and Rudra become enmeshed in multiple conspiracies, their lives start to spin out of control—complicated by dysfunctional relationships, corporate loyalty, and the never-ending pressures of surveillance capitalism. When a bigger picture begins to unfold, they must each decide how to do the right thing in a world where simply maintaining the status quo feels like an accomplishment. Ultimately, resistance will not—cannot—take the same shape for these two very different people.

5 editions

Heather reviewed The City Inside by Samit Basu

Review of 'The City Inside' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I hate ambiguous endings. I don't want to invest time in reading a whole novel and then end up not knowing what happened. I genuinely don't see how that can be enjoyable.
This happened recently with The City Inside by Samit Basu. I loved the world building in this book. This is a near future version of India. Specifically it is set in Delhi. There has been massive political upheaval, waves of pandemics, and the climate is wrecked.
Flows are channels where people live stream a very scripted version of their lives. Joey is a "reality controller". She is producer for her ex-boyfriend Indy's flow. She is considered to be the best in the business. Indy is on the verge of superstardom. This puts her on the radar of several very unsavory individuals.
I don't think there is anything quite as scary as near-future dystopia. Everything in this book is …

I hate ambiguous endings. I don't want to invest time in reading a whole novel and then end up not knowing what happened. I genuinely don't see how that can be enjoyable.
This happened recently with The City Inside by Samit Basu. I loved the world building in this book. This is a near future version of India. Specifically it is set in Delhi. There has been massive political upheaval, waves of pandemics, and the climate is wrecked.
Flows are channels where people live stream a very scripted version of their lives. Joey is a "reality controller". She is producer for her ex-boyfriend Indy's flow. She is considered to be the best in the business. Indy is on the verge of superstardom. This puts her on the radar of several very unsavory individuals.
I don't think there is anything quite as scary as near-future dystopia. Everything in this book is so distressingly possible. Everything that seems odd on the surface is logically derived from things that are happening now. The world building is the best part of this book. I loved seeing where the author thought life was going to go.
The story wasn't as good and that is where the ending comes in. As soon as the audiobook finished I went immediately to Goodreads to see if I missed something or if I was just too stupid to understand what happened. It didn't appear to be either of those. Everyone else was confused too. Basically, there appears to be a big plan that she is putting in place. You see each person being carefully manipulated to do what Joey wants. And then..... it is over. Did it work? What was the master plan anyway?? No idea.
So read this for the amazingly detailed world building. Admire that beautiful cover. Just don't expect a cohesive story.

joachim@lire.boitam.eu

rated it

July 15, 2023