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The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Science Fiction (2023)Shantiport was supposed to be a gateway to the stars. But the city is sinking, and its colonist rulers aren’t helping anyone but themselves.
Lina, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, has no desire to escape Shantiport. She loves her city and would do anything to save its people. This is, in fact, the plan for her life, made before she was even born.
Her brother, Bador, is a small monkey bot with a big attitude and bigger ambitions. He wants a chance to leave this dead-end planet and explore the universe on his own terms. But that would mean abandoning the family he loves―even if they do take him for granted.
When Shantiport's resident tech billionaire coerces Lina into retrieving a powerful artifact rumored to be able to reshape reality, forces from before their time begin coalescing around the siblings. And when you throw in a piece of sentient, off-world tech with the ability to grant three wishes into the mix… None of the city's powers will know what hit them.
Lina, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, has no desire to escape Shantiport. She loves her city and would do anything to save its people. This is, in fact, the plan for her life, made before she was even born.
Her brother, Bador, is a small monkey bot with a big attitude and bigger ambitions. He wants a chance to leave this dead-end planet and explore the universe on his own terms. But that would mean abandoning the family he loves―even if they do take him for granted.
When Shantiport's resident tech billionaire coerces Lina into retrieving a powerful artifact rumored to be able to reshape reality, forces from before their time begin coalescing around the siblings. And when you throw in a piece of sentient, off-world tech with the ability to grant three wishes into the mix… None of the city's powers will know what hit them.
404 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2023
About the author
Samit Basu
72 books481 followersSamit Basu is an Indian novelist best known for his fantasy and science fiction work
Samit's most recent novel, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, was published by Tordotcom in the US and Canada in Oct 2023.
His previous novel, the anti-dystopian near-future The City Inside (Tordotcom, '22) was on the Washington Post and Book Riot best SFF of 2022 lists and earlier shortlisted for the 2020 JCB Prize (India) as Chosen Spirits.
Samit's first novel, The Simoqin Prophecies, published by Penguin India in 2003, when Samit was 23, was the first book in the bestselling Gameworld Trilogy and marked the beginning of Indian English fantasy writing. The other books in the trilogy are The Manticore’s Secret and The Unwaba Revelations.
Samit’s US/UK debut, the superhero novel Turbulence was published in the UK in 2012 and in the US in 2013 to rave reviews. It won Wired‘s Goldenbot Award as one of the books of 2012 and was superheronovels.com’s Book of the Year for 2013.
Samit has also written children's books, published short stories for adults and younger readers in Indian and international anthologies, and has been a columnist and essayist in several leading Indian and international publications.
Samit also works as a screenwriter and director. His debut film, House Arrest, was released as part of Netflix’s International Originals in 2019, and was one of Netflix’s top 5 most viewed Indian films that year. He wrote the film and co-directed it with Shashanka Ghosh.
Samit’s work in comics ranges from historical romance to zombie comedy, and includes diverse collaborators, from Girl With All The Gifts/X-Men writer MR Carey to Terry Gilliam and Duran Duran.
Samit was born in Calcutta, educated in Calcutta and London, and currently works between Delhi and Kolkata. He runs a newsletter, Duck of Dystopia (samit.substack.com) and can be found on social media at @samitbasu, and at samitbasu.com
Samit's most recent novel, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, was published by Tordotcom in the US and Canada in Oct 2023.
His previous novel, the anti-dystopian near-future The City Inside (Tordotcom, '22) was on the Washington Post and Book Riot best SFF of 2022 lists and earlier shortlisted for the 2020 JCB Prize (India) as Chosen Spirits.
Samit's first novel, The Simoqin Prophecies, published by Penguin India in 2003, when Samit was 23, was the first book in the bestselling Gameworld Trilogy and marked the beginning of Indian English fantasy writing. The other books in the trilogy are The Manticore’s Secret and The Unwaba Revelations.
