2009 books
15) Ian McDonald, Cyberabad Days, 2009
Six stories and an original novella all set in the universe of the excellent River of Gods. This has been a slow burner with me for all the best reasons - ianmcdonald makes it next to impossible to rush a story anyway - and India circa 2047 must be one of the best-realised futures so far in 21st century SF. These stories remind me there is still an original and currently lesser-used meaning for the word 'alien' that science fiction has all but replaced with its own trope: with their varying points of view these stories rehabilitate the strangeness of that original concept, in a way that also educates and reengages our sense of wonder in things that might otherwise be dismissed as not foreign enough. Among the stories here is 'The Djinn's Wife' which deserved its Hugo and BSFA awards, and I now reckon 'Vishnu at the Cat Circus' will be up for similar recognition. A genuinely great read from cover to cover.