Chosen Spirits

Hardcover, 280 pages

Published March 19, 2020 by Simon & Schuster India.

ISBN:
978-93-86797-81-0
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ISFDB ID:
2829545

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4 stars (2 reviews)

She’d decided, that night, that she wouldn’t leave. That she would stay in India, in Delhi, and belong as hard as she could.

Joey is a Reality Controller, in charge of the livestream of a charismatic and problematic celebrity in smog-choked, water-short, ever-transforming Delhi - a city on the brink of revolution, under the shadow of multiple realities and catastrophes - at the end of the 2020s.

When Joey impulsively rescues a childhood friend, Rudra, from his new-elite family and the comfortable, horrific life they have chosen for him, she sets into motion a chain of events — a company takeover, a sex scandal, a series of betrayals — that disintegrates not just their public and private selves, but the invisible walls that divide the city around them.

To find the lives they need, Joey and Rudra must reckon with people and forces beyond their understanding, in a world where …

5 editions

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 …