Capoeira rhythms, World cup ambitions

So excited was I by Ian McDonald’s 2004 Indian opus, River of Gods, that I immediately scrambled to acquire his 2007 foray into national/ethnic sci-fi, Brasyl. Clocking in at under half the length of River, Brasyl deals with another bustling country on the verge of greatness: Brazil.

River of Gods astonished with a blinding whirl of intricate world-building, so much so that its central plot was almost incidental. Content to simply follow his multitude of interesting characters as they ambulated through the dizzying world of 2047 India, the main plot of the book was an afterthought, a quick tying together of disparate plot strands and A.I. pyrotechnics.

Brasyl, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the Amazon jungle, follows quite a different structure. The chapters not only jump from narrator to narrator, but back and forth in time: from a Jesuit missionary on the Amazon in 1732, to a cutting-edge reality tv producer in 2006, to a slick and almost-legal entrepreneur in 2032. Sticking with these three voices exclusively, McDonald hits upon some of the pivotal cultural landmarks of Brazil: its history as an exploited colonial depot for slaves, its modern obsessions with beauty-capoeira-guns-soccer-cool factor, and a future Brazil that may well be a locus for all sorts of black market technology and
lucrative possibilities.

Streamlined and curt, Brasyl eschews the tendency for magnificent sprawl that defined River and instead presents a compelling, tight plot. Instead of the artificial intelligence and battle robots of India, the three protagonists of Brasyl must contend with quantum realities and multi-dimensions. (Yes, even the Jesuit in 1732.) Whether entrenched deep in the murk of the Amazon, ensconced in a glittering penthouse in 2006, or racing through favelas and neon canyons on motorbike in 2032, McDonald’s characters will have to face the possibility that their Brazil isn’t the only—or the best—version.