This is a difficult novel, both to read and review. It doesn't fit any one sci-fi sub-genre. Some of it's best attributes are also seriously problematic. It is big, 576 pages my in my pretty paperback edition. It tries to do too much.
Each of the first 8 chapters are devoted entirely to separate main characters, which is quite an ambitious idea, but does not a page-turner make; it's page 79 before we get to follow up on a storyline. This places a big burden on one's memory, it is not a casual read, particularly as nearly all the characters and places are Indian. Perhaps it would make a good TV (mini) series, particularly if it features the suggest soundtrack: Thievery Corporation, Asian Dub Foundation, Nitin Sawhney, Portishead, Sigur Ros, etc.
A truly futuristic tilt is implicitly acknowledging that the world will be far less western centric in several decades time (though China is barely ever mentioned at all). The US is still exerting political pressures on the Balkanised remains of India, but the height of AI science is taking place in our fictional splinter state: "Bharat". Admittedly, this is largely because it hasn't fully given in to US demands to apply it's Hamilton act, banning high level AIs (originally cooked up on basis of bible belt moral views it seems). Politically, this kind of situation seems aptly plausible, with DMCA type IP law being exported around the world at the moment, ACTA, etc.+ Characters and Plot Summary:
While I felt the whole novel could just about squeeze into the same universe as Vernor Vinge's "Rainbows End" (a little novel I really liked and should have blogged by now), while some of the character's chapters have specific other feels:
