Sagramanda

By Alan Dean Foster

Book Overview

Set in Sagramanda, city of 100 million, this is the story of Taneer, a scientist who has absconded with his multinational corporation's secret project code and who is now on the run from both the company and his father. Depahli, the fabulously beautiful woman from the "untouchable class" would die for him, just as surely as his father would like to kill him for shaming the very traditional family for such a relationship. Chalcedony "Chal" Schneemann doesn't want to kill Taneer, if he doesn't have to, but it wouldn't upset him terribly much if it came to it, and he'll stop at nothing to recover the stolen property for the company that pays him very, very well to solve big problems discreetly and quickly. Sanjay Ghosh, a poor farmer-turned-merchant in the big city of Sagramanda would like to help Taneer unload his stolen items, for the $30 million dollars his 3 percent fee is worth. Jena Chalmette, a crazy French woman pledged to Kali, simply wants to kill for the glory of her god, and she's very good at it. Chief Inspector Keshu Singh would like to put this sword-wielding serial killer away as quickly as possible before the media gets a hold of the story. Then there's a man-eating tiger, come in from the nearby jungle reserve and just looking for his next meal. A fast-paced and gripping techno-thriller set in an India just around the corner from today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591024889
• ISBN13: 9781591024880
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Pyr
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Mystery, yes. Sci Fi, no.

I expected a science fiction story, therefore I was disappointed that it read more like a mystery novel, or maybe just fiction. Alan Dean Foster is an excellent writer, however, and so I enjoyed the book from that standpoint. I would have enjoyed it more if the characters and the extraordinary events they faced didn't sound like the usual melodrama that I read in the newspapers every day. Sometimes I just like to get a break from the turmoil this world is in and I am afraid this book kept me right here on planet Earth.

A unique blend of thriller and science fiction evolves

Set in Sagramanda, the city of a hundred million, SAGRAMANDA tells of one Taneer, a scientist who has stolen his company's secret project code and is now on the run. There's a host of individuals for and against him; from a beautiful woman from an 'untouchable' class to a traditional father who would kill him out of shame, and a corporation who will do anything to get the code. A unique blend of thriller and science fiction evolves, set in an India of the far future and providing science fiction fans with satisfying adventure.

This is a wild police procedural crime caper that occurs in a futuristic society

Sagramanda, India is a Megatropolis of 100 million residents; the city like all major urban areas run the gamut of the economic spectrum from affluent international CEOs to those so hopelessly poor one would classify them as being beneath the food chain's lowest rung of wretchedly poor existing in the ooze. Those of wealth would do nothing to hurt their status as all one has to do is look at the legions of poor as a reminder of how good life is for those with money and power. His family, especially his humiliated father, cannot believe that the heir scientist Taneer Buthlahee ran off for a forbidden love with his Untouchable beloved Depahli. Worse than that shame, he also stole research secrets he was working on; an insult his father plans to correct by having his son killed by company fixer Chal Schneemann before the information is sold on the black market. Taneer contacts street fixer Sanjay Ghosh to help his with the sale that will finance his escape with his beloved Depahli. Complicated as that family squabble may seem, a born again Hindu worshipper whose drug induced brain thinks she must sacrifice people to Kali believes that the two lovers would be a perfect send off while Sagramanda Police Chief Inspector Keshu Singh closes in on the sword slashing serial killer. This is a wild police procedural crime caper that occurs in a futuristic society in which the gap between haves and the have-nots are wider than the Grand Canyon and the number of the lower class is so great, substrata have been defined within the social group. The superb story line contains several other subplots besides those above, but all are developed and ultimately tie together in a final exhilarating confrontation. Readers will enjoy this strong tale of near future India. Harriet Klausner

Interesting and Worth Reading

Sagramanda brings back some of ADF's genius. He does not dumb-down India's many religions as other author's would. Many seemingly separate plot threads connect at the end and the mystery of what is being sought is not easily guessed. The characters seemed more real and deeper than those of some of his more recent books. The only negative is that one could not 'bond' with any of the characters sufficiently to care about them too much. As a long-time ADF fan, I enjoyed this book due to 1) the different setting, 2) intelligent relationship between the religions of India and the characters, and 3) ADF's treatment regarding the clash between traditionalism and modernity.