I want to start off by saying that I love the cover and the concept that this story sought out to achieve. However, it missed the mark for me. There was a big information dump at the beginning that confused me, and I found it hard to follow along and enjoy the story with the way it was written. But I believe those who enjoy a more "stream-of-consciousness" way of writing style may enjoy this one!

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

This was the weirdest reading experience. While I was reading I felt almost compelled to keep reading. But the moment I stopped I didn't want to pick it up again AND I had no idea what I'd just read. It's like it magically turned to gibberish the moment I stopped to think? It was bizarre.

I couldn't decide whether I liked any of the characters or not. They were all just sort of drifting along in this dystopian future existence that was both chillingly plausible and totally out-there. It reminded me of the experience of reading 1984, actually.

In the end I decided that I'd dedicated enough time to it and since at 50% I still had absolutely no idea where the story was going - or even if there was a story - it was time to put it down.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing an e-arc for review.

I found the world this book built fascinating, and the experimental structure was well done, but I wished we could have seen more of it. There were a lot of threads where I felt like I was missing background, and the book felt like a prequel to something.

The City Inside is a tricky novel to review. On one hand, I enjoyed it a lot—its characters, world, technology and atmosphere. On the other, the narrative structure is strange, and the real story takes a while to coalesce and impress. That said, it’s also a short book, and author Samit Basu manages to pack in a ton of great ideas, character development and worldbuilding. It’s also a book that contains a heaping pile of heart, humor and positivity, offering up some much-needed levity in these strange times we are in.

First off, I love Basu’s future representation of New Delhi—his New Delhi. The world feels alive, with small details packed into every sentence. I could smell New Dehli’s menagerie of pollution and spices, I could feel the oppressive, muggy heat of the city, and I could sense the inequality between its citizens. There is an impressive density to the book’s prose, but it doesn’t feel weighty and reads quite fast.

Despite this immersion, it took a lot of time for the narrative to find its footing. The beginning third of The City Inside is overloaded with a lot of exposition/info-dumping, and, in all honesty, not a lot happens. In terms of story structure, it doesn’t have much of one at first. There is so much cool stuff packed into the exposition, but it took me a while to understand where the story was actually going.

The slow burn of the first third also bleeds into the character representations. It took me a while to relate to them, ‘cause there isn’t much in terms of stakes early on. Joey and Rudra are both great characters, and relatable in many ways, but I needed something to sink my empathetic claws into. Thankfully, that does come, albeit farther along than I would have liked. But when the story really kicks off, I connected with Joey and Rudra a lot, such that I was wholeheartedly rooting for them by the closing chapters.

Mainly, this character connection came in the form of two things. First, the humor. Basu nails a comedic touch that transcends his own Indian heritage. I laughed constantly during this story, finding humor in the small, human moments as well as the absurdities of its near-future scenarios. Second, a sense of community-building and small-scale change. By the end of The City Inside, this is what affected me the most. The book left me brimming with positivity and hope for where our world can go, as characters combine their skills and mutual goals to open doors across economic, social and cultural barriers. It’s a beautiful message, one that has trickled into my life and inspired me in my family and community relationships.

I also enjoyed the representation of technology and social media, offering a strange-yet-familiar glimpse into the future of a place so foreign to me as New Delhi. There are absurd multimedia stars that reflect upon our current fascination with social media influencers and reality television. There are also annoying AI virtual assistants, VR games, surveillance drones and all manner of technological innovations that blur the line between the real and the virtual. Most importantly, all of the tech Basu introduces in the story has a use, as well as being presented in a way that is true of our reality: all technology has the power to improve or oppress, enforce peace or prosperity.

This duality is also a perfect reflection of The City Inside as a whole. It’s a book that shows there is always hope in the future, despite class oppression and technological control. There is always the possibility for an individual to be and do better, despite what they’ve done in the past. And amidst all of this, there is so much nuance—in how we live our lives, how we interact with one another, the good we do as well as the bad. What matters is our willingness to accept our faults, embrace our talents and lend an honest hand to our friends, families, neighbors and communities.

Positive change can occur, one choice at a time.

It was the book title placement on the cover that initially caught my attention and made me go on to read the blurb which captured my curiosity. I guess you’d say the cover sort of did its job well as it made me learn more about the book.

