I don't know about this book. It was interesting and well-written, I liked the premise, but the plot sort of just … like, what happened at the end? Also i forgot to add it when i started it ( )

A very creative novel about a Dalit (Indian) immigrant living in Washington State. His business is located on Bainbridge Island. Corporations have taken over our country and his high tech company was the most powerful. His daughter is more into environmentalism and saving the planet. This puts her at odds with her dad's interests. A very unique story that deals with the modern conflict between nature and technology. ( )

Fun read. The writer was a WSJ Tech reporter. It seems to me that she combined the idea of Apple, Theranos, social media dominance and the future consequences. I found the idea of a programmer becoming a God interesting. ( )

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. ( )

King Rao is born to the lowest caste in Kathapalli, India, in the 1950s. (King is his given name, not a royal title.) Through determination and luck, he ends up in the US to obtain an education. He co-founds a technology company with his future wife. They develop innovative products, and the company succeeds. The US government outsources their services to corporations. This eventually leads to one worldwide governing Board with responsibility to Shareholders.

King Rao is selected first CEO of the Board. He designs a mechanism to connect humans’ thoughts and memories to the Internet, which leads to disastrous consequences. Individuals who protest against this powerful Board are allowed to live on specified islands but must make their own way. Athena, King Rao’s daughter, rebels against her father and joins the protestors. She narrates the story by writing a letter to the Shareholders.

The storyline switches between past and present, covering King Rao’s roots in India, early years in the US, and how he gained power, as well as Athena’s relationship with her father and how she arrived in her current situation. It is set in a near-future dystopian society where tech companies run the world, and social standing (as measured by the Algorithm) has essentially become the new caste system.

“Unless you had created and sold some valuable piece of IP, your best bet on this continent, that is, if you were good-looking and charismatic enough, was to try to make it as an influencer. Otherwise, you were left to look after those who had made it – to nurse their children, scrub their toilets, trim their hedges, stencil their toenails. It’s the same as what happened at the end of the ancient regime, slavery, apartheid, but this time the Algo is responsible, and who’s going to argue with an all-knowing algorithm? How conceited would that be?”

The story contains enough complexity to maintain interest without becoming too technical. In addition, it contains deeply drawn multifaceted characters. The relationship between King Rao and Athena is one of the highlights. It is commentary on a wide variety of topics, such as power, globalization, materialism, class status, and social media, all woven together into a compelling story. It is an excellent example of speculative fiction and extremely thought-provoking. I could run out of superlatives in describing how much I enjoyed this book. Suffice it to say I loved it. It is beautifully written and addresses relevant worldwide concerns.

“The stories of our lives are ephemeral. When we die, they die too. But what if someone…could gather up these stories and hold onto them for safekeeping. When humans finally drive ourselves to extinction, wouldn’t that be our best shot at proving to the universe that once upon a time we were here?”
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