Opening: Every boy in the class ran at the cry. Robotwar robotwar! The teacher called after them, Come here, come here bad wicked things. But she was only a Business-English artificial intelligence and by the time old Mrs. Mawji hobbled in from the juniors only the girls remained, sitting primly on the floor, eyes wide in disdain and hands up to tell tales and name names.
Capsule: I have not yet read McDonald's River of Gods or "Little Goddess" but this story, in the same universe, was certainly captivating enough as a standalone work. The attention to cultural detail was astounding, and there is more action than I'd imagined, as well. What initially appeared to be a straightforward if adorned coming-of-age story situated in a near-future India, where boys remotely steer AI-enhanced mechas and bots of destruction in ongoing local skirmishes, became a much more intricate, absorbing, psychologically complex portrayal of cultural norms, social emulation, and self.
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