City Inside: A Novel

A Best SFF of 2022 pick by The Washington Post | Book Riot | Quill to LiveThe City Inside, a near-future epic by the internationally celebrated Samit Basu, pulls no punches as it comes for your anxieties about society, government, the environment, and our world at large-yet never loses sight of the hopeful potential of the future.Theyd known the end times were coming but hadnt known theyd be multiple choice.Joey is a Reality Controller in near-future Delhi. Her job is to supervise the multimedia multi-reality livestreams of Indi, one of South Asias fastest rising online celebrities-who also happens to be her college ex. Joeys job gives her considerable culture power, but shes too caught up in day-to-day crisis handling to see this, or to figure out what she wants from her life.Rudra is a recluse estranged from his wealthy and powerful family, now living in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood. When his fathers death pulls him back into his familys orbit, an impulsive job offer from Joey becomes his only escape from the life he never wanted.But as Joey and Rudra become enmeshed in multiple conspiracies, their lives start to spin out of control-complicated by dysfunctional relationships, corporate loyalty, and the never-ending pressures of surveillance capitalism. When a bigger picture begins to unfold, they must each decide how to do the right thing in a world where simply maintaining the status quo feels like an accomplishment. Ultimately, resistance will not-cannot-take the same shape for these two very different people.