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Brasyl by Ian McDonald
01/07/2007 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
Pub: Pyr/Prometheus. 357 page hardback. Price: $25.00 (US). ISBN 978-1-59102-543-6 pub: Gollancz. 570 page paperback. Price: £18.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-575-08051-5 . Buy Brasyl in the USA - or Buy Brasyl in the UK  check out websites: www.promtheusbooks.com and www.orionbooks.co.uk
Following his future version of India in 'River of Gods', Ian McDonald's international palette moves to South America in his latest novel, 'Brasyl'. Richly evoking the feel of the Latin country, the book follows three characters spanning three times.
Marcelina is a reality TV producer in modern day Rio de Janeiro. In search of the latest and greatest idea to push the boundaries of television, she goes looking for Barbosa, the goalkeeper for the Brazilian national team in the 1950 World Cup. In that fateful game, Barbosa was disgraced by letting in two goals, losing the hot favourites the world cup.
As Marcelina investigates where Barbosa has hidden himself, she meets a variety of shady characters and gets drawn into a massive conspiracy.
Meanwhile, in 2032, entrepreneur and impresario Edson begins unravelling similar threads of conspiracy following a meeting with a young and beautiful quantum computer expert. But Edson's Sao Paolo is a tyrannical surveillance state where every move is tracked and quantum computing is highly illegal.
The last story of the intertwining plotlines is set much earlier, in the 1700s when Brazil was first settled. Father Luis Quinn and Dr. Robert Falcon, a priest and a scientist, go deep into the Amazon jungles to curb the imperialistic intentions of a rogue priest. The deeper into the jungle, the more dangerous and mysterious things become.
Ian McDonald's imaginings of Brazil are the core to this book. All three plotlines are decent but the way even modern Brazil seems like an incredibly alien, rich new world in its own right. The extrapolation to the near future is even more exhilarating and the link to the past imbues the other two stories with a sense of where everything has come from.
Some of the technologies in Edson's future are superbly imagined, with tattoos that are computers, insane bike stunts and a floating city. Running throughout the story is a giant conspiracy, linked with incredibly sharp knives that can cut to the quantum level, cutting through even to the centre of the Earth if not stopped.
I felt at times like I didn't know the characters of 'Brasyl' as much as I would like. The true main character of this book is the country, with each person merely a conduit of Brazil itself. In doing so, it limited my connection with Edson, Marcelina and Luis Quinn, making their struggles seem somewhat distant.
Ian McDonald is doing great work exploring cultures and countries not normally explored to the same degree by science fiction. The rich tapestry of the past, present and future of 'Brasyl' is another fine example of his work and an important book that should be widely read.
Tomas L. Martin
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