What a fantastic read! Upon reading the description of this book, I was really looking forward to digging in. I was not disappointed. It did take some perseverance to get into it but it was totally worth it. Highly recomedned!.

I had high expectations given the interesting plot line for this story. However, as soon as I started reading this book, I felt confused. What greatly distracted me is the scaffolding of narrative within narrative, making it difficult to establish a timeline. I couldn't finish the book.

This book has an intriguing premise and covers a mix of genres including speculative fiction, a little historical fiction, and a little scifi. There are three different timelines with some info that converges towards the end of the book. It was very thought- provoking in terms of the climate change topic and the political/ corporation storyline. And i liked that the timeline set in the US was set in Seattle so I could easily imagine all of the locations!

This took a bit for me to get into, but I'm glad I persevered. Speculative fiction is so good when it's good - and I love it even more when we take a look at what could go wrong if proposed solutions to homelessness, poverty, etc are implemented. Give this a go.

This was such a good book about the ways that our lives are influenced by technology and how that shapes our relationships. Very well done and different!

I honestly was not a fan of this one. The plot was not interesting to me and I felt it was a bit jumbled and hard to follow at times. I pushed through until the end but found myself quite bored until I got there. I don’t think the story was horrible. With a bit more flare and better execution it could have been a great read.

The whole naming conventions in this book and the dystopian ultra capitalistic system were definitely not the strong parts, but I surely enjoyed all the story in the past, especially in the coconut plantation and then Rao’s development of his business. It may have all the trappings of sci-fi but where the writing shines is in the human story - the exploration of the emotions and relationships. I may not have been fully satiated with it but I definitely enjoyed the writing and look forward to what the author publishes next.

A decades spanning story about a talented young man from a poor village in India who becomes a tech guru. The parts of the story set during King Rao's childhood were interesting and compelling while the dystopic future and what led to it dragged sometimes.

In "The Immortal King Rao," the story centers on the life of King, an Untouchable, in an Indian Village, flip flopping between the 1950s and a dystopian future run by a corporation. The book was in depth about the experiences and impacts of the Rao family through multiple generations.

I truly had such high expectations for this book after seeing it on lists for most anticipated books of 2022, but I couldn't get into it, and I tried. The flow of the book was confusing and hard to follow, without enough story in each chapter/timeline on the characters, on the events, etc.. Nothing in this story made me want to flip (the hypothetical) page, and learn more about the life of King Rao, his family, and the future would hold for him.

https://www.howjenexists.com/recent-reads/immortal-king-rao

If Salman Rushdie ever had a love child with Jennifer Egan, the result would be something a little like Vauhini Vara’s debut novel The Immortal King Rao. In some quarters, this has been a highly anticipated book — gaining notice from the likes of the Times of India, Literary Hub, Ms. Magazine, The Observer, The Millions, and Vulture. The hype, though, from these quarters may be a little bit unjustified, having now read the book. The Immortal King Rao is uneven and is everything from a dystopian science-fiction novel to a family epic. Clocking in at nearly 400 pages, this is a book that could have been easily shorter or much more sweeping in grandeur. (It might have been a better read at 1,000 pages.) There’s so much story crammed into these pages that Vara often resorts to telling, not showing, and the result is a bit of a confusing mess. That’s not to say that the novel isn’t without some merit — some of it is quite fascinating. However, there are large swaths of economic and political theory, much of it which doesn’t make a great deal of sense, and the result can be, overall, a tad bit boring.

The Immortal King Rao is actually three narratives stuck into one lumbering novel. The main story is about a woman named Athena, who is in jail for a crime she might have not committed, and this piece is told from her jail cell. She reminisces about life with her exiled father, a tech scion named King Rao (yes, that’s really his name) who used to be the CEO and was the co-founder of a tech firm not unlike Microsoft (the novel is set in the Seattle area in part) or Apple Computers. The second narrative is about King Rao’s upbringing on a coconut plantation in his native India. This part of the novel portrays the plantation as a kind of Garden of Eden, which King will eventually be cast out of. The third part, and the most intriguing part, is about King’s arrival in the United States and his working up the ladder to become one of the most powerful men in the world.

