Samit Basu is a renowned Indian novelist, celebrated for his work in science fiction and fantasy. Born in Calcutta, Basu was educated in both Calcutta and London, and currently splits his time between Delhi and Kolkata. He is known for his bestselling Gameworld Trilogy, which includes The Simoqin Prophecies, The Manticore’s Secret, and The Unwaba Revelations. These novels, published by Penguin India, marked the beginning of Indian English fantasy writing and established Basu as a significant voice in the genre.
Basu’s most recent novel, The City Inside, published by Tordotcom in 2022, is a critically acclaimed, anti-dystopian near-future novel that has been featured on the Washington Post and Book Riot best SFF of 2022 lists. This novel was previously shortlisted for the 2020 JCB Prize (India) as Chosen Spirits. His superhero novel, Turbulence, published in the UK in 2012 and in the US in 2013, received widespread acclaim and won several awards, including Wired’s Goldenbot Award as one of the books of 2012 and superheronovels.com’s Book of the Year for 2013.
In addition to his work in novels, Basu has written children's fiction, short stories for adults and younger readers in Indian and international anthologies, and has been a columnist and essayist in several leading Indian and international publications. He has also ventured into film, writing and co-directing the Netflix film, House Arrest, which was released in 2019 and was one of Netflix’s top 5 most viewed Indian films that year. Basu’s work in comics ranges from historical romance to zombie comedy and includes collaborations with notable figures such as MR Carey, Terry Gilliam, and Duran Duran. He runs a newsletter, Duck of Dystopia (samit.substack.com) and can be found on social media at @samitbasu, and at samitbasu.com.