From international bestseller Samit Basu, an exuberant new sci-fi adventure with heart that reads like a mash-up of Aladdin and Murderbot—with gloriously chaotic results…
We’re thrilled to share the cover of Samit Basu’s The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, forthcoming October 3rd from Tordotcom Publishing.
“The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is Aladdin like you’ve never seen it before. Samit Basu deftly weaves a tale that sparkles with the wondrous and wild possibilities of Aladdin in space. This is a wild, funny, and exhilarating adventure with a huge heart.” —Tasha Suri, award-winning author of The Jasmine Throne
Shantiport was supposed to be a gateway to the stars. But the city is sinking, and its colonist rulers aren’t helping anyone but themselves.
Lina, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, has no desire to escape Shantiport. She loves her city and would do anything to save its people. This is, in fact, the plan for her life, made before she was even born.
Her brother, Bador, is a small monkey bot with a big attitude and bigger ambitions. He wants a chance to leave this dead-end planet and explore the universe on his own terms. But that would mean abandoning the family he loves—even if they do take him for granted.
When Shantiport’s resident tech billionaire coerces Lina into retrieving a powerful artifact rumored to be able to reshape reality, forces from before their time begin coalescing around the siblings. And when you throw in a piece of sentient, off-world tech with the ability to grant three wishes into the mix… None of the city’s powers will know what hit them.
“A wildly exuberant mash-up of top-class storytelling, gleeful mockery, and engaging characters we care desperately about. Basu is playing with tropes and messing about with narrative, while at the same time telling a heartfelt story with high stakes and enthralling action. The most fun I have had with SF in ages.”—KJ Charles, author of The Magpie Lord
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The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport
Samit Basu (he/him) is an Indian novelist. He’s published several novels in a range of speculative genres, all critically acclaimed and bestselling in India, beginning with The Simoqin Prophecies (2003). The City Inside was shortlisted (as Chosen Spirits) for the JCB Prize, India’s biggest literary award. He also works as a director-screenwriter (Netflix, 2019), a comics writer, and a columnist. He lives in Delhi, Mumbai, and on the internet. Twitter: @samitbasu, Instagram: @samitbasu
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The City Inside