"Ian McDonald is one of the more politically engaged science-fiction writers working today. Brasyl is a unique thriller of ideas." (Yo Zushi NEW STATESMAN)
"A dazzling, bold, fast-moving rush through three different worlds. I'm still thinking about it days after I finished reading it, a sure sign of a worthwhile book." (DEATHRAY)
An extraordinary thematic narrative that I have no doubt will be featuring on many an award shortlist in the coming year. A genre novel right on the cutting edge of the quantum blades wielded as weapons within its pages, a book that loudly proclaims the arrival of the future (SF REVU)
A major novel from a major talent (SF REVIEWS)
McDonald conveys quite brilliantly the prodigious energy and fecundity of Brazil as it is and could be. ...Brasyl is a feast of fine prose, an able political novel, and an intriguing experiment in cross-temporal storytelling and implication. ...it is without doubt one of the major SF books of 2007 (LOCUS)
A mesmerizing ensemble of three different tales. I was astonished... to see how McDonald yet again captures the essence of a country and its people and weaves it in a myriad of ways throughout the novel... Brasyl deserves the highest possible recommendation. It will surely be one of the best - if not the best - science fiction novels of 2007 (FANTASY HOTLIST)
I predict Brasyl will grace multiple shortlists come 2008. It's easily the best SF novel I've read this year. McDonald is a superb writer . . . much more often than not McDonald's prose is a wonder, from a hundred vivid and witty details, to sustained passages of perfectly judged atmosphere' (STRANGE HORIZONS)
A triptych tale of humanity and all its passions and indignities. McDonald is not for the weak of heart. But oh, the ideas! Having learned and wondered and considered, I am better for having read this novel (SPECULATIVE REVIEWS)
"It's a great story, wonderfully written, packed with neo-lit images and nifty phrases. A triple stranded SF narrative that glows with stronger colours and throbs to a more compulsive samba beat than mere reality can offer." (David Langford SFX)
A bold, triple stranded novel - a sort of mutant chick lit horror, a historical adventure and a reeling cyberpunk thriller. (THE BIG ISSUE)
Ian Macdonald's RIVER OF GODS, painted a vivid picture of a near future India, 100 years after independence. It revolutionised British SF for a new generation by taking a perspective that was not European or American. BRASYL will do the same for South America's largest and most vibrant country.
A story that begins in the favelas, the slums of Rio, and quickly expands to take in drugs, corruption, and a frightening new technology that allows access to all the multiple worlds that have slipped into existence in other planes everytime we make a decision.
This is rich, epic SF that opens our eyes to the world around us and posits mind-blowing alternative sciences. It is a landmark work in modern SF from one of its most respected practitioners.