Latest news with #HarperCollinsIndia
Mint
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
In Katabasis, R.F. Kuang serves dark academia as literal hell
Dark academia is a sub-genre in fantasy fiction, often involving schools of magic, secret societies and evil experiments in the backdrop of a scholarly environment. But the darkest of dark academia novels is not fantasy at all—in Donna Tartt's The Secret History, the darkness comes not from magic but from human frailty. R.F. Kuang's much-awaited novel Katabasis (HarperCollins India) has much in common with Tartt's—ambitious, jealous, secretive academics; classical allusions; a growing grimness. But it's a hardcore fantasy novel that does something daring: it takes dark academia to its logical conclusion, literal hell. 'I am getting close to the end of a draft of 'Katabasis,' which comes out in 2025. It's another fantasy novel…," Kuang had told The Harvard Crimson back in 2023. 'It started as this cute, silly adventure novel about like, 'Haha, academia is hell.' And then I was writing it and I was like, 'Oh, no, academia is hell.'" Even without this useful cue card, I could tell that's where this novel—part satire, part adventure tale—was going with within a few pages. Set in an alternate universe where magic is an acknowledged though increasingly suspect force, Katabasis (which, in Greek mythology, refers to a hero's descent into the underworld) begins in Cambridge University, which has a department of 'analytic magick" ruled over by the talented and somewhat unscrupulous Professor Jacob Grimes. When Professor Grimes dies a gruesome death during a magical experiment, his PhD students Alice Law and Peter Murdoch decide to perform some forbidden and extremely risky magic of their own to descend into hell and fetch their adviser—so that he can sign their recommendation letters. This is not as far-fetched as it sounds—finishing a PhD, a culmination of years of tedium and insanely hard work, can seem like a matter of life and death to those brave enough to aim for it—and students of analytic magick have the added pressure of needing to find their footing in a world that scorns their discipline (like, say, students of literature in the real world today). Kuang does not shy away from drawing attention to the absurdity inherent in the situation. The most esoteric and philosophical descriptions of magic are bookended by ruminations on what the actual practice of it in academia entails—publishing papers, squabbling with peers for conference seats, vying for fellowships, gossip, backbiting and bitchiness. 'Success in this field demanded a forceful, single-minded capacity for self-delusion. Alice could tip over her world and construct planks of belief from nothing. She believed that finite quantities would never run out, that time could loop back on itself, and that any damage could be repaired," writes Kuang. In the same breath, she adds: 'She believed that academia was a meritocracy, that hard work was its own reward… that department pettiness could not touch you, so long as you kept your head down and did not complain." Talk about being delulu. It is an immutable law of fantasy novels that no matter how absurd the premise sounds, notwithstanding what the fantastic elements are an allegory of, the narrative has to be convincing enough for the reader to be enthralled by the hero's journey. We know that the predicaments Swift's Gulliver finds himself in are stand-ins for the evils in British society and politics, but we still care what happens to Gulliver. Susanna Clarke's astounding Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a send-up of Victorian-era social structures, but it has edge-of-the-seat tension. Katabasis pulls this off, but only to a certain extent. It reminded me a few times of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, a treatise on the history of philosophy thinly veiled as a novel, in which the stakes never quite feel high enough—though Sophie, like Alice in Katabasis (and her namesake from Lewis Carroll's work, signposted by the author early), have many thrilling adventures and near-escapes. Still, Kuang has dreamt up a fresh version of hell that feels both unfamiliar and not. Spoiler alert: it manifests itself to Alice and Peter as a university, with its eight courts or circles representing one aspect of academia: a sinister library that initially seems enchanting but is ultimately an exercise in tedium, a student residence with continuous, mind-numbing sex, and so on. Our protagonists chart hell using the accounts of Dante, Orpheus and, in an admirable intellectual stretch, T.S. Eliot—Kuang posits that The Wasteland is basically a description of hell—taking them as literal descriptions rather than allegory. The book is endlessly inventive, much like Kuang's most celebrated novel, Babel, again an epic fantasy about a group of magicians in an alternate Oxford that is ultimately a critique of colonialism. Kuang is a very skilled writer who can layer these multiple, complex themes and narratives into coherent plots (though sometimes at the cost of character ) that are immensely readable and fun in spite of their length and denseness. Still, her best work, according to me, is the relatively slighter Yellowface, a contemporary novel about publishing that satirises the industry's penchant for trending ideas and themes. It is her most self-aware work, in a way that doesn't draw attention to its cleverness like Babel and Katabasis often do. Read this genre-defying, intellectually stimulating and often weird novel for its story, then, especially the glimpses of life before hell for its protagonists when they grapple with more mundane challenges than crossing a river of eternal oblivion. Hell is other people, said Sartre. No, hell is a college, says Kuang. The novel is forthcoming in August.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
In conversation with Sanjena Sathian, author of Goddess Complex
What would you do if you found that there is an imposter out there living the life once prescribed to you? That there are questions about identity that need to be answered and choices that need to be made. You will probably feel lost (and perhaps even a little provoked), like Sanjana, the narrator in author Sanjena Sathian's latest novel, Goddess Complex (HarperCollins India). At once psychological thriller and feminist satire, the story delves into the personal and the political behind women's freedom and their right to choose. Edited excerpts from an interview with Sathian: Q: How much of your own life in the U.S. is reflected in your narrator Sanjana's dissonance — between being a 'bad brown girl' and feeling 'insufficiently' white? A: I will politely disagree with your characterisation of the novel. I don't think this book is about 'white versus brown identity'. Insofar as it is about a demographic identity category, it is about gender. That said, race is not something you can ignore in America, and so race comes up — often in comic ways that frustrate Sanjana. But I also have to say that neither the narrator nor I are torn between whiteness and brownness; we are both brown and neither of us has any desire to be white. I think it's important not to reduce Indian American storytelling. Q: The protagonist reaches a point in the story where she feels 'divorced from [her] body'. What was capturing that like? A: At the start of the novel, [Sanjana] tells us that she's recently had an abortion, and she then spends the first half of the novel being harangued by people who inexplicably think she's pregnant. I chose this somewhat darkly absurd situation to literalise what many women feel every day: even as we walk around thinking of ourselves as full humans, with desires and secrets and darkness, there are people out there looking at us as wombs with legs. That's uncanny. Q: The novel employs inner dialogue, retrospection and reflection as tools of storytelling; where the idea of the self constantly disperses and re-emerges. Did you choose this format or did it evolve with the story? A: I think you're talking about the novel's internal quality: we spend a lot of time in Sanjana's head. She's a first-person narrator, and an unreliable one. For much of the first half, we watch her decline and disintegrate in her own mind. Eventually, we see some of her inner messiness spill over into external messiness, i.e., the character's internal dramas become external plot points. I wrote it that way because that was how I got to know the character. I knew that she was going to be trapped in herself and that in order for the novel to have the alchemical effect on the reader, which novels can and should have, I would need [that to happen] at some point. Q: Between the Shout Your Abortion Movement and the recent shift in U.S. reproductive policy, where does 'Goddess Complex' fit in, in defining a woman's right to choose? A: Goddess Complex is a social novel; it's cognisant of social movements around reproductive rights, and the narrator is often reacting to those social movements and finds that some of the brave, social justice language of social media doesn't exactly work for her real life. [While] I do have characters talking about [these] social and political issues, the novel is set pre-Dobbs (the overruling of the fundamental right to abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022). Ultimately, it's a really personal story about one woman having a breakdown and going through some really weird stuff. It's not a book that can or should have to define a person's right to choose, because novels are not about defining rights. Novels are these radically hopeful objects that have to take for granted certain freedoms — freedom of thought, freedom of choice. Novels are too subtle, politically, to win rights for us. They can only give us insight into the private selfhood that political rights are there to preserve. Q: At what point do you feel womanhood becomes synonymous with motherhood? A: I don't think womanhood and motherhood are synonymous, but if you live in a society where the assumption is that all women are either potential mothers or people who should have been mothers but failed to be, then you lose the ability to understand womanhood outside of motherhood. Personally, I'm not even that interested in defining 'womanhood' at all. I'm interested in the self, and all the ways that our arbitrary social stories interfere with knowing our true selves. The interviewer is a freelance writer. Instagram @
News18
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
The Chola Tigers by Amish to release on August 29
New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) Bestselling author Amish's upcoming book 'The Chola Tigers", the second installment in his Indic Chronicles, will hit the stands on August 29, announced publishing house Harper Collins India on Tuesday. The historical fiction, which builds on the world introduced in the author's 2020 bestseller 'Legend of Suheldev", is touted to be a 'thrilling historical saga of defiance, honour and redemption it celebrates the indomitable spirit of India". The book's cover was released by Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. ''The Chola Tigers' is an exhilarating story in which Emperor Rajendra Chola, the mightiest man of his era, orders a daring surgical strike on Ghazni in response to Sultan Mahmud's attack on the Somnath temple. 'This work of historical fiction is linked to my 2020 release 'Legend of Suheldev'. It is about a mission ordered by one of the greatest Tamilians ever, Emperor Rajendra Chola," Amish, author of 'Shiva Trilogy' and 'Ram Chandra Series', said in a statement. The plot unfolds around Mahmud of Ghazni's devastating attack on the revered Somnath temple, sparking response from the era's most powerful monarch, emperor Rajendra Chola as 'he summons a squad of defiant assassins to embark on a perilous quest and bring the fearsome enemy to his knees". According to the publisher, 'The Chola Tigers" explores the profound question: 'How far would you go to defend dharma and your country's honour?" 'The new novel is vintage Amish — a sweeping historical saga that is pacy, dramatic, simmering with political intrigue and personal vendetta, and heart-rending in its scenes of sacrifice and retribution. At its heart it masterfully explores the depths of human courage and resilience, and the indomitable spirit of a nation that refuses to be broken," said Poulomi Chatterjee, executive Publisher at HarperCollins India. Amish's previous books have sold more than 8 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. PTI MG BK BK (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: July 22, 2025, 17:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Business Standard
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Standard
HarperCollins India is delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of The Chola Tigers: Avengers of Somnath
PRNewswire New Delhi [India], July 22: Scheduled for release on 29 August 2025, The Chola Tigers is the second book in Amish's Indic Chronicles, after the bestselling Legend of Suheldev. A thrilling historical saga of defiance, honour and redemption it celebrates the indomitable spirit of India. When the ruthless tyrant Mahmud of Ghazni destroys the sacred temple of Somnath, the greatest ruler of the time, Emperor Rajendra Chola, summons a squad of defiant assassins to embark on a perilous quest and bring the fearsome enemy to his knees. This historical fiction title builds on the world introduced in the 2020 bestseller Legend of Suheldev, which garnered widespread appreciation from readers and went on to become a bestseller. Pacy and action-packed, The Chola Tigers, explores the profound question: How far would you go to defend dharma and your country's honour? On the occasion of the book's announcement, Amish, author, says, "The Chola Tigers is an exhilarating story in which Emperor Rajendra Chola, the mightiest man of his era, orders a daring surgical strike on Ghazni in response to Sultan Mahmud's attack on the Somnath temple. This work of historical fiction is linked to my 2020 release Legend of Suheldev. It is about a mission ordered by one of the greatest Tamilians ever, Emperor Rajendra Chola. And it is a great honour that the cover of this book was released by one of the greatest Tamilians alive and an Indian treasure, Rajinikanth ji." Poulomi Chatterjee, Executive Publisher -- HarperCollins India, adds, "Amish has brilliantly reimagined our beloved legends and epics, and episodes from medieval Indian history, for millions of people across the country to enjoy afresh. The new novel is vintage Amish--a sweeping historical saga that is pacy, dramatic, simmering with political intrigue and personal vendetta, and heart-rending in its scenes of sacrifice and retribution. At its heart it masterfully explores the depths of human courage and resilience, and the indomitable spirit of a nation that refuses to be broken. It's going to keep readers spellbound until the final page, and we can't be happier to publish it!" ABOUT THE CHOLA TIGERS The place will be of their choosing. The time will be of their choosing. But the Indians will have their vengeance. 1025 CE, India. Mahmud of Ghazni believes he has crushed the spirit of Bharat--the Shiva Linga at the Somnath temple lies shattered and thousands are dead. But among the ashes of destruction, an oath is taken. Five people--a Tamil warrior, a Gujarati merchant, a devotee of Lord Ayyappa, a scholar-emperor from Malwa, and the most powerful man on Earth, Emperor Rajendra Chola--resolve to undertake a perilous quest and strike at the heart of the invader's kingdom. From the grandeur of the Chola Empire to the shadows of Ghazni's bloodstained court, The Chola Tigers is the scintillating story of a fierce retaliation. A story of unity forged through pain, of courage born from despair, and of vengeance that becomes Dharma. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Amish is a 1974-born, IIM (Kolkata)-educated banker-turned-author. The success of his debut book, The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), encouraged him to give up his career in financial services to focus on writing. Besides being an author, he is also a broadcaster, the founder of a video gaming company, a film producer and a former diplomat with the Indian government. Amish is passionate about history, spirituality and philosophy, finding beauty and meaning in all world religions. His books have sold more than 8 million copies and have been translated into 21 languages. His Shiva Trilogy is the fastest-selling and his Ram Chandra Series the second-fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history. His books in The Indic Chronicles, which are based on medieval Indian history, are also blockbuster bestsellers. You can connect with Amish here: ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS INDIA HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live!, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India is also the recipient of five Publisher of the Year Awards - in 2021 and 2015 at the Publishing Next Industry Awards, and in 2021, 2018 and 2016 at Tata Literature Live. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.
