Samit Basu's Blog: Newsletter!, page 4

Indian readers: Turbulence + Resistance now out on Kindle

Together, in a single fat volume, exclusively on Kindle in India. Here’s the link

I’d been planning to put Resistance out in India for a while, and barely noticed the last year pass in the middle of the five other things I’ve been working on across media. Still haven’t figured out who the best publisher is for the print edition, and the movie rights shenanigans cause additional complications, but the US/UK versions of Resistance have been out for many months now, and I thought that I should put it up on Kindle at least, because that at least doesn’t move slowly. Everyone who’s asked for the Indian edition, or expressed dissatisfaction about it being out internationally first, apologies for the delay, and thank you for your patience. The response I’ve received for these books abroad has been beyond my wildest expectations. Turbulence also hit no.1 on Indian bestseller lists in the early days of its publication, so I’m really curious and excited about how this little bundle of Internet data is going to do on its own now.

So, here we go. Cover is from the Indian hardback of Turbulence, by Sarnath Banerjee. In case you need additional stimulus to buy, the book pages of Turbulence and Resistance, with excerpts, interviews, posts, videos and many, many really kind reviews from across the world, are here and here.

If this Kindle edition does well, it’ll be because you told your friends and Internet followers about it. I’m most curious to see how this experiment works. But it will only work if you share it, or RT, or post, about it. So please do.

New Indian nursery rhymes

I’ve been having a great deal of fun writing nursery rhymes for present-day India.

Part One, in the Huffington Post, is a modern-day Indian alphabet

Part Two, also in the HuffPo, is a multiple-choice entrance test

Stoob 2 is out!

And you can get it here.

Can you stop the pain inside, when science and myth collide?

In the Times of India on new Indian Bad Science Fiction

And on We the People, NDTV, in a big science v myth smackdown

The Fantasy for Good charity anthology

Just realised I hadn’t put a link to this lovely book on the site (had it up on FB and Twitter of course).

Fantasy for Good, a charity anthology. Proceeds go to colon cancer research. Features Gaiman, GRR Martin, Zelazny, and other such.

Get it here

Litfestive season

So, it’s that annual winter surfacing before I disappear into several ethers again.

Will be at Jaipur litfest doing these:

23rd Jan at 2:15pm

“From Here to Hogwarts” Samit Basu

Experience school stories, both real world and genre, what makes them good and what makes them last. Build stories with a set of characters in an imaginary school.

24thJan at 12:30pm

“Novel Cures”

Ella Berthoud and Indrajit Hazra in conversation with Samit Basu

Then off to the Kolkata Lit Meet for these:

27th, noon, LMG: No Child’s Play – with Ruskin Bond, Rahul Bose

340, Victoria Memorial Simultaneous Equations – with Mira Jacob and Zia Haider Rahman

Then off to Bangalore for a couple of more things, I think, which I will hopefully know about before they begin.

Resistance Lives! A joyous round 11 (with some Stoob on the side)

Haven’t been posting for the longest time, and this bunch of reviews/interviews/things has been on my mind for a while. Resistance is still doing its thing out there, as we head towards another winter. Stoob 2 is to be published soon, the first round of artwork is in, and in the meantime I’m very grateful for these:

Some very kind reviews of Resistance:

“In Resistance, Basu writes the perfect sequel with stronger villains, more dynamic action, and deeper relationships between the characters; who’ve now lived more than a decade in a world of super powered shenanigans. ” – Atomic Moo

“If you’re looking for action and drama, Resistance is it.” – Retrenders

“Japan’s kaiju and giant mechas; superheroes and those who oppose them; global conspiracies and a future earth on the verge of dystopian collapse. Except for the fact that the author brings them all together so brilliantly in a single novel. Plus, anyone who can additionally fold in sly references to Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Monty Python’s Flying Circus, while riding roughshod over the Caucasian-centric mould of most tales of the ilk, assuredly gets my vote.” – Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing

“Resistance is an action-packed, fun and thrilling superhero story that delves even deeper into the questions of what it is to be a hero and a villain. It’s bigger, funnier and even more self-aware thanTurbulence and offers up plenty of surprises. If you’re not reading this series yet, why not? Don’t make Uzma Tell you to.” – Fantasy Faction

I think that might be the last round. What a joyous bunch of reviews it’s been for Resistance. Do have a look.

