Size / / /

This week, Strange Horizons is thrilled to present a special issue showcasing recent work by and about science fiction and fantasy writers from India.

A lot can change in a few years. For me, the most heartening thing about putting together this special issue has been the absence of any compulsion to attempt to pack the entirety of Indian SF into one week. Looking at this issue and our last issue on Indian SF, in September 2013, there's no overlap in the writers and critics published, though all the authors featured in that earlier issue continue to work in (and make important contributions to) the field. SH is at an advantage in having some Indians on its staff, but there's an increasing sense that new Indian SF might be simply part of the wider fieldpresent and acknowledged as part of our regular issues, with more to follow later in the year.

This issue comes at a moment when Mimi Mondal, a Dalit writer, is named on a Hugo shortlist, and the mainstream media in India is showing an unprecedented interest in the presence of Indians in the global SF world. It's also a moment when the nation itself is both providing a great deal of fodder for speculative writing (as the participants in this week's roundtable discuss), and is itself subject to a sort of fantastic reimagining—one of the many real gaps in this issue is a consideration of the many recent depictions of a mythic Indian past. This feels like a perfect time to return to those questions of what Indian SF and fantasy is/does/might be.

We're excited to be able to bring you new fiction by Kuzhali Manickavel and Shankar Gopalakrishnan, as well as podcasts of these stories read by Supriya Nair and Shruti Iyer respectively; a roundtable featuring contributions from Prayaag Akbar, Tashan Mehta and Salik Shah; and reviews from Gautam Bhatia and Aditya Singh. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did!



Aishwarya Subramanian lives in the North of India, teaches English at a law school, and writes about children’s books, fantasy, space, and empire. She's on Twitter as @ActuallyAisha.
Current Issue
29 May 2023

We are touched and encouraged to see an overwhelming response from writers from the Sino diaspora as well as BIPOC creators in various parts of the world. And such diverse and daring takes of wuxia and xianxia, from contemporary to the far reaches of space!
By: L Chan
The air was redolent with machine oil; rich and unctuous, and synthesised alcohol, sharper than a knife on the tongue.
“Leaping Crane don’t want me to tell you this,” Poppy continued, “but I’m the most dangerous thing in the West. We’ll get you to your brother safe before you know it.”
Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace.
Winter storm: lightning flashes old ghosts on my blade.
transplanted from your temple and missing the persimmons in bloom
immigrant daughters dodge sharp barbs thrown in ambush 十面埋伏 from all directions
Many trans and marginalised people in our world can do the exact same things that everyone else has done to overcome challenges and find happiness, only for others to come in and do what they want as Ren Woxing did, and probably, when asked why, they would simply say Xiang Wentian: to ask the heavens. And perhaps we the readers, who are told this story from Linghu Chong’s point of view, should do more to question the actions of people before blindly following along to cause harm.
Before the Occupation, righteousness might have meant taking overt stands against the distant invaders of their ancestral homelands through donating money, labour, or expertise to Chinese wartime efforts. Yet during the Occupation, such behaviour would get one killed or suspected of treason; one might find it better to remain discreet and fade into the background, or leave for safer shores. Could one uphold justice and righteousness quietly, subtly, and effectively within such a world of harshness and deprivation?
Issue 22 May 2023
Issue 15 May 2023
Issue 8 May 2023
Issue 1 May 2023
Issue 24 Apr 2023
Issue 17 Apr 2023
Issue 10 Apr 2023
Issue 3 Apr 2023
Issue 27 Mar 2023
Issue 20 Mar 2023
Load More
%d bloggers like this: