20 Best Sci-Fi Books by Indian Authors

Sci-fi by Indian Authors
Tags: , , ,

Searching for the best books in sci-fi by Indian authors? You’ve come to the perfect place, for we will look at an exhaustive list of Indian science fiction through the years. From classics to contemporary, from regional literature to mainstream titles, we’re going to look at it all in this article. Without further delay, let’s jump headfirst into our list of best books in sci-fi by Indian authors!

Click on the book cover for more details.

Which is your favourite sci-fi book? Comment down below.

We encourage you to buy books from a local bookstore. If that is not possible, please use the links on the page and support us. Thank you.

Clone

Title: Clone

Author: Priya Sarukkai Chabria

Publisher: Zubaan

Price: 224

Pages: 292

Blurb:

Cloning, as a subject, has always been a dear favorite of sci-fi writers, both pre- and post- relevant developments in the concerned fields. This is one such story, but a starkly different take on it. What happens when a 14th-generation clone finds herself in the 24th century? Her consciousness expands with the passing of time, and the changes manifest in the form of how the world appears to her and how she appears to the world. Amidst everything, this is a story of love, humanity, compassion, and the inherent differences that exist among us.

Get the Book from Amazon

Ambiguity Machines: and Other Stories

Title: Ambiguity Machines: and Other Stories

Author: Vandana Singh

Publisher: Small Beer Press

Price: 1194

Pages: 288

Blurb:

An eclectic collection of stories, Ambiguity Machines: and Other Stories, has Vandana Singh merging humane themes splendidly with her scientific background. The stories are all about people trying to make sense of themselves and the world around them, in all its wonders and peculiarities. In one story, an 11th-century poet finds himself on a starship as an artificially intelligent being. In another, a student travels to Alaska to find out more about her aunt, a scientist researching whales, and her disappearance. Despite the grand canvas on which they’re sketched, the stories all stem from a place of compassion and love.

Get the Book from Amazon

Meru

Title: Meru

Author: SB Divya

Publisher: Hachette India

Price: 382

Pages: 448

Blurb:

Kavya is one of the most prolific science fiction Indian authors writing today. In this story, human life has long been restricted while their descendants, called alloys, roam around the galaxy. An epic space opera, Meru is the tale of Jayanthi, a human raised by alloys, and her pilot Vaha as they explore the newly discovered planet of Meru. Their journey is an opportunity to redefine the relationship between humans and alloys while strengthening the bond they share, but the mission is all but doomed. But hey, hope is deeply human, too, no?

Get the Book from Amazon

Harvest

Title: Harvest

Author: Manjula Padmanabhan

Publisher: Hachette India

Price: 275

Pages: 284

Blurb:

The winner of the very first Onassis Award for Original Theatrical Drama, Harvest is a satire on contemporary morality and its degradation in modern times. It’s the story of a family that agrees to exchange their organs for a life of luxury, ultimately commenting on the profoundly transactional nature of human relationships in this modern world. This new edition reverses the characters’ genders, through whom Manjula tries to examine and explore the societal taboos that exist within the cracks of our society. 

Get the Book from Amazon

Sultana’s Dream

Title: Sultana’s Dream

Author: Begum Rokheya Sakhawat

Publisher: Tara Books

Price: 248

Pages: 56

Blurb:

A book much ahead of the times when it originated, Sultana’s Dream is the story of a utopia where men practice the purdah tradition while women are in charge of society. Set in the fictional Ladyland, the book takes a satirical look at all the patriarchal notions, from men having bigger brains to women being physically weaker. Revolutionary and innovative, the story is one of the earliest and finest examples of sci-fi fiction in the Indian subcontinent.

Get the Book from Amazon

यक्षांची देणगी

Title: यक्षांची देणगी

Author: डॉ. जयंत नारळीकर

Publisher: मौज प्रकाशन गृह

Price: 234

Pages: 237

Blurb:

As per Narlikar, his purpose for writing sci-fi is to ensure scientific concepts can be sugarcoated and spread in the form of stories. This shows here as he crafts one story after another that is not just imaginative but enthralling to read too. From black holes to the horses in Trojan War, the concepts and symbols used in this collection of short stories are diverse and fascinating. 