And here’s more on Stoob:

An interview at Helter Skelter

“Samit Basu is a well read author, and uses contemporary references in a manner that children would recognise and love immediately. What Stoob ‘thinks’ is what most children think – about parents, friends, teachers, school and the conflict between right and wrong. ” – The Good Book Corner

An interview on India Reads

Also, I had the pleasure of chatting with ABC Melbourne about Indian superheroes and comicbook culture: Here and here.

Resistance reviews round 10 and that whole Chetan Bhagat thing

Well, we’re midway through August, so this might be the last round of US/UK reviews – once again, I’ve been incredibly lucky, and thanks everyone for your kindness. I’ll post more of these when there are enough to collect into more posts.

‘Basu manages to characterize many of them very intensely for the amount of space he had to do it. From their powers themselves to their motivations, all the superheroes and super villains were masterfully, and often horrifically or comically crafted.’ – Fortress of Solitude

‘I’m bummed that I’m just now hearing about Samit Basu and that he  doesn’t already have TV shows, movie deals and graphic novels based on Turbulence and Resistance .This is a story I could return to over and over and still get the same amount of enjoyment out of it. I was especially here for the interesting women created. I would love a Tia spin-off.’ – Paper Droids

‘We knew we were going to enjoy this book immediately after reading the very first sentence: “A giant lobster rises slowly out of Tokyo Bay.”’ – Superhero Novels

‘The characters, whether human, hero, and villain, are strong and well-developed. The world they live in is clearly vast, without the details of it seeming too general or too numerous. The tone of the story is the perfect balance of witty, action-packed, self-referential, and strangely real given the premise. If there is a better series out there about post-modern superheroics, I have yet to see it.’ – Playback:stl

And now for something completely different. A few days ago, I was called in to NDTV for a panel to discuss Chetan Bhagat’s full-page TOI ad for his next bestseller. Fun was had:

And then this piece in India Today happened, when they wanted me to explain why Chetan Bhagat was Salman Khan

Resistance reviews round 9 and some more Stoob action

Right, so we’re heading towards the last bunch of Resistance reviews, I think. And here’s one I was waiting for with a great deal of anxiety, Strange Horizons. Fortunately, it’s very kind.

‘A post-modern, comedic, smart romp… Resistance is a thrilling, well-paced, enormously entertaining ride… The book is populated by a large cast of superheroes, written with amazing finesse—Basu’s protagonists, antagonists, and even side characters are engaging when they’re being badass, laugh-out-loud funny when they’re being snarky, and heartbreaking when they’re dying.’  – Strange Horizons

(I feel I should mention, though, that the review discusses, approvingly I think,supposed references to Pacific Rim and Evangelion. Thank you. But I must admit that I haven’t seen Evangelion, and Resistance was written before the Pacific Rim release. So while I would have loved to be more referential, as I always do, any similarity was not intentional.)

 

A couple more reviews, both very kind:

‘If you haven’t read the first one but are down with non-American supers and women who aren’t just given the short end of the stick, you should definitely read Turbulence (and then Resistance).  If you like superhero stories at all, I suspect you’ll like Basu’s work here.’ – Fistful of Wits.

‘Resistance acts as a love letter to Kaiju, action sequences, pop culture and comic book action heroes.’ – Fangirl Nation/Fanboy Nation

On to Stoob!

In TimeOut, with the lovely Samina Mishra, author and filmmaker, who was kind enough to discuss Stoob with me recently.

 

Resistance Round 8 and Stoob sneaks a cameo

Two Resistance interviews, Stoob and a procompsognathid. And a Resistance excerpt.

Interview at Fanboy Comics

Interview at Forces of Geek

Resistance excerpt on Waterstones.

Stoob! Stoob is in the Hindu, in an interview featuring me and a large number of dinosaurs. The Stoob sequel is almost done, by the way.