Prayaag Akbar’s 2017 dystopian novel Leila has been recently adapted into a Netflix series. (Source: File Photo) Prayaag Akbar’s 2017 dystopian novel Leila has been recently adapted into a Netflix series. (Source: File Photo)

Prayaag Akbar’s 2017 dystopian novel Leila is both chilling and eerily emblematic of our times. The book presents a compelling picture of an India which is segregated and obsessed with caste and class. It works both, as a social commentary and a cautionary message for the future.

Akbar’s novel has been recently adapted into a Netflix series, with Huma Qureshi at the helm. In case you are planning to binge watch it, here are some other Indian dystopian novels you can read.

The Simoqin Prophecies by Samit Basu

Basu’s work is starkly original and his distinct voice marks his prose. (Source: Amazon.in) Basu’s work is starkly original and his distinct voice marks his prose. (Source: Amazon.in)

The first in the GameWorld trilogy, this 2004 novel is an alluring mix of eastern and western fantasy and features ancient and mythic creatures from both. The plot revolves around the two prophecies made regarding the rakshas, Danh-Gem, and the arrival of a hero who will face him. In this universe, the protectors are not ready, rather need to be trained for the task. Basu’s work is starkly original and his distinct voice marks his prose.

Available at: Amazon

Price: ₹335

Animal’s People by Indra Sinha

Sinha’s novel was shortlisted for the Sinha’s novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007. (Source: Amazon.in)

Sinha’s novel that was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize: Best Book From Europe & South Asia in 2008 challenges one of the basic accepted tenets of dystopian fiction: whether a story needs to be set in the future to qualify as disturbing, considering enough horrific incidents have their roots in the present already. One of them being the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Set in a fictitious Indian city called Khaufpur, the novel’s protagonist is a boy, born days before the horrific tragedy and owing to his way of walking on all fours, earning the epithet of an animal.

Available at: Amazon

Price: ₹407

Aliens in Delhi by Sami Ahmad Khan

In Khan’s novel, ISI and RAW come together. (Source: Amazon.in) In Khan’s novel, ISI and RAW come together. (Source: Amazon.in)

In Khan’s novel, ISI and RAW not only come together but collectively agree that keeping a check on the borders of Pakistan and India might not be their most compelling problem. The reason being, an extra-terrestrial race of reptiloids have not only arrived on Earth but are also intending to turn technology against us, threatening the very existence of humanity.

Available at: Amazon

Price: ₹298

Escape by Manjula Padmanabhan

The novel paints a disturbing portrait of an alternative universe and uses the body of a woman as both, the reason and the means of resistance. (Source: Amazon.in) The novel paints a disturbing portrait of an alternative universe and uses the body of a woman as both, the reason and the means of resistance. (Source: Amazon.in)

In Padmanabhan’s novel, Meiji is unique because she is the only woman in her land. Raised by her uncles, Eldest, Middle and Youngest, they have braved several obstacles but things get difficult once she hits puberty. The novel paints a disturbing portrait of an alternative universe and uses the body of a woman as both, the reason and the means of resistance.

Available at: Flipkart

Price: ₹499

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