The book is set in a futuristic area in Delhi, India where almost everything seems to depend on your online persona. The book is more concentrated of two characters though I’d say the main character is Joey who despite having her own flat still stays over regularly at her parent’s apartment, where her younger Rono also lives. The apartment used to be in a rather affluent area, though it is still considered a decent area and is safer than most as at least it is what I would describe as a somewhat gated community that has security on hand whenever it should be needed. The state of society means that this type of security is becoming needed more and more often, which is another reason Joey likes to check in with her parents regularly. Joey’s parents, Avik and Romolo had well paid jobs and only found themselves pushed out of their upper-class work place when they became more liberal with their own views that are not perfectly inline with those in power. The family still have enough money to be able to afford a housekeeper, called Laxmi, who has been with the family and has been a maternal figure to Joey. Laxmi is well aware of the dangers of the less secure areas of the neighbourhood, and doesn’t really seem to be in dire need of the job as housekeeper as her boyfriend, Kalkaji owns a cyber bazaar shop and seems to be a person with a rebellious power who may be working behind the scenes against those in power that are trying to silence everyone with an opinion that does not match their own.

The society within this book is ruled by governments and those behind computers in large corporations mostly out of plain sight with the majority of life being carried out online.
What I guess we would call “posts/streams” are referred to as Flows and those we would call Instagram/Social Media stars are referred to as Flow Stars. Joey has a fairly decent job working for her ex-boyfriend Indi who is a online/social media star. It may seem odd that Joey would work for an ex-boyfriend but to be honest I think Indi would probably date her again given the chance.

I would say the secondary main character is Rudra, whose family is quite a large, wealthy, successful in business and is increasingly powerful within society. Rudra seems to be somewhat of a black-sheep and lives in stark contrast to the luxurious surroundings his family is used to. Instead, he lives in an underprivileged, deprived area of Delhi inhabited by a large amount of immigrant families. To say Rudra’s family, look down on him is an understatement, however, I think they also realise he is their weak spot and when a significant death occurs in the family and Rudra chooses to turn up uninvited to the mourning rituals and ceremonies the family is holding, they have little option but to appear to welcome him back into the family fold. In fact, they go slightly further, perhaps in an attempt to keep him under their control and steer him into being in line with the family expectations they offer him a job. Rudra goes from no real job prospects to having two job offers, both with decent potential, but which should he take?

The writing style I will openly admit was not to my usual preferred flowing style of read. At times both the writing style and pace of the book felt stilted and honestly a bit odd. However, on occasion, this kind of fitted rather well with the strange meandering plot. At other times I found it infuriating!

I think the plot was quite in the realms of believability as a future prospect for society, which is perhaps what made me want to continue reading it. When I finished the book I kind of looked back at how far the characters/plot had travelled and though it did move some, maybe it wasn’t as much as what I would expect from a complete book. This felt more like the very beginning of something, the preliminary stirrings of a society starting to organise an initial rebellion against those in power. I couldn’t find it stated anywhere if this a standalone book or the beginning of a series, so felt a bit confused and as if I had been left a little high and dry at the end of the book with no real clear conclusions arrived at. After struggling at times with this book would I even read another book if this was a series? You know, I think the society and the characters still have my attention and curiosity so it would be difficult as difficult to say no as it would yes at this stage.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading the book were, What an odd read! How to describe the indescribable? I truly didn’t know what to think, so had to leave writing my review for a few days more than usual to sort of think about what I had read and formulate my thoughts.

Summing up, I am still somewhat perplexed as to how to thoroughly describe this book. There were times and certain parts where I found it interesting. Then there were other parts of the book where I felt the plot, the writing style etc were really quite slow and would say I really had to slog through. Having said all that, throughout the book I did have this weird urge, or compulsion to read it to the very end. Would I read a book two? Errm, honestly, I’m not sure either way!

Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the ARC of The City Inside!

As always, I want to be upfront and say I did not finish this book. I stopped around the 33% mark. Based on reviews and direct spoilers from my buddy reading friend, I made the correct decision.