Samit’s US/UK debut, the superhero novel Turbulence was published in the UK in 2012 and in the US in 2013 to rave reviews. It won Wired‘s Goldenbot Award as one of the books of 2012 and was superheronovels.com’s Book of the Year for 2013.
Samit has also written children's books, published short stories for adults and younger readers in Indian and international anthologies, and has been a columnist and essayist in several leading Indian and international publications.
Samit also works as a screenwriter and director. His debut film, House Arrest, was released as part of Netflix’s International Originals in 2019, and was one of Netflix’s top 5 most viewed Indian films that year. He wrote the film and co-directed it with Shashanka Ghosh.
Samit’s work in comics ranges from historical romance to zombie comedy, and includes diverse collaborators, from Girl With All The Gifts/X-Men writer MR Carey to Terry Gilliam and Duran Duran.
Samit was born in Calcutta, educated in Calcutta and London, and currently works between Delhi and Kolkata. He runs a newsletter, Duck of Dystopia (samit.substack.com) and can be found on social media at @samitbasu, and at samitbasu.com
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March 7, 2023This is a bonkers enjoyable SF romp, a serious spec-fic about oligarchy and colonialism and environmental collapse and freedom, a postmodern delve into layers of narrative and the meaning of stories, a deeply affectionate, funny satire of beloved SF and folklore tropes, and a desperately sweet romance* drawn with wonderful subtlety. It is all of those things all at once. How it works I could not say, but it really does.
(*Not the romance you think you'll be getting, btw. Nooope.)
Basically: Shantiport is a city collapsing on itself, ruled by oligarchs and clans, on an unimportant world without governance which everyone knows to be doomed. Lina is the daughter of a pair of aspiring revolutionaries, groomed to overthrow the powers that be. Her brother Bador is a monkey-bot and bot liberation believer, also chaos gremlin. Moku is a mysterious piece of technology: a flying disc whose function is to observe and record a client, and narrate their story. The three of them are sorta kinda working towards the same aim (revolution), aided by the discovery of a piece of ancient tech which is, let's face it, a bot-Jinn of the Lamp that grants three wishes in free trial mode (more wishes may be unlocked in unlimited mode).
I am not going into any further detail because a) spoilers and b) much of the fun here is the way the plot careers around corners and up walls, frequently on two wheels. Much of the rest of the fun springs from Bador, who is glorious and ridiculous and gets most of the best lines, including the bit about a bus full of monkeys which had me howling. But all of this is totally grounded by Basu's remarkable ability to White Queen**: to be taking the mickey, playing with tropes, undercutting characters, and messing about with narrative, while at the same time telling a serious, heartfelt story with high stakes, enthralling action, and engaging characters we care desperately about.
**to believe, simultaneously, six impossible things. Before breakfast.
A wildly exuberant mash-up of top-class storytelling, gleeful mockery, and thoroughly human characters, and the most fun I have had with SF in ages.
I had an ARC from the publishers. /hands over first-born as agreed/
(*Not the romance you think you'll be getting, btw. Nooope.)
Basically: Shantiport is a city collapsing on itself, ruled by oligarchs and clans, on an unimportant world without governance which everyone knows to be doomed. Lina is the daughter of a pair of aspiring revolutionaries, groomed to overthrow the powers that be. Her brother Bador is a monkey-bot and bot liberation believer, also chaos gremlin. Moku is a mysterious piece of technology: a flying disc whose function is to observe and record a client, and narrate their story. The three of them are sorta kinda working towards the same aim (revolution), aided by the discovery of a piece of ancient tech which is, let's face it, a bot-Jinn of the Lamp that grants three wishes in free trial mode (more wishes may be unlocked in unlimited mode).
I am not going into any further detail because a) spoilers and b) much of the fun here is the way the plot careers around corners and up walls, frequently on two wheels. Much of the rest of the fun springs from Bador, who is glorious and ridiculous and gets most of the best lines, including the bit about a bus full of monkeys which had me howling. But all of this is totally grounded by Basu's remarkable ability to White Queen**: to be taking the mickey, playing with tropes, undercutting characters, and messing about with narrative, while at the same time telling a serious, heartfelt story with high stakes, enthralling action, and engaging characters we care desperately about.
**to believe, simultaneously, six impossible things. Before breakfast.
A wildly exuberant mash-up of top-class storytelling, gleeful mockery, and thoroughly human characters, and the most fun I have had with SF in ages.
I had an ARC from the publishers. /hands over first-born as agreed/
September 20, 2023
4.0 Stars
After previously loving author's novella, The City Inside, I eager to read a longer work by them. Thankfully it did not disappoint.
This is the kind of modern science fiction I loved to see getting published. The worldbuilding was weird and kooky in the best episode. I loved the themes and ideas explored in this novel surrounding privilege. This also had some of the most interesting use of an artificial character.
I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a new innovative science fiction story that explores some creative ideas.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
After previously loving author's novella, The City Inside, I eager to read a longer work by them. Thankfully it did not disappoint.
This is the kind of modern science fiction I loved to see getting published. The worldbuilding was weird and kooky in the best episode. I loved the themes and ideas explored in this novel surrounding privilege. This also had some of the most interesting use of an artificial character.
I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a new innovative science fiction story that explores some creative ideas.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Shelved as 'interested-in'
March 1, 2024this is apparently a sci fi retelling of Aladdin and that robot monkey on the cover 100% sold me❗️
August 6, 2023
Samit Basu is one of the smartest, most entertaining writers working in SF today — this was an utter delight from first to last, fizzing with ideas and originality.
October 8, 2023
Initial Thoughts:
This was all over the place that I'm not even sure what the main point was supposed to be.
I did love Tanai though. I'd read a spinoff with his space adventures in a heartbeat.
Review:
It's taken me over a week to write a review because I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I absolutely loved the world building and the main characters: Moku, Bador, and Lina. On the other hand, the main plotline and subplots were such a mess to the point where I wasn't sure what the message was supposed to be about. Multiple plotlines take finesse, and I don't think the author stuck the landing here.
I'll start off with the things I loved.
The world building was excellent! (Although I did wish it would've extended beyond the city/district of Shantiport itself, but that's just me being nitpicky.) You can definitely feel the cyberpunk/Blade Runner vibes. There are descriptions of various parts of Shantiport, with places that are rundown and flooded, and places that read more working class, or middle class, or 1%. Bots and AI are so well integrated into this society that you can't even imagine this world without them.
This is cyberpunk at its finest.
I loved seeing Shantiport through Moku's eyes, who was a generic sort of bot character at first, who then developed a personality and started seeing people and events subjectively instead of objectively. Moku goes through a whole hero's journey sort of arc and it was really cool to read and experience.
And via Moku, it was cool to read about the other two main characters: Lina and Bador. They're total polar opposites so their POVs provide huge contrasts to what they personally deem as important vs. not important. Bador believes in bot's rights and his own personhood. Lina wants what's best for Shantiport and she'll pretty much do anything for it.
So, for the negatives...
The plot was a total mess. We have Bador doing his thing, trying to get famous by battling bots/mechas in some citywide tournament where Shantiport itself is the battleground/backdrop. Then, there's Lina doing her own thing, which is...
Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what Lina was doing. Something about a revolution? Then halfway through, she fell in love with the Not-prince. This was such a weird romance that made no sense and had no chemistry. We're told that they find each other attractive, but the whole relationship felt very wooden, like I was reading a script of what instalove is supposed to be like.
The entire revolution plotline made absolutely ZERO sense. We have an all-powerful jinn-bot AI alien tech that's capable of toppling entire governments and establishing new ones, but this wasn't really explained. Absolute chaos ensues and that's pretty much the entire book.
