Amitav Ghosh’s new novel, RIVER OF SMOKE, has been published in the UK by John Murray, and will be released in the US in September by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. It is the second part of the trilogy begun with SEA OF POPPIES (2008). This week’s ECONOMIST (18-24 June 2011) carries a very favourable review (‘Chasing the Dragon’, p. 87; http://www.economist.com/node/18833521), praising the novel’s ‘Dickensian sweep of characters’, ‘thrilling sense of place’ (the main focus is China) and lexicon combining a ‘rich brew of cultures’.
Note added 24 September 2011: On 23 September 2011 I posted, on this blog (see entry) a brief piece on the language aspects of this novel.
Dr Christopher Rollason: BILINGUAL CULTURE BLOG - ENGLISH/SPANISH - CASTELLANO/INGLÉS 
Posted by Amlandeep Bhattacharya on 21 June, 2011 at 16:21
Well the historical fiction ‘ River of Smoke’ is indeed a masterpiece from Ghosh as heha s beautifully described the Raj’s main economic source of income ‘opium’. I heard a lecture of Ghosh yesterday and realised how beautiful author he is.