Give Hope, and Ian McDonald, a Chance

Derek Shearer, Professor of Diplomacy at Occidental College and former US ambassador, writing in The Huffington Post, on "Give Hope A Chance: The Renewal of Summer." He speaks of his wife's faith in Obama, the poignant feelings from his sister's recent passing, and, his summer reading:

"I've also begun reading novels by British 'science fiction' writer Ian McDonald about other rising powers -- India and Brazil. In River of Godsand the sequel, Cyberabad Days,the writer depicts the India of 2047 as a superpower of one-and-a-half billion in an age of climate change and technological advance -- water wars, genetically improved children -- and a country that has fractured into a dozen separatist states. Similarly, McDonald's novel Brasylis a portrait of near-future Brazil and the lives of a Rio TV producer, a self-made businessman up from the slums of Sao Paulo, and a Jesuit missionary on a mission in the 18th century. It won the British Science Fiction award. The books are well written, semi-plausible and offer a non-American-centric view of the near future -- something that is hard to get from reading or listening to US media cover how the President killed a fly on the air, what Newt Gingrich has to say, or the continuing adventures of Sarah Palin and her family."

Very glad you are enjoying the books, Derek. Next year will see the release of The Dervish House, set in Turkey in an even-nearer future. In the meantime, I hope you get your wish!