Get the Book from Amazon

The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction

Title: The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction

Author: edited by Tarun Saint

Publisher: Hachette India

Price: 413

Pages: 424

Blurb:

A must-have for anyone searching for the best sci-fi novels by Indian authors, this collection has stories from some of the stalwarts of Indian sci-fi literature as well as names you might be unaware of. Hence, the book serves both as a short story collection to enjoy and a starting point to discover new science fiction Indian authors. The stories here are unique and wide-ranging, like when aliens arrive at a railway station in Uttar Pradesh or when the last remaining Parsi on Earth tries to find new worlds to escape the debt collectors. There’s much to explore and enjoy in this collection!

Get the Book from Amazon

Calcutta Chromosome

Title: Calcutta Chromosome

Author: Amitav Ghosh

Publisher: Penguin India

Price: 279

Pages: 270

Blurb:

Only lately, sci-fi in India has gotten the kind of push and recognition it has needed for a long while. Calcutta Chromosome is probably the most popular and mainstream of what we’ve seen among sci-fi books in India. And not without reason. A sci-fi thriller, this is the story of a man’s search for the “Calcutta Chromosome,” traveling across space and time to present something intriguing. In doing so, it also offers a portrait of India now and of a time gone by.

Get the Book from Amazon

Chosen Spirits

Title: Chosen Spirits

Author: Samit Basu

Publisher: Simon & Schuster India

Price: 297

Pages: 234

Blurb:

Basu has been writing speculative fiction for as long as one’s memory stretches back, and Chosen Spirits is yet another example of his storytelling prowess. Set in the near future, the book clocks in the effects of capitalism, technology, and climate change on society, creating a dystopia that doesn’t feel too far-fetched in all its glumness. A character-centric drama made all the more stifling thanks to its Delhi setting, it’s hard not to see the natural trajectories that Basu charts from the anxieties of the present day.

Get the Book from Amazon

Indian Science Fiction: Patterns, History and Hybridity

Title: Indian Science Fiction: Patterns, History and Hybridity

Author: Suparno Banerjee

Publisher: University of Wales Press

Price: 8119

Pages: 272

Blurb:

Employing an array of disciplines and theories, the book aims to show how Indian sci-fi lies in the midst of Indian and Western cultures. Despite the boundaries and differences that exist among the works of Indian sci-fi, Banerjee finds overarching themes and connections. He also examines literature through the lens of the sci-fi genre’s formal elements, contrasting the multilingual history of the subcontinent with it. By doing so, he takes a unified and comprehensive look at sci-fi in India and how it has evolved over the years.

Get the Book from Amazon

The Collected Short Stories

Title: The Collected Short Stories

Author: Satyajit Ray

Publisher: Penguin

Price: 349

Pages: 688

Blurb:

It’s almost impossible not to talk of Ray and his inventive stories when talking of science fiction Indian authors. The most prominent example of his sci-fi stories remains the stories of Professor Shonku, with stories rooted in both fantasy and reality. He has invented anything from an evolution drug to a computer brain, and his stories keep you reading from one page to the next. This book collects all of Ray’s short stories, and you will find plenty to explore here.

Get the Book from Amazon

सुवर्ण रेखा

Title: सुवर्ण रेखा

Author: दुर्गा प्रसाद खत्री

Publisher: लहरी बुक डिपो

Price: 75

Pages: 152

Blurb:

To a large extent, Durga Prasad Khatri’s stories help fill the dearth of Hindi sci-fi literature. Suvarna Rekha is just one of the many stories he’s written in the genre, following a scientist dead set on extracting gold from seawater. But what happens when he manages to extract all that gold and become rich? That’s for you to find out in this novel.

Get the Book from Amazon

It Happened Tomorrow

Title: It Happened Tomorrow

Author: edited by Bal Phondke

Publisher: National Book Trust

Price: 140

Pages: 270

Blurb:

Many of the stories collected here, taken from different Indian languages, have been translated for the first time. The book also helps you chart the development of science fiction in an Indian context through the 19 stories it collects. Not just that, it also shows the prominence of Marathi and Bengali authors in the science fiction genre, alongside showcasing the primary theme at the heart of most sci-fi books in India: the interactions between scientific progress and societal beliefs.

