Brave New World

Edited by Gautam Bhatia, Between Worlds Vol. 1 gathers young, first-time authors in a bold anthology that reimagines Indian speculative fiction

- Devarsi Ghosh

The charming USP of the Indian speculative fiction anthology Between Worlds Vol. 1 is that half the writers are debut authors. SF author Gautam Bhatia edited the collection from open submissions. This welcome faith in fresh voices is also what makes the collection wobbly; some of the stories display the amateur's fumbling in the dark. Good then that a sequel is promised, where much can be improved.

The speculative fiction supragenre includes science fiction, alternate history, fantasy, et al. The first principles of reality themselves become speculative. So most of these stories have strong hooks.