If anything, Vara has an impressive vocabulary and frequently uses foreign words to describe certain things. I’m of two minds about this. One, it does give the novel a more literary quality than your standard sci-fi potboiler. On the other hand, it forces the reader to frequently run to the dictionary to understand just what the author means. The dystopian aspect of the novel is a bit troubling, silly, and hard to understand, as well. Essentially, society has moved from being run by nation-states to a universal community that is run like a corporation. Social capital is handed out to each individual and their choices either enhance or diminish that social capital. There’s a global warming element tacked onto the novel, but it seems superfluous and doesn’t aid the plot in any way. Essentially, the backdrop of the novel’s setting is a bit confusing. I know this novel is an examination of the merits and cons of both capitalism and communism. However, it doesn’t feel well thought out — for instance, Vera never accounts for political differences, really, and how that influences society in this book. In this novel, you’re either for the corporation (a capitalist) or you’re an exile (a communist or socialist). There’s no room for any in-between, and that would have benefited this story tremendously.

The other main point of contention comes particularly in the flashbacks to King’s childhood. I suppose Indian families can be large, but they don’t seem to be terribly close-knit. Thus, you’re introduced to character upon character upon character, and it’s hard to keep them straight, especially when minor characters at the start of the tale may reappear without context later in the book. Thus, either an editor needed to do a better job of cutting superfluous characters who don’t add anything to the story, or this book needed to be that 1,000-page epic I alluded to earlier, simply to get these characters room to breathe and be seen. In comparison, King’s story in America focuses on only a few specific people largely and is much easier to understand — which may be a cultural thing on my part and, if so, I apologize. But that part of the story generally becomes sillier and sillier as it progresses, as King makes improbable technological breakthroughs, such as the ability to access the Internet simply through thought. Maybe the love child isn’t between Rushdie and Egan, after all, but Rushdie and William Gibson.

Overall, I found this novel to be wanting. I did enjoy parts of it, and I suppose there are worse books that are out there waiting to be read. Still, I found myself eventually not caring about these people, and about two-thirds of the way through the book, I was thinking it might be a relief if the novel suddenly, somehow, vanished from my Kindle and I was absolved from having to review it. Though I marvel at what I’ve written so far, I really didn’t know until I started writing this what exactly I wanted to say about this book. Did I enjoy it? Somewhat. Is it a good novel? In parts, yes. Is it befuddling to read at times? Certainly. In the end, The Immortal King Rao is one of those books that had a fantastic premise to it — I do love my dystopian fiction — but failed to deliver fully on that promise. It’s too bad, really, because this is a book that could have gone places, but it needed a bit more depth and a little less political theory to be truly engaging. This book is only for the curious, and that’s about all I can really think to say about this one in the long haul, really.

A dense intergenerational tech dystopia that is both lyrical and harrowing. Although not fast-paced, it's a compelling read that was difficult to put down. A timely and challenging novel for this, our post-pandemic hellscape.

An energizing allegory for our current situation AKA our society at large with its poverty and billionaire monarchs who trickle their technology tests onto those who are scrambling to survive. To put it simply, it's a science fiction dystopian novel not too far from our present. Starting the 1970s America, The Immortal King Rao stretches into an alternate history with algorithms which decide your social status. Readers will quickly see King Rao as a stand-in for Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Elon Musk --tech mongols using their power to control. It's a well crafted alternate history which delivers plenty of rewards and metaphorical takes on our country's history. I dig it!

This book was such a refreshing take on a sci-fi dystopian novel that delved into the lives of the characters in an intimate way. My only criticism is that I wish it focused more on the women characters, especially Athena. Vara did an amazing job of rooting her story in history from 70's America to the Naxalbari Uprising in India. The future that Vara imagined felt so real and like it could truly happen. The idea of an algorithm deciding your social standing in society and determining what jobs you can have, who will talk to you is horrifying. The Immortal King Rao felt like an Epic from the start. I loved how intentional the storyline is crafted, to the Greek mythology references, and it all leads to a rewarding ending. This is one of those books you can't stop thinking about!

