Book Review: Brasyl

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Brasyl     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Ian McDonald
Class/Genre:   Science Fiction
PYR, May 2007, $25.00

In 2006 Brazil, TV “Lady of Production Values” Marcelina Hoffman sets up scenes so her viewers can see genuine reality. She has recently learned that soccer goalie Barbosa, whose failure to block a shot at the 1950 World Cup gave the victory to Uruguay, still lives; her plan is to place this loser on trial for causing one of the bleakest moments in the country’s heritage. Instead her reseach investigation leads to some weird unexplained happenings as her doppelganger seems to want her dead.

In 2032, Edson de Freitas runs a talent agency for losers, but earns a better living as a thief in a world where surveillance rules. Edson falls in love with Fia Kishida, an expert on security coding and computational physics in a multiversal continuum. His investigation into his beloved leads to some weird unexplained happenings as a doppelganger of Fia seems to have committed murder.

In 1732 Father Luis Quinn and French scientist Robert Falcon arrive in Brazil on a quest to find Father Diego Goncalves, who has allegedley created an empire in his image of Christianity deep in the flood-forest. Their investigation leads to weird unexplained happenings as a doppelganger of “Our Lady of the Flood Forest” seems to have committed genocide.

BRASYL is not an easy book to read yet worth the time for those in the audience who prefer a complex cerebral science fiction thriller that makes a strong case that quantum physics relativity of reality is a multiplier of a universal computer program. The story line uses Brazilian historical events and elements from the mysery genre to tell three tales of a multiverse in which time is relative to the individual, but within a group becomes collective. Multifaceted and incredibly intricate, as eras are rotated until they converge into “Our Lady of All Worlds”, readers will appreciate this discerning look at an alternate way to interpret “I think therefore I am”.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner