As Ursula Le Guin says, speculative fiction is not wistful thinking but a way of reflecting on reality. However, personally, as a reader from South Asia, sometimes the genre can be alienating because it rarely reflects my reality or the thousands of other realities that are outside the anglosphere. Too often, our stories have been told for us, saying that we have no choice or that we’ve been violently mischaracterized and commodified for consumption.
But I like to think it’s changing, especially with the advent of incredible authors from South Asia and the South Asian diaspora who are taking back the narrative. From Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, Samit Basu’s The City Inside, Shehan Karunathilake’s Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Saad Z. Hossain’s Djinn City, and Vaishnavi Patel’s Kaikeyi, we’ve seen diverse and inclusive work in the past few years. 2023 promises to be one of the most significant years yet, with several incredible titles from South Asian authors dropping in the Adult SFF space alone. Today, I celebrate an amazing cadre of South Asian authors who’ve crafted inclusive and incredible narratives that are releasing/released in 2023. I wish I could share all of my favorite books by South Asian authors, but for the moment, I’m going to limit myself to these eight.
Disclaimer: While the purpose of this article is to celebrate all South Asian authors, most of the adult SFF books releasing in 2023 are from authors of Indian origin, so this list comprises mostly Indian SFF. But South Asia is more than just India, it also includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. While we are forced to work within publishing’s biases and confines, what we can do as readers is acknowledge the diversity of the region and advocate for stories that reflect it. We’ve come a long way in terms of representation, but we still have miles to go if we are to see our reality reflected back to us. Therefore, this list is not a complete or definitive account.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekara
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekara
Raised to kill his Sainted father, Fetters says no to destiny and goes to therapy. Now living in a city where the (un)chosen ones are a dime a dozen and rife with Bright Doors that hold unknowable secrets, Fetter will discover who he really is, and that will change the world.
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
If you are looking for a fantasy novel that’ll make you go; Well, that’s why I read fantasy, then I highly recommend starting The Saint of Bright Doors. From the outset, it looks like the standard chosen one story but couldn’t be more different. Chandrasekara’s writing is both ethereal and mundane, perfectly reflecting the world he’s created, where gods have fandoms and crowdfund their arrival and magical doors are managed by layers of red tape. It is a book that takes you as a player, pulls you into its inside jokes, and asks you to keep its secrets. You will love Saint of Bright Doors if you like Cat Valente, Alix E. Harrow, Erin Morgenstern, and Susanna Clarke. And yet, it is also an intimate narrative of finding yourself when you are not what they deem you to be, of longing for home even when you’ve tried so hard to build another. It’s surreal, mythical, and whimsical, as if whimsy were a blade with blood. There’s nothing quite like it.
Saint of Bright Doors is a cerebral novel; you are going to need to be at the top of your game to fully enjoy it. But it’s so rewarding that I highly recommend it to all hardcore SFF fans.
Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Laksminarayan
Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Laksminarayan
In Apex City, your life is determined by a statistical bell curve. In the top 20%, the world is yours, shaped by AI to ensure maximum productivity, while the bottom 10% are condemned to inhumane conditions. The top 10% do everything to retain their power while keeping the downtrodden down. But it all changes with one heist.
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Lavanya Laksminarayan’s debut is an ambitious cyberpunk satire that seeks to address the dystopian nature of techno-capitalism and she exceeds expectations with this novel. What stands out in the book is Laksminarayan’s commitment to building an astounding world that not only critiques our modern society but also paints a world so believably dystopian that you could very well be living in it.
Since the mosaic narrative structure is so experimental, it can take some while to get into the story, but once you do, Laksminarayan’s creativity—from designer babies to extreme social media influencers—will grip you tight and never let go.
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das
The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim
Ru, a boy from nowhere, is desperate to find out who he is, but his parents don't tell him. Except that he remembers dragons. Or dreams of them. Impossibilities become real in this saga of family, finding, love, and longing as Ru grows up with his childhood friend in the city of Calcutta, floating through life desperate to find his place.
Publication Date: June 1, 2023
From the streets of Calcutta to realities beyond, The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar haunts you as you read it, transportive and grounding at once. Indra Das’ writing is impossibly beautiful. It makes me want to believe the impossible, to touch reality, and to trust in his imagination.
Short may this novella be, reading it was an ethereal experience. I don’t want to discuss the plot, I want you to experience it. It is so achingly soft, and I felt seen for the first time as a South Asian nonbinary person who belongs nowhere.
This may sound silly, but in another reality, I hope Ru is out there. I hope they are happy, and I hope they soar above the skies. I hope Alice smiles against their skin, and I hope they hug their Queen tight.
The Surviving Sky by Kritika H Rao
The Surviving Sky by Kritika H Rao
Set in a world where plant architects power floating cities, The Surviving Sky follows a husband and wife racing to save their city and their troubled marriage in a world beset by raging storms that uproot the world.
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
I know I shouldn’t play favorites, but The Surviving Sky is possibly one of my personal favorite books on this list. Jam-packed with action yet written with so much empathy, Rao’s debut novel has so much heart to it—you cannot help but be torn between the feuding husband (Iravan) and wife (Ahilya), seeing each person’s perspective but knowing that there are no easy solutions. And the best thing is that this intimate conflict takes place in an epic world and is closely tied to their city’s survival.
Ahilya’s frustration and desire to change the city’s power structure, which puts plant architects like her husband at the top and non-architects at the bottom, is a struggle I deeply relate to as someone who doesn’t have much agency in the world I live in. Iravan himself is a highly compelling character; Accused of pushing his extraordinary powers to forbidden limits, he needs Ahilya back on his side but is unable to see her perspective as that of someone who is powerless.
Rao is also a master of pacing and setting up the emotional stakes; The Surviving Sky, from its first page, grabs your heart by its claws and doesn’t let go until it’s broken, but lovingly puts it back together in the final act. As a practicing Hindu, I adore how Rao has woven yogic philosophies on life, karma, and rebirth into the core of this novel. An intimate epic, The Surviving Sky is a great start to what promises to be one of fantasy’s biggest trilogies of this decade.
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
In this Aladdin retelling set in space, Samit Basu tells the story of two siblings, Lina and her monkey bot brother Bador, whose conflicting ambitions pull them apart even as they are forced into a grand heist that might reshape their city and their lives forever.
Samit Basu is a delight to read, and The Jinnbot of Shantiport just might be my favorite of his novels. He brought Shantiport alive in my mind from the very first page with delightful worldbuilding, but what makes reading him a joy is that his writing is so smart. Filled with big and tiny moments that made me go ‘ah’, The Jinnbot of Shantiport always managed to surprise me in the best way possible, even when I thought I had it all figured out.
Both Lina and Bador are incredible characters in their own right, but it is Moku the bot who has my whole heart. If you enjoyed Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, then I insist you pick up The Jinnbot of Shantiport.
I adored the contrast between the siblings, from Lina’s seriousness to Bador’s playful banter. They are beautiful characters who have their own fears and desires, and the way this pushes their dynamic is fantastic.
From cinematic mecha fights to an aching romance set in the background of a city falling apart and all spiced with a healthy dose of humor, reading The Jinnbot of Shantiport was an incredibly fun experience, and I hope you read it too!
The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
Elena, as the only Ravence who can’t wield the Eternal Fire, will do anything to secure her power—even if it means going against her father, the king. But when Yassen, the notorious assassin who now claims fealty to the throne, arrives, the two begin a dangerous dance and the choices they make could burn down the world.
Publication Date: August 29, 2023
An explosive new science fantasy that critiques systems of power, Verma’s The Phoenix King is also a testament to her skill as a wordsmith and writer to build compelling characters who take your heart in their hands.
What I first noticed about The Phoenix King is its expansive worldbuilding, and it was very clear the author had put a lot of thought into setting up the world so the pieces fell neatly into place. From the Yumi whose hair turns to blades to the economics of kingdoms that lead to war, The Phoenix King’s worldbuilding is deeply rooted and would be a treat to fans of Sanderson and Bardugo.
I also really appreciated the multi-POV narrative, which added layers to the story. Elena’s quest for power as the only Ravence who cannot wield the legendary flames means that she goes up against her revered father, Leo–who is a tyrant king obsessed with holding on to power. Instead of turning him into a mustache-twirling villain, Verma portrays him with complexity; you learn about him even as you are horrified at his choices as he walks the fine line between duty and obsession.
Yassen and Elena are incredible characters themselves. In the book marketing world where the trope ‘enemies to lovers’ has almost lost meaning, The Phoenix King’s main ship felt like a breath of fresh air; here was the trope finally done right.
Overall, The Phoenix King is an impressive debut from an exciting new voice in fantasy.
Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
In 1757, Meena, a Bengal princess raised by an abusive father, elopes with James, an Englishman, in search of a new life. When love turns to hate, Meena will have to decide what she will sacrifice for revenge.
Publication Date: May 25, 2023
Rani Selvarajah’s debut historical fiction novel with speculative elements is a good cross-genre novel that explores colonialism from the perspective of a woman who has no agency. That’s what appealed to me most about this novel—that Selvarajah made the choice to depict Meena as who she is—a woman who had to survive in a world of men.
The narrative would also remind you of Gayatri Spivak’s renowned essay, ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ It asks you whether colonialism really ‘saves’ the poor brown woman from the clutches of the big bad brown men or does it shackle her to the oriental fetish of white men.
A fantastic debut, Savage Beasts’ themes would appeal to readers of anticolonial fiction and also answers the question that Spivak poses—that the brown woman, in the end, can only be saved by herself.
Up Next: Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty
A grimdark reimagining of the epic Mahabharata, Sons of Darkness is a novel that renders familiar characters in sharper light with cutthroat politics and ruthless machinations.
Publication Date: July 6, 2023
Meet my next read, Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty. As a longtime fan of the original epic, I’m incredibly excited about Mohanty’s debut novel, which takes familiar characters but depicts them in a darker, more brutal light.
With a full cast of compelling characters, I can’t wait to experience Mohanty’s depiction of Krishna as a Senator in the republic of Mathura who schemes with his war wife Sathyabama to ensure its continued survival; Shakuni as a tortured torturer and mastermind; Karna as the beautiful king; and Mati as the bold, pirate princess.
Sons of Darkness promises to be a treat for both those who are familiar with the epic of the Mahabharata, and those who are new to the world.
Conclusion
I’m delighted to see South Asian SFF thriving, but as I’ve noted before, we still have ways to go in terms of representation. However, 2023’s releases look incredible, and I’m delighted to have these books on my radar. If, by chance, I overlooked one of your favorites, please mention them in the comments below.
