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Cyberabad Days Paperback – February 24, 2009

by Ian McDonald (Author)

4.2 74 ratings

Book 2 of 2: India 2047

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This collection of seven stories and a thirty-one thousand word original novella revisits the vivid world of near future India that McDonald so successfully depicted in River of Gods (a BSFA Award winner). Readers will discover a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. This future India has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas. Includes one Hugo Award nominee and one Hugo Award winner.

Book 2 of 2

India 2047
Print length

279 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pyr
Publication date

February 24, 2009
Dimensions

6.08 x 0.6 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1591026997
ISBN-13

978-1591026990
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Ian McDonald
282
Paperback
$29.25
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Editorial Reviews

From Bookmarks Magazine

Ian McDonald’s chops as a storyteller and visionary have become apparent over two decades of cutting-edge SF—in short stories, novels, and the trickier novellas and novelettes that have often formed the springboard for longer works. The stories in Cyberabad Days showcase those skills, distilling the author’s extrapolation of the present into a cyberpunk, dystopian future that is still fundamentally human despite the increasing dominance of technology in “a world that manages to be convincingly, sympathetically India, but is still created with such light strokes of McDonald’s pen that the reader never gets bogged down in the world-building” (Green Man Review). No matter what form his fiction takes, McDonald has become one of the surest bets in SF.
Copyright 2009 Bookmarks Publishing LLC

Review

"I would recommend this collection to everyone and anyone. If you like River of Gods, this collection is a must-have. If you haven’t read [it], this collection should show you what you’re missing, and provide an introduction to this fascinating world." --SFRevu

"A terrific book and a satisfying return to the world of River of Gods. Ian McDonald is a genius, pure and simple… Highly recommended! 8.5/10" --Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist

“…sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year…” --Fantasy Book Critic

“Ian McDonald is one of science fiction's finest working writers, and his latest short story collection…is the kind of book that showcases exactly what science fiction is for.Cyberabad Days has it all: spirituality, technology, humanity, love, sex, war, environmentalism, politics, media -- all blended together to form a manifesto of sorts, a statement about how technology shapes and is shaped by all the wet, gooey human factors. Every story is simultaneously a cracking yarn, a thoughtful piece of technosocial criticism, and a bag of eyeball kicks that'll fire your imagination. The field is very lucky to have Ian McDonald working in it.” --Boing Boing.net

“Wonderfully imagined world; great story ideas; McDonald's well-crafted prose delivers enjoyment on several levels. An excellent collection of stories that serves as both starting place for readers new to this world, and fascinating return trips for those who have been here before.” --SF Signal

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pyr; First Edition (February 24, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591026997
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591026990
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.08 x 0.6 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,542,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews:
4.2 74 ratings

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Ian McDonald

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Ian McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester, England, to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. He moved with his family to Northern Ireland in 1965. He used to live in a house built in the back garden of C. S. Lewis’s childhood home but has since moved to central Belfast, where he now lives, exploring interests like cats, contemplative religion, bonsai, bicycles, and comic-book collecting. He debuted in 1982 with the short story “The Island of the Dead” in the short-lived British magazine Extro. His first novel, Desolation Road, was published in 1988. Other works include King of Morning, Queen of Day (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), River of Gods, The Dervish House (both of which won British Science Fiction Association Awards), the graphic novel Kling Klang Klatch, and many more. His most recent publications are Planesrunner and Be My Enemy, books one and two of the Everness series for younger readers (though older readers will find them a ball of fun, as well). Ian worked in television development for sixteen years, but is glad to be back to writing fulltime.

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4.2 out of 5

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A. Tady

More Insight into River of Gods

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2011

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This was a great collection of stories set in the same future India as McDonald's River of Gods, which I also really liked. My personal favorite was "The Little Goddess" which was about a schizophrenic Nepalese girl that is exiled to India after injuring herself and thereby disqualifying herself from being a goddess. To survive in India, she has to become a very unique smuggler. I don't want to say anymore for fear of spoiling a creative, well-told story.

I think McDonald's strong point is creating a believable, living and breathing world and then analyzing all sorts of cool technologies and ideas within that world. He's a little weaker on actual story telling. Most of the stories in this book don't have much of a plot. In fact, the final story is basically a retelling of the entire future "history" of India through the eyes of "Brahmin," and definitely should NOT be read before you read River of Gods.

Some of the phrases McDonald uses (like Brahmin, for example) are borrowed from Indian and/or middle-eastern culture and applied to the new technologies and genetic mutations he's invented for his future. This occasionally was a problem for me as I read the stories, trying to remember what different terms meant. For example, was a Djinn a ghost or was it the physical manifestation of an advanced AI personality? River of Gods had a glossary at the end to help you keep those terms straight. Cyberabad Days definitely could have also benefited from a glossary, especially for readers like me, who read River of Gods a couple years ago.

2 people found this helpful

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Peter H. Burris

Mirabilie Dictu!

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2020

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The stories within these pages dazzle, sadden, uplift, and fascinate me. McDonald writes about 21st century India is a way that presages all thaty is possibly good, horrific, or intriguing to fans of science fiction and history.

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Paul H

A limited number of themes that grind after the novelty wears off.

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2010

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After many visits, I've come to the conclusion that India is impossible to describe - it has to be experienced. Ian McDonald has managed to project a future India and at the same time capture much of the unique texture of the country. Kudos are due for delivering a feel for India today. Projecting a future India without loosing the feel for the country is truly impressive.

Here's the problem: there are really only four themes around which each of these stories are written, and each story includes all of the themes. By the middle of the book, the wonderful creativity seems to turn into a varied retelling of the same basic vision. By the end of the book the constant retelling just grinds along.

It's worth a read just for the uniqueness of the non-Western approach to science fiction, but you could read any two of the stories in the collection and not miss the rest.

5 people found this helpful

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ShellBeWrite

Epic read

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2013

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Classic Ian McDonald. He is the master at this type of futuristic sci fi/fantasy that always feels as if it's a reality that's just around the corner. Loved it.

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Charles S. Kneipp

NO EMPATHY WITH CHARACTERS

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2010

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I enjoyed "River of Gods", but "Cyberabad Days" generated very little empathy for the characters for me. The main characters were mostly shallowly-drawn and I couldn't really give a damn what happened to them. I'm not a professional reviewer, or even an English Major, but there is a big difference between RoG and CD in terms of my involvement with the characters. Sure it's comparing a novel with mostly short stories, but the author's obvious talents didn't transfer over to the characters, in my opinion.
I give the author high marks for his depiction of a future India and the medical and informational advances. He is original and talented. Just make me care about the characters.
This review is anomalous, given the higher stars awarded by others. In this regard, my prior reads were Bacigalupi's "Pump Six" and "The Windup Girl". In both these books the characters (all of them) grabbed me like a treble hook in a catfish
and kept me involved to the last page. So the bar was left pretty high when I got to RoG and CD. RoG comfortably cleared the bar, but CD caught the bar in the face.
Sorry, fans. Maybe his next in this arc will be better.

8 people found this helpful

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theotherguydidit

My next favorite author??

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2009

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Well written to say the least. This was my first time reading this author. Each chapter could be considered a short story in itself. Well done background. The politics are not as developed as the characters involved. Which is my reason for three stars.
The last chapter wants to be a new book or is the author's hook as to what's comming next. I reccommed it to any one looking for some insight as to where the future of AI might be going.

One person found this helpful

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J Cowan

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2015

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Excellent contents, just slightly disappointed that this second hand book was ex-library and not stated as such

VINCE MILLETT

Brilliant from beginning to end.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2011

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Top quality cyberpunk that superbly captures the sights, sounds and smells of India and Nepal. I've been to some of the places where these stories are set and this book creates a stunningly believable future for these places. Like all good future science fiction, it's actually about now; this very week I've read news reports about nanobots and about the gender imbalance in India because of selective abortion of girls. The writer clearly has a finger on the pulse of developments in Sub Continental culture and technology. His characters are believable and very human. The book I'd read just before this one, The Devish House, was also from this author and I thought it was the best science fiction I'd encountered in years. This one is arguably better!

One person found this helpful

Jonno

Just wonderful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2009

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I am puzzled that some SF-loving folk just don't seem to get Ian McDonald. That's their loss.

River of Gods was an out-and-out masterpiece. As an adjunct to that, this series of splintered visions of future India is an essential purchase.

I have lived for many years in Asia, and McDonalds' research and depth of undestanding of this culture constantly amazes.

3 people found this helpful

unclechristo

Really takes you there...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

Such good writing - each story drawer you in. I am reading it after reading River Of Gods and the stories are in the same near future India as that.
Real in depth India with a hint of cyber is a magical combination.

N. S. Woodhead

Compelling vision of an exotic near future

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2010

Verified Purchase

A great collection of SF short stories, set in an exotic but very recognizable India, a few years hence. The technology is imaginative and well-thought out, the characters have an enchanted quality reminiscent of the 1001 Arabian Nights. Highly recommended. I hope to read much more by this writer in the future!

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Cyberabad Days Paperback – February 24, 2009

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