Interwoven between the revolution plotline was another convoluted plotline about Lina's family. Her parents are old revolutionaries and a figure from their past plays a huge role in Shantiport politics. It all felt like the book was trying too hard to do too much all at once, so it was very hard to understand how everything was interrelated.
Or maybe I'm just a dumbass. Idk.
Also, what was the point of Tanai's character? Don't get me wrong, the dude was cool af and I'd love to read an entire novel about his life story, but ultimately it was another random plotline that definitely didn't fit in with the larger context at all. If his character and subplot were taken out, the story would've been fine.
The one thing I really disliked about this book was Lina and Bador's mother, and their interactions. The dialogue between all three felt very unnatural, like if you asked a chatbot to write dialogue between adult children and their mother. No one talks like that. It was so weird to read.
Anyway, the takeaway I got from this was that revolutions are messy, so let's not bother with them. The people in power are still in power and any hints of a democracy doesn't even exist anymore.
So, what the hell was the point?
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
This was all over the place that I'm not even sure what the main point was supposed to be.
I did love Tanai though. I'd read a spinoff with his space adventures in a heartbeat.
Review:
It's taken me over a week to write a review because I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I absolutely loved the world building and the main characters: Moku, Bador, and Lina. On the other hand, the main plotline and subplots were such a mess to the point where I wasn't sure what the message was supposed to be about. Multiple plotlines take finesse, and I don't think the author stuck the landing here.
I'll start off with the things I loved.
The world building was excellent! (Although I did wish it would've extended beyond the city/district of Shantiport itself, but that's just me being nitpicky.) You can definitely feel the cyberpunk/Blade Runner vibes. There are descriptions of various parts of Shantiport, with places that are rundown and flooded, and places that read more working class, or middle class, or 1%. Bots and AI are so well integrated into this society that you can't even imagine this world without them.
This is cyberpunk at its finest.
I loved seeing Shantiport through Moku's eyes, who was a generic sort of bot character at first, who then developed a personality and started seeing people and events subjectively instead of objectively. Moku goes through a whole hero's journey sort of arc and it was really cool to read and experience.
And via Moku, it was cool to read about the other two main characters: Lina and Bador. They're total polar opposites so their POVs provide huge contrasts to what they personally deem as important vs. not important. Bador believes in bot's rights and his own personhood. Lina wants what's best for Shantiport and she'll pretty much do anything for it.
So, for the negatives...
The plot was a total mess. We have Bador doing his thing, trying to get famous by battling bots/mechas in some citywide tournament where Shantiport itself is the battleground/backdrop. Then, there's Lina doing her own thing, which is...
Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what Lina was doing. Something about a revolution? Then halfway through, she fell in love with the Not-prince. This was such a weird romance that made no sense and had no chemistry. We're told that they find each other attractive, but the whole relationship felt very wooden, like I was reading a script of what instalove is supposed to be like.
The entire revolution plotline made absolutely ZERO sense. We have an all-powerful jinn-bot AI alien tech that's capable of toppling entire governments and establishing new ones, but this wasn't really explained. Absolute chaos ensues and that's pretty much the entire book.
Interwoven between the revolution plotline was another convoluted plotline about Lina's family. Her parents are old revolutionaries and a figure from their past plays a huge role in Shantiport politics. It all felt like the book was trying too hard to do too much all at once, so it was very hard to understand how everything was interrelated.
Or maybe I'm just a dumbass. Idk.
Also, what was the point of Tanai's character? Don't get me wrong, the dude was cool af and I'd love to read an entire novel about his life story, but ultimately it was another random plotline that definitely didn't fit in with the larger context at all. If his character and subplot were taken out, the story would've been fine.
The one thing I really disliked about this book was Lina and Bador's mother, and their interactions. The dialogue between all three felt very unnatural, like if you asked a chatbot to write dialogue between adult children and their mother. No one talks like that. It was so weird to read.