Get the Book from Amazon

The Hair Timer: An Anthology of Science Fiction Stories

Title: The Hair Timer: An Anthology of Science Fiction Stories

Author: Written by Dinesh Chandra Goswami, translated by Amrit Jyoti Mahanta

Publisher: National Book Trust

Price: 173

Pages: 250

Blurb:

The book collects 20 of Dinesh Chandra Goswami’s short fiction here, translated into English for the first time. Each story creates an imaginary reality through scientific inventions like a smell absorber or the concept of human cloning. And as is common in Indian sci-fi traditions, all the stories are rooted in human emotions and their interplay with scientific achievements.

Get the Book from Amazon

Analog/Virtual and Other Simulations of Your Future

Title: Analog/Virtual and Other Simulations of Your Future

Author: Lavanya Lakshminarayan

Publisher: Hachette India

Price: 364

Pages: 320

Blurb:

In a dystopian future where nations have collapsed and few cities remain, success is the only rule and productivity the only lifestyle. Success takes you to higher ranks and higher power while the cost of failure is being deported to being an Analog, cut off from humanity. Imaginative in its scope and cautionary in its tone, Analog/Virtual does what the best of this genre is supposed to do: pause and reflect on the world of today.

Get the Book from Amazon

The Beast With Nine Billion Feet

Title: The Beast With Nine Billion Feet

Author: Anil Menon

Publisher: Zubaan Books

Price: 195

Pages: 259

Blurb:

Those searching for the best sci-fi novels by Indian authors would do well to not miss out on this one. Set in Pune in 2040, the story is filled with popular science fiction elements like cyborging and genetic engineering. Raising important questions about technology and life itself through the journey of two siblings, Tara and Aditya. Intermixing the anxieties of growing up in an unpredictable world, Anil Menon creates a compelling narrative here.

Get the Book from Amazon

விசும்பு

Title: விசும்பு

Author: ஜெயமோகன்

Publisher: Vishnupuram Publications

Price: 75

Pages: 162

Blurb:

One of the biggest names in Tamil literature, Jayamohan’s writings speak for themselves. In this collection of stories originally written for Thinnai, a web magazine, he delves into science fiction in an Indian context, even more so a Tamil one. The stories often contain old traditions like alchemy and religious practices that further serve to root it in a local atmosphere.

Get the Book from Amazon

Other Skies

Title: Other Skies

Author: Sukanya Datta

Publisher:

Price: 160

Pages: 29

Blurb:

Beyond all that we see around us, there lie countless other skies. Fantasy meets science in these deeply humane stories. In one story, an Egyptian idol becomes animated out of nowhere. In another, nanotechnology bridges the gap between a father and son. The range and creativity in each story are incredible, keeping you enthralled throughout.

Get the Book from Amazon

ಸೈಕೋರಮಾ

Title: ಸೈಕೋರಮಾ

Author: ರಾಜಶೇಖರ ಭೂಸನೂರುಮಠ

Publisher: Sahitya Prakashan

Price: 75

Pages:

Blurb:

A pioneer of science fiction in Kannada literature, Rajashekar Bhoosnurmath has published several stories throughout his career. This book collects many of his stories, published across different publications, in one place here. Whether it’s the subject matter or their astounding scope, these stories surprise you in varied and unexpected ways. 

Get the Book from Amazon

The Afflictions

Title: The Afflictions

Author: Vikram Paralkar

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Price: 75

Pages: 232

Blurb:

A social satire disguised as an encyclopedia of imaginary afflictions, The Afflictions contains a series of excerpts all tied by an overarching narrative. The prose has a slightly dated tone to it, adding to the authenticity of the story. It’s incredible how Paralkar invents these diseases that merge fiction and reality seamlessly, further aided by the accompanying illustrations.

Get the Book from Amazon

Picture of Amritesh Mukherjee

Amritesh Mukherjee

Amritesh doesn't know what to do with his life, so he writes. He also doesn't know what to write, so he reads. Gift him a book if you chance upon him and he'll love you forever.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *