jumps into the civil war brewing in the subcontinent. Lisa Durnau is a physicist who has been sent to an asteroid by the US government, to see what's inside the alien artifact. Thomas Lull is an AI genius living in exile in India, hiding away his past. Ajmer Rao is a mystical girl who can see into people's futures, and is searching for her biological parents. Awards and nominations British Science Fiction Association Best Novel winner, 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel nominee (2005) Hugo Awards, Best Novel nominee (2005) Release details January 2004: United Kingdom. Simon & Schuster. (paperback). June 2004: United Kingdom. Simon & Schuster. (hardcover). April 2005: United Kingdom. Simon & Schuster. (paperback). March 2006: United States. Prometheus Books (hardcover). References External links Strange Horizons review by Mark Teppo SciFi Dimensions review by Carlos Aranaga Review by Russ Allbery The Zone review by Jonathan McCalmont SFF World.com review by Rob H. Bedford River of Gods at Worlds Without End 2004 British novels 2004 science fiction novels Fiction set in 2047 British science fiction novels Novels about artificial intelligence Fiction about asteroids Nanotechnology in fiction Novels by Ian McDonald Novels set in India Postcyberpunk novels Religion in science fiction Novels about robots Water scarcity in fiction Novels with transgender themes Simon & Schuster books