Anyway, the takeaway I got from this was that revolutions are messy, so let's not bother with them. The people in power are still in power and any hints of a democracy doesn't even exist anymore.
So, what the hell was the point?
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
April 3, 2023
The Perfect Novel Doesn't Exi--
Well, it didn't until The Jinn-bot of Shantiport came into existence.
Uproariously funny, poignantly philosophical, filled with superb world-building, cinematic action and refreshing romance, this is an absolute marvel of a book. From meditations on bot rights to spectacular mecha fights and stylishly taking down the system, this book is so much fun, with so many unpredictable but rewarding twists. Plus, the narration is genius (no spoilers).
I didn't want this novel to end, ever and when you read it, you won't want it to either, I promise.
Well, it didn't until The Jinn-bot of Shantiport came into existence.
Uproariously funny, poignantly philosophical, filled with superb world-building, cinematic action and refreshing romance, this is an absolute marvel of a book. From meditations on bot rights to spectacular mecha fights and stylishly taking down the system, this book is so much fun, with so many unpredictable but rewarding twists. Plus, the narration is genius (no spoilers).
I didn't want this novel to end, ever and when you read it, you won't want it to either, I promise.
Read
February 9, 2024DNF at 60%
I love the cover of this book. It's what drew me to it in the first place. The content, however, was rather disappointing. Part of it is due to the rather non-existent worldbuilding.
There is the city of Shantiport that might or might not be sinking, and it's implied that it's part of a bigger inter-galactic civilization, but we don't get much more details than that. What planet is this on? How is this civilization organized? Why are people fleeing it? Is it really sinking? There are hints here and there, but they never form a coherent picture.
Problem is, since I can't see the overall picture, I don't understand the stakes. And since I don't understand the stakes, I can't really get invested in the characters' fights. Will a revolution be good for Shantiport? How is that better or worse than what they have now?
Another reason for my gradual lack of interest with this book is that the author chose to tell this story through the eyes of dispassionate (at least at first) observer. Yes, Moku ends up getting involved in the action and even taking sides, but it was a little too late for me.
Since Moku can't read Lina or Bador's minds (after Bador blocks him), he can only observe their actions and speculate to their motives. Problem is, they show very little, especially Lina, who had to live with constant surveillance all her life and learned to show a blank mask to the world in most occasions. It's an interesting concept in theory, but a boring read in execution. I can't empathize with a character if I have no clue what their motives are. Both Lina and Bador appear shallow and self-centered at times because of their actions, since the reader isn't privy to their motivations. Which also means that some of their actions come a bit out of the left field as well.
The pacing of the book is also very slow. The action sequences are fun, especially Bador's intervention during the fight between two giant robots, but they are few and far between. What we have most of the time are pages upon pages of dialog (and sometimes monolog) that go absolutely nowhere. And since the characters are under surveillance, they speak in riddles, which makes those passages even more convoluted and, honestly, boring to read.
I am very disappointed in this book. The cover drew me in and promised something fun and original, but the content let me down.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love the cover of this book. It's what drew me to it in the first place. The content, however, was rather disappointing. Part of it is due to the rather non-existent worldbuilding.
There is the city of Shantiport that might or might not be sinking, and it's implied that it's part of a bigger inter-galactic civilization, but we don't get much more details than that. What planet is this on? How is this civilization organized? Why are people fleeing it? Is it really sinking? There are hints here and there, but they never form a coherent picture.
Problem is, since I can't see the overall picture, I don't understand the stakes. And since I don't understand the stakes, I can't really get invested in the characters' fights. Will a revolution be good for Shantiport? How is that better or worse than what they have now?
Another reason for my gradual lack of interest with this book is that the author chose to tell this story through the eyes of dispassionate (at least at first) observer. Yes, Moku ends up getting involved in the action and even taking sides, but it was a little too late for me.
Since Moku can't read Lina or Bador's minds (after Bador blocks him), he can only observe their actions and speculate to their motives. Problem is, they show very little, especially Lina, who had to live with constant surveillance all her life and learned to show a blank mask to the world in most occasions. It's an interesting concept in theory, but a boring read in execution. I can't empathize with a character if I have no clue what their motives are. Both Lina and Bador appear shallow and self-centered at times because of their actions, since the reader isn't privy to their motivations. Which also means that some of their actions come a bit out of the left field as well.
The pacing of the book is also very slow. The action sequences are fun, especially Bador's intervention during the fight between two giant robots, but they are few and far between. What we have most of the time are pages upon pages of dialog (and sometimes monolog) that go absolutely nowhere. And since the characters are under surveillance, they speak in riddles, which makes those passages even more convoluted and, honestly, boring to read.
I am very disappointed in this book. The cover drew me in and promised something fun and original, but the content let me down.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2023
*4.5 stars rounded up
Lina, a travel guide and her brother Bador, a monkey-bot with emoji eyes, live in the city of Shantiport, once a gateway to space but is now run down and ruled in part by the oligarch Shakun Antim, Oldport contractor Paneera, and the Tiger Clan.
Bador’s dream? To win the bot tournament and become a space-faring adventurer. Oh, and to advocate for bot rights.
Lina’s dream? To rebuild Shantiport back to its former glory by overthrowing the power structures in a bloodless revolution and overcome divisions and inequalities at the core.
Along the way Bador discovers Moku, a bot inside a container buried in the river, who helps Lina and Bador by trying to unlock encrypted vaults where their family archives and private journals have been hidden away after their father’s disappearance.
My favorite part of this book? Moku! He narrates the story, which makes sense because he’s a story-bot, processing the life narratives of his users by studying their behavior and physical data from his surrounding. I adored the way he became so attached to Lina and Bador, and his humorous view of the world. If you’ve enjoyed the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, you need to pick up this book!
Basu has a gift for creative world-building, something I noticed right away in his novella, The City Inside. He’s definitely upped his game here! The world of Shantiport was complex, from the governmental systems to the technology to the setting. I’ve never seen an Aladdin retelling done quite like this before. It was amazing!
What brought the story down for me just a bit was the final third. I felt either there was non-stop action or pages of philosophical monologues. The pacing and structure could have been tightened up a bit.
But besides that, this was such a fun book to read! I was impressed with Basu’s imagination and character-work. I will absolutely be reading whatever he writes next!
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.
Lina, a travel guide and her brother Bador, a monkey-bot with emoji eyes, live in the city of Shantiport, once a gateway to space but is now run down and ruled in part by the oligarch Shakun Antim, Oldport contractor Paneera, and the Tiger Clan.
Bador’s dream? To win the bot tournament and become a space-faring adventurer. Oh, and to advocate for bot rights.
Lina’s dream? To rebuild Shantiport back to its former glory by overthrowing the power structures in a bloodless revolution and overcome divisions and inequalities at the core.
Along the way Bador discovers Moku, a bot inside a container buried in the river, who helps Lina and Bador by trying to unlock encrypted vaults where their family archives and private journals have been hidden away after their father’s disappearance.
My favorite part of this book? Moku! He narrates the story, which makes sense because he’s a story-bot, processing the life narratives of his users by studying their behavior and physical data from his surrounding. I adored the way he became so attached to Lina and Bador, and his humorous view of the world. If you’ve enjoyed the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, you need to pick up this book!
Basu has a gift for creative world-building, something I noticed right away in his novella, The City Inside. He’s definitely upped his game here! The world of Shantiport was complex, from the governmental systems to the technology to the setting. I’ve never seen an Aladdin retelling done quite like this before. It was amazing!
What brought the story down for me just a bit was the final third. I felt either there was non-stop action or pages of philosophical monologues. The pacing and structure could have been tightened up a bit.
But besides that, this was such a fun book to read! I was impressed with Basu’s imagination and character-work. I will absolutely be reading whatever he writes next!
*Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.
June 21, 2023
Cyberpunk Calcutta-ish setting with a world-building that uses Bengali bilingual puns, and a chaotic Bengali family at the heart of it...I couldn't love this more! In the author's last work, I was also blown away by his world-building but the characters felt flat and lost in a general self-indulgent infodump, with very little plot movement. But this one is not only wall to wall action and romp, but there's so much texture to the characters and their humor and the world they inhabit. Perhaps, I find it relatable and easily evocative because of the clear inspiration of my hometown of Calcutta, its comforting sluggishness and resilience in the face of decay and abandonment. For readers at large without context, this may seem a bit of a hot mess of genre elements, but this is a flavor of a city where all seemingly disparate elements percolate for centuries and it holds your heartstrings forever.
E-arc from NetGalley, but I'll probably re-read as an audiobook when the title releases.
E-arc from NetGalley, but I'll probably re-read as an audiobook when the title releases.
February 24, 2024
I had fun with this one. It's an sfnal re-telling of the old Aladdin's lamp story (three wishes granted) as a very busy superhero action-adventure. You will have to be patient as the author does his setup work. And it can be talky and slow. The Jinn-Bot stuff is very confusing and arbitrary -- but clever and entertaining. Be careful what you wish for! Best to just go with the flow here, and enjoy the spicy Bengali flavor. A fast and solid 4-star read for me, and I'll be looking for more good stuff from Mr. Basu.
The story setting is based on Calcutta, the author's old hometown. Have a look at Pujashree's review, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another Calcutta homeboy! He sees the city's "comforting sluggishness and resilience in the face of decay and abandonment."
I love the classy cover art by Sparth, http://www.sparth.com/
Bigger: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5...
The story setting is based on Calcutta, the author's old hometown. Have a look at Pujashree's review, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another Calcutta homeboy! He sees the city's "comforting sluggishness and resilience in the face of decay and abandonment."
I love the classy cover art by Sparth, http://www.sparth.com/
Bigger: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5...
October 12, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley and Tordotcom for the ARC.
This was a fun sci-fi novel set in a sinking cyberpunk world that was loosely inspired by the tale of Aladdin. Lina is the daughter of failed revolutionaries and she has been trained her whole life to do what her parents couldn’t do: save her city. In the meantime, her brother Bador, who is a monkey-shaped robot, is feeling overlooked and ignored. Forget about saving Shantiport, he’d much rather leave forever. With a rumour circulating that the planet is about to die, time is running out for whatever Lina is planning.
The way the story is written really reflects that ‘race against time’ feeling. It’s so fast paced that it’s basically one escapade strung after another with not much room to process a ton of ideas that I thought were cool. I have such mixed feelings about this book.
I really liked a lot of the character concepts and plot elements separately. We meet an invisible drone, a wish granting Jinn, a corrupt oligarch who makes an extremely good villain, a space hero, and various other interesting characters. There are even Mecha-Kaiju fights run by a mob boss which provided a lot of action-packed scenes and I thought were a fun way to learn more about Bador and track his growth.
-The narration was fantastic! Moku, the invisible drone was the narrator and since he split his time between Lina and Bador, we get to see all the important moments through him as he struggles to not form his own opinions. At first I didn’t like it because it created some distance from the characters, but the way the story developed helped me to really appreciate that choice and he ended up being my favorite character.
-The city itself! Shantiport’s different neighbourhoods, from the rich people’s abandoned apartments, to underwater neighbourhoods, to secret treasure chambers, and the seedy underbelly of the town, the descriptions really bring the city to life and it felt vibrant and decaying by turns.
However, I just sometimes felt like the novel was a tiny car, stuffed to the brim with clowns, and I didn’t know why some of them were even there. There was a whole side character arc that I wish wasn’t there and is the source of most of