Speculative ficiton has been my jam lately, and The Immortal King Rao is no exception. This is an incredible debut. I had to look up the author's background since the voice is so distinct and unique. Turns out Vara used to be a WSJ reporter. This whole thing was mind blowing and I will for sure be thinking about this book for a LONG time to come.

A complex, intriguing, and thoughtful novel I admired more than enjoyed. Athena has been accused of murdering her father, King Rao but she didn't do it. She tells his story- a story she knows because he invented a way to implant memories in others via the Harmonica and he did it to her. This moves between King's life as an untouchable working on a coconut plantation in India to his life as the most important tech baron in the world after the creation of the Coconut, to Athena's situation and her future. Alongside their story is that of the Board of Corporations which runs the world and the ex's Athena enlists. Vera has a great deal to say about tech, corporations, climate change, and so on and she does it via interesting characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This isn't going to be for everyone but those who enjoy dystopian novels should give it a try.

A story told of three time periods: the childhood of King Rao as a Dalit in India, his adulthood as the Steve-Jobs-like creator of personal computing and ultimately the dystopian capitalist new world order, and the life of his daughter, all narrated by his daughter who is in prison for his murder and, through his experimentation, has his memories. Ultimately extremely nihilistic.

Very good. This has a unique plot and blend of genres, and is very well executed. I hope this finds an audience. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

This title is on all the Spring What to Read Lists and it's easy to see why!

Athena Rao is on trial from jail her jail cell. Essentially she is on trial for her life as she speak to the shareholders of the board of the directors that oversees the working of the ENTIRE world. In this dysopian speculative fiction story, capitalism is truly king. .

This capitalist nightmare is comprised of three stories - the birth of King Rao and his Dalit childhood in the small village in India, the arrival of Rao in the US for grad school and his "great" world changing invention and finally, Athena's recounting of the events that led to his death.

In this story, King Rao is Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos or maybe both with the addition of Eli Musk! He will remain immortal through his memories which are implanted in his daughter as well as his monster corporation the behemoth Coconut Corporation ( which is equal google + apple + Tesla).

This is an epic tail for anyone who loves capitalist spoofs, dystopian stories and dark satire. If you like satire, being behind the smoke and mirrors of popular culture or just really love great writing, #TheImmortalKingRao is for you!
#wwNorton #NetGalley #NetGalleyReads #WwNorton&Company

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book. I was unfortunately not able to finish this. I had trouble keeping straight a list of all of the characters during the flashback periods. Obviously very well written and will do well, just not for me.

This is one of those books that does so well I love it, yet don't like it anyway.

A women is in prison and has to tell us her father's memories so she can be judged. The father is a Steve Jobs-meets-Jeff Bezos-meets-Jesus Christ character, a man who helped change our world into something leaning more into Star Trek or 1984. A computer company ends up running the entire planet, with Steve Jobs being represented by King Rao and Apple represented by Coconut.

The plot unwraps slowly, beautifully. We fine our world warped by global warming, the failure of humanity to cure capitalism and embracing running towards extinction because the ad revenue is just too good to pass up. There are some Idiocracy (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) vibes, as governments run out of money they outsource their function to King Rao and his company. Eventually, an almighty algorithm just runs everything, humans need not apply.

Don't like this, or trust it? Then you can move to a wonderful selection of islands and just make it work, go on, it's your right to give up literally everything and go to an undeveloped chunk of land to settle it, no Internet, electricity, just you and your desire to be free. Enough people take this option, our main character ends up living there and the plot continues.

The story revolves around a small group of characters, told in flashbacks and our girl is forced to remember her father's memories (brain implanted computer chips that are a big part of the plot later on), so we see his childhood, moving to America and college, meeting his wife, building their empire, overlapped with her live, her decisions, her sins.

The story and writing are top notch, excellent. The characters feel real, believable, and are the focus of the story. The future technology is believable but we don't spend too much time in the details, the technology just develops and we move back to the people.

The point of her telling this story from her prison cell is so she can be judged, and the ending just disappointed me. You may love the ending, so good luck, a bunch of other early reviewers love it. It's just not for me.

But the rest of the book is so good, its worth it.

**I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.