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The Immortal King Rao: A Novel
The Immortal King Rao: A Novel | Vauhini Vara
3 posts | 4 read | 8 to read
One of Vulture's Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022 One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of 2022 One of The Observer's Fiction to Look Out for in 2022 One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2022 One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2022 A Times of India Most Anticipated Book of 2022 In an Indian village in the 1950s, a precocious child is born into a family of Dalit coconut farmers. King Rao will grow up to be the most accomplished tech CEO in the world and, eventually, the leader of a global, corporate-led government. In a future in which the world is run by the Board of Corporations, King’s daughter, Athena, reckons with his legacy—literally, for he has given her access to his memories, among other questionable gifts. With climate change raging, Athena has come to believe that saving the planet and its Shareholders will require a radical act of communion—and so she sets out to tell the truth to the world’s Shareholders, in entrancing sensory detail, about King’s childhood on a South Indian coconut plantation; his migration to the U.S. to study engineering in a world transformed by globalization; his marriage to the ambitious artist with whom he changed the world; and, ultimately, his invention, under self-exile, of the most ambitious creation of his life—Athena herself. The Immortal King Rao, written by a former Wall Street Journal technology reporter, is a resonant debut novel obliterating the boundaries between literary and speculative fiction, the historic and the dystopian, confronting how we arrived at the age of technological capitalism and where our actions might take us next.
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ImperfectCJ
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Aside from pacing that was a little slow at times (in places this read a little like a history book), I quite enjoyed this story of a dystopian near future. Vara does an excellent job of painting a scenario that's alarming for being an all-too-logical extension from where we are now. There's a bit of a Brave New World vibe. #gettbr

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ImperfectCJ
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I almost got caught by the waves while audiowalking with the tagged book. I usually don't go past this little jut of rocks, but it seemed safe today...until I got past it and looked back. Luckily I was able to time it so I only got the toes of my shoes wet.

Blackink_WhitePaper Beautiful picture 14mo
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Addison_Reads
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#NetGalley #AudioARC

Vauhini Vara has written a unique, genre-bending novel packed full of a variety of characters following different timelines. At first, things were a little difficult to keep track of, but once I got the feel for it I was hooked.

The core of this novel grapples with humans and technology. King Rao is a genius who uses his computer skills to change the world. But the ultimate question is did he make things better or worse?

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