From what I read, I was not jiving with the style of this book. It felt so clinical and bland. Just delivery of information and world building. I have a high tolerance for info-dumping, especially if the world is interesting and immersive, along with compelling characters to make the info-dumping worth it. This book lacked that. The characters felt drained of life and nothing to invest myself in. In some ways, it felt wordy for the sake of being wordy. The world was supposed to be a post-apocalyptic Earth, but once again, it all felt clinical and bland with too much made up new technology with minimal explanation and no explanation of the real decline of the world as we know now to when the story takes place. There were no crumbs to keep me interested.

I don't think this sub-genre of sci-fi is for me. You live, you learn.

The City Inside is a sci-fi novel about a near-future dystopian world. Joey, one of the two main characters, is a Reality Controller who is in charge of the virtual presence of Indi, an online celebrity and her ex-boyfriend. The second main character, Rudra, is a young man who arrives at his estranged and wealthy family’s home to attend his father’s funeral. That’s where Joey offers him a job, which brings the two together and leads to events that turn their world upside down.

This book is not an easy read. The future that Samit Basu envisions is disturbing but with everything that is currently happening, it doesn’t feel that outlandish. I really enjoyed discovering the world in this book, even though sometimes it made me dread the real one’s potential future. Both Rudra and Joey were interesting characters, but I find it extremely difficult to describe what exactly this book is about. It’s confusing and I personally love books that make me think and force me to really pay attention, but there were many moments where I felt quite lost. The complexity adds to the paranoid, uncomfortable atmosphere of this novel and while I appreciate it for that, I wish I was smarter so that I could truly fall in love with this book. Having said that, the experience of reading The City Inside was so intriguing that I definitely will pick up more of this author’s work.

TLDR: The City Inside is a rich, unsettling novel that leaves you with many questions while simultaneously painting a complex and frightening picture of our possible future.

It is a fascinating concept and the inventions introduced are fascinating, it reads like something written mid-panic, as a way to vent. Although it sets a great atmosphere for the story, it was quite difficult to get through because of said panicked, depressed atmosphere.

6.5 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2022/06/05/the-city-inside-by-samit-basu-review/

<i>No matter who’s in power, no matter who needs land or blood, no matter which country’s secretly running ours, there’s one thing all sides agree on—the children of the rich must be protected.</i>

—

The story itself is, well… a bit of a mixed bag.

I’m pretty sure the whole main story with Indi is an allegory for something, though I couldn’t tell you what it is. There were several clues, though I won’t spill them here. Without reading anything into it however, the main story was worth the price of admission. The interactions between the leads (Joey and Rudra), and their subsequent relationships to the rest of the cast were quite well done, so much so that I’d hesitate to name a book twice the length of this that has deeper or more complex characters. And that’s really saying something.

It’s a shame then, that the rest of it is so riddled with issues.

All in all, this is a tale about nationalism. Except it isn’t. It’s a story about love. No, no, that’s not it either. It’s a warning for the future? Maybe, but not entirely. I mean, it’s more about nationalism. Or is it sexism? From the outset, I had trouble making out what this was actually about. I mean, it’s about many, many things, but when it boils right down to it… I’m not sure what several of those are. And that’s because while the City Inside sets out to tackle a whole bunch of issues and themes, I’m not convinced it does any of these too well. At least, upon finishing the story—in spite of it’s many, many endings—I didn’t feel very much resolution. To any of the storylines. The dystopian “the government is watching you” seemed like a big theme at first, only to vanish for most of the story. The rise of nationalism, anti-secularism, and the fight for the future fade in and out, but always seems to turn up at the dramatic bits. The characters’ personal threads are just as varied. Though, to be honest, no one really gets a concrete ending. Joey gets kind of a vaguely satisfying conclusion, while Rudra (the other main lead) has no resolution whatsoever. Just don’t expect any of the characters to have any satisfying settlement come the end, and you’ll be okay (yes, I know how that sounds—and yes, that’s definitely sarcasm).

That being said, though the ending definitely soured me on it, I really did enjoy the journey. Sure, it was a twisting, turning, often confusing journey—one where I never really knew what to expect and was never quite certain about what the author was talking about (this is the kind of story that just screamed “packed with hidden meaning, subtlety, and undercurrent)—but it was quite immersive at the same time. The technical aspect of it suffered some lag from the language, as the author often spammed the term ‘Flow’—even going so far as to use several different iterations of the term in each’s definition. In back-to-back sentences I counted as many as six, which is objectively too many made up words.

And still, this gripped me. It was not an easy read, but one I kept coming back to, without so much as a thought of DNFing it. I know that so far I’ve pretty much just complained about it, only offering “but I promise it’s really quite good”, but that’s how I feel about it. There are some problems, yes. Okay, a LOT of problems, but somewhere within is a good story. A story of a lost son and a voracious daughter. The story of two very different people who are at the same time very much alike. A story of hope, disappointment, life, love, happiness, loss, politics, acceptance—all tied together with an open-ended bow.

The City Inside is a modern dystopian future thriller - one that seems very near to our current lives.
In this near future story, Samit Basu begins a story in India, near Delhi. His heroine, Joey is a Reality Controller -someone who literally controls what certain subscribers see of a star (reality or otherwise). It's a very interesting take on the next line of reality programming and live feeds. Joey controls multiple livestreams and contracts out for others to assist. Her "star" is a recent ex, from college and the job is so hectic, Joey doesn't have time to think about her next steps.

Joey contracts Rudra who is an estranged wealthy kid living away from his family by choice. Once he accepts the job, he finds himself and Joey tangled in conspiracies related to the government, capitalism and corporation. Basu does a great job of creating an atmosphere of paranoia and lack of control. Can Joey and Rudra stay afloat in this chaotic world? If you like techno-futures, dystopian worlds and international authors, The City Inside is for you! #Macmillan #TorForge #Netgalley #TheCityInside

Such an interesting concept! Loved every second of it! Thanks to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m just a sucker for a dystopian setting and Basu does a great job with world-building. I love that it focuses on a diverse set of characters and takes place in a non American or European setting.

Social media being central to the plot is clever not just for story purposes, but also to show us our current reality. Censorship, government exploitation, wealth inequality, and technological advancement are also huge themes that are creatively presented. The subjects were just so well done. It gives Westworld meets Black Mirror.

I do feel like there could have been more to the ending and just a bit more character development.

I will definitely be reading more from this author.

TW: sexual assault

So I’ve been sitting on this review for a bit to gather my thoughts. It’s seems to be a bit polarizing, mainly due to its themes and writing style.
First off, I enjoyed reading it. Never at any point did I want to put it down. Every character introduced was fleshed out and grounded in the insane hyper reality they reside in. That being said, since I enjoyed the characters, I was let down by their resolutions. Some we are vaguely told, others are subjected to only to the ‘deleted scenes’ which I assume are not part of the printed book, which is disappointing. While the ending was not as satisfying as I wished it was, the progression of the characters working for the futuristic company producing ‘Flows’ was very intriguing and had some great moments of shock and empathy. This book has a lot to say about where we’re heading as a culture, with an air of grief stricken inevitability. I can’t say it’s uplifting to think about.
I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a sci-fi that’s more contemplative than plot pushing. Something to mull over in your mind, or to start a discussion on the subjects of social media, privacy, and government corruption.

I had so much hope and expectations for Samit Basu's The City Inside, but sadly, they weren't met. I really don't like to write bad reviews and always try to look for an angle to consider the book good for some other audience, but this one I wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Set in a near-future Delhi, The City Inside tries to be a tale about the danger of letting algorithms run our lives and how big corporations can profit so much from that. Instead, the book is just a complete mess, with information being thrown at the reader from every direction. At first, I thought the information dumping was just in the first chapters, but it kept going on until the very end.

With only 9 chapters of story and one of "deleted scenes" (which, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary), Basu keeps making the plot bigger and bigger, but without ever resolving any of the problems he creates. By the next-to-last chapter, nothing has evolved from what he presented in the first chapters and he's already creating a new plot line with only one last chapter to go.

All in all, The City Inside fails both at being a sci-fi book and a tall-tale about the dangers technology and its industry represents. It simply doesn't take off at any point and, regrettably, was a pure waste of time.

This novel took the concept of our current political climate and went too far into attempting to disguise it with humor. The concepts of the world were far fetched and didn’t appear well developed. The characters were unlikeable and there was little to no direction of the story.

The City Inside is one of those multi-layered SF worlds which make you feel transported. This post-colonial cyberpunk setting is brought to life with its high tech world and background of political upheaval. This distinct sense of suppression, of the danger of having a counter opinion. It's a world of surveillance and technology where agency is never simple. Where freedom and rebellion mean something different to each of us. A setting where our lives and thoughts are tracked. Where we are asked whether we let it keep us quiet or if we rebel.

The writing was done really well, I just never really felt connected to the story or characters. It wasnt bad and I'd probably definitely enjoy it more if I weren't in a reading slump.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The City Inside by Samit Basu is an epic sci-fi novel featuring a diverse cast. The story revolves around Joey, a Reality Controller in near-future Delhi, and Rudra, who works together with her to uncover a conspiracy. The book comments on surveillance, invasive technology, and resistance. Honestly, though, it's a bit hard to summarize this book, because it touched on so many themes.

Here is a captivating excerpt from Chapter 1:

"Sometimes Joey feels like her whole life is a montage of randomly selected, algorithm-controlled surveillance cam clips, mostly of her looking at screens or sitting glazed-eyed at meetings. As a professional image builder and storyteller, she finds the lack of structure even more offensive than the banality of the material. She’s always taken pride in her instinct for cuts and angles and rhythms in the wildly successful stories she produces—one day, one perfect day, her life will be just as award-worthy.
As she heads into the park near her parents’ house for her regular Sunday-morning run—actually the first in three months, but she’s finally managed to wake up early this time; it’s usually way too hot to be outside the house by the time she reaches Little Bengal for her weekly visit—she finds herself idly building another montage in her mind."

Overall, The City Inside is a delightful sci-fi novella that will appeal to fans of Cory Doctorow and Westworld. One highlight of this book is how it is an #ownvoices book and features a diverse cast. There are characters of Indian and Korean descent (or their futuristic versions), and I am so happy to see that in a sci-fi book. I did take off 1 point, because the book because a bit difficult to understand. Also, if you are triggered by sexual assault, this might not be the book for you. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of sci-fi in general, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!

Frustration abounds in this short novel. Interesting characters, all to believable scenarios, but almost no resolution to multiple story lines. I can't find any info on a potential sequel, which makes this one ever more frustrating. The 3 stars is an average of my feelings. Some portions would be worth more, but then again, too many things left unresolved.

I would like to preface this review with the fact that in my opinion, one of the book's issues is its blurb, which if it had described the main turning point would have been enough for me to understand that this wasn't the one for me, and I wouldn't have requested an advance copy. I will address it at the end of this review, so you can make up your own mind as to whether or not you might also care about it.

In this book, we follow mainly Joey and Rudra as they live in Delhi after the Years Not To Be Discussed, where democracy died and now social media stars have become Flowstars. Big corporations own countries, even bigger ones own the world. There are many things going on in such a packed novel, and if you like stories full of big ideas and themes, this one might be a good one to pick up.

Among these themes, the most interesting bits for me were the exploration of digital versus real self, and ownership of the digital space in this near-future, post-apocalyptic Delhi. I also wished there would have been more regarding gene mutation and the human trafficking sub-plot that was going on, but to me it felt underdeveloped. This book could have been much longer, delving deeper into all the sub-plots, or it could have been made into a duology or trilogy. There are many interesting ideas that I would really like to read more about another time.

Much of the overall story also felt forced, from the descriptions to the dialogues, and especially the feminist bouts throughout the novel. If this was supposed to be the point, I felt it missed it entirely, and it left a bad taste in my mouth as every single character was trying to prove how much of a feminist they were, sometimes going on well-rehearsed tangents to prove so. This, paired with the dry writing style, made me feel like this book could have been further refined. However, if you like a writing style that tells you everything you need to know and spares no time for fluff, then you could like this story.

Now, my main qualm with this book: the sexual assault public allegations that is purely a plot device meant for the main characters to react and do something new with their lives. I didn't like the way this part of the book was handled at all, and once the plot had been nudged into more action, the allegations were pushed under the rug and everybody else moved on like nothing had happened, blaming it on "every rising star faces allegations like that at some point, people will forget about it." It just rubbed me the wrong way, when there could have been many other situations that could have pushed the plot forward and had the same results. I wish this turning point was mentioned in the blurb, because had I known, I would have skipped this novel altogether.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.