Sagramanda is a city in future India. Like many Indian cities it is overpopulated with society segregated into different castes. No one is more aware of this than Taneer, a scientist who has taken two dangerous steps. Not only has he stolen a secret project code from his employers, he has also fallen in love with Depahli, a woman from the "untouchable" class. Soon his life will become a race for survival – will he manage to sell the code and escape to a better life with Depahli before he is killed either by the hitman hired by his employer, or by his father who is intent on removing the stain from the family name.

This would be enough of a storyline for most authors but Alan Dean Foster gives us more. Enter Jena Chalmette, a French woman who, under the influence of way too many drugs, has decided to honour the goddess Kali by sacrificing as many people as possible.

Despite having read Fantasy and Science Fiction for most of my life I have not read many works by Alan Dean Foster – and I definitely think I have been missing out on something special. This book was incredibly easy to read and the characters were real, not the 2 dimensional ones you get in many books.

Having been fortunate enough to visit a number of cities across India I did wonder how the city and population of Sagramanda would compare to the real people and places I have experienced. I was pleasantly surprised. As I read I could almost smell the air of Delhi or Kohlapur and feel the heat of the sun. What did impress me was the way the author introduced subtle touches of technology into the India of tomorrow; just enough to let you know you are in the near future without destroying the overall sensation of being in the Indian subcontinent.

They say a picture paints a thousand words – in the case of Sagramanda this is most definitely reversed with the many thousand words blending beautifully together to paint a picture of a frenetic, bustling city. Absolutely superb!

Synopsis
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.