The Hindu
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Amitava Kumar on Books That Shaped Him—And Why Reading Should Hurt a Little
Published : Jul 06, 2025 10:16 IST - 8 MINS READ Amitava Kumar is the author of several works of nonfiction including Husband of a Fanatic, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb, A Matter of Rats, and four novels, including Immigrant, Montana, whichwas on the best of the year lists at The New Yorker, The New York Times, and former US President Barack Obama's list of favourite books of 2018, and A Time Outside This Time. Kumar's latest, My Beloved Life (2024), was praised by James Wood as 'beautiful, truthful fiction'. Three volumes of his diaries and drawings were published by HarperCollins India. His work, often exploring migration, identity, and global issues, has appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's, Guernica, and The Nation. Kumar was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016, a Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library (2023-24), and residencies from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Lannan Foundation, and the Hawthornden Foundation. He is professor of English at Vassar College, where he holds the Helen D. Lockwood Chair. Kumar has written with grace and style about the complexities of identity and migration in his novels, essays, and reportage. With keen observation and deep curiosity, his work across genres reflects a lifelong love of books that have shaped both his craft and life. In this new column for Frontline on books that have shaped different writers, public intellectuals, activists, etc., he spoke about the authors and books that left a lasting impression on him—from his school days in Patna to his college years in Delhi, and later when he moved to the US for further studies. He also shares his favourite books, the ones he gifts to family and friends, and books he often revisits for inspiration. How will you define your relationship with books and reading? How have your reading tastes evolved over the years as you got older? I wish I had more time to read. When my students at the college where I teach ask me if they should pursue higher education, I'm in two minds: on the one hand, there are fewer jobs for English PhDs, but, on the other hand, you read so much when you are a student. I only became a real reader when I was doing my PhD. I had asked my dissertation director how much should I read, and he had replied, 'You should read till your eyes bleed.' Tell us about your earliest reading memory from childhood that made an impression? Was it a book in English, or Hindi? I must have been 12 or 13. I had gone early to a cinema hall in Patna to buy tickets for my sisters and others. I got the tickets and then opened the book The Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham. I had recently borrowed it from the British Library in Patna, which is now gone. I was surprised that I understood what I was reading and that it gave me pleasure. This was a late start but it was a real introduction to the pleasures of reading. Any particular book or story from your childhood years that holds a special place in your heart? You know, textbooks are often unimaginative, boring things. And they are anathema to any notion of delight that reading affords. And we have mastered this fatal art in India. Many bookshops, including in my hometown Patna, offer mostly textbooks for sale. It is a disease caused by commerce. But my own experience with textbooks was different in one crucial respect. When I came to Delhi from Bihar for my higher secondary, my English textbook had the writings of Maugham whom I have mentioned before, but also Khushwant Singh, George Orwell, Dom Moraes, S. Radhakrishnan, Nissim Ezekiel, Edward Thomas. Those textbooks have a special place in my heart. Also Read | Class differences are very important wherever or whenever you look: Abdulrazak Gurnah Any book or author(s) that profoundly influenced you as a young man while studying in a college in New Delhi? I was staying in the Hindu College hostel when pursuing my MA. I didn't have a room of my own and a friend very kindly let me sleep on his floor. On his desk he had among his books to help him with his civil services exams, a copy of V.S. Naipaul's Finding the Centre. My friend wasn't literary; I have no idea how he came to acquire that book. There are two narratives in it and the first one is about Naipaul's literary beginnings and his discovery of the vocation of writing. It was an education to read that account and I have always cherished it. Book or books that made you want to become a writer? Well, the book I just mentioned to you is certainly a part of that self-fashioning. So much of Naipaul's work is problematic in its judgments but because he is always dramatising the process of writing, he becomes very attractive to anyone who wants to pursue writing. Any particular books or authors you find yourself returning to often, and why? I have always been fascinated with the ways in which J.M. Coetzee examines the workings of power and shame in his books. I'm thinking of Waiting for the Barbarians and Disgrace. I like the intellectual probing that he does in his other books too. In recent years, I have been drawn to Annie Ernaux's books. I like her for her intelligence and clarity. Also, her books are short! A book that is your comfort read, on your bedside, that you often revisit for inspiration or pleasure? I think reading is good when it disturbs you—which is the opposite of comfort. I'm lucky to have several friends who are writers. When I pick up their books, I feel I'm once again in conversation with them. It is no different from when I'm sitting with them, sharing a meal or having drinks. For that purpose, over the past few months, I have re-read Teju Cole's Tremor and Open City, and Zadie Smith's Feel Free and Embassy of Cambodia. Any book or books that you often give away as a gift to family members or close friends? I don't give the same book to people—even though I was intrigued by a woman who once told me that she gave men she was intimate with Roland Barthes's A Lover's Discourse. In recent months, I have gifted my son books by Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates and my daughter, who is an English major, books by Sheila Heti, Sigrid Nunez, Claire Messud and Rachel Kushner. Are there some books or authors you discovered later in life that made a deep impression on you? As it happens, one of my editors at Granta, Thomas Meaney, has written about a fascist writer named Curzio Malaparte. I read the piece and was fired up by Meaney's vivid prose but I was also faced by the question—why had I never known about this writer? I really feel that so much of what I have read has come late in my life. And there is so much that I have not read. During COVID, thanks to Yiyun Li, I read War and Peace. And Moby Dick. In both these writers I loved the way in which fiction gave way to essays. What are you currently reading? Any recent book written by an Indian author—in fiction, non-fiction, or poetry—that you would highly recommend? Later this month, I have to teach a writing workshop at the New York Public Library for schoolteachers. For that, I'm reading Reality Hunger by David Shields and the novella So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell. I really enjoyed Sakina's Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag. Two books by younger Indian writers I liked were Neha Dixit's The Many Lives of Syeda X and Saharu Kannanari's Chronicle of an Hour and a Half. Your go-to Indian classic? One that you would recommend everyone should read? I have always liked Pankaj Mishra's Butter Chicken in Ludhiana. I saw him in London recently and he was kind enough to give a copy of that book to my son. In the hotel room that night, I re-read the opening pages. So funny, so sharp. Also Read | I was writing unwritten history: Easterine Kire Can you name a few lesser-known books by Indian authors in any genre you wish more people would discover and read? Had it not been for the wretched IPL [Indian Premier League], so many talented cricketers would not get their moment in the spotlight. I think the same applies to writing. A few are chosen and the rest toil in the shadows. If you look at the numbers, so much mindless verbiage dominates the market. Literary fiction in India still awaits discovery, especially in languages other than English. Name a few books that have changed or influenced your understanding of contemporary India and your place in it? Over the past few years, I have liked reading Snigdha Poonam's Dreamers, Mansi Choksi's The Newlyweds, and Arundhati Roy's My Seditious Heart. Any book(s) that best captures the spirit of your home city? The books by Siddharth Chowdhury, starting with Patna Roughcut, have moments that are deeply authentic and they pierce my heart. You are hosting a literary dinner party and you can invite only three Indian writers, authors, poets, both living or dead. Who would you like to invite, and why? Next week, I'm having dinner with two writer friends, Kiran Desai and Sabrina Dhawan. We are going to have fun. Who else could I invite to make it even more enjoyable? I have met Vikram Seth but not for any length of time. I think he would be smart and hilarious. Could you find out if he is free on Sunday at 7:30 pm? Majid Maqbool is an independent journalist and writer based in Kashmir. Bookmarks is a fortnightly column where writers reflect on the books that shaped their ideas, work, and ways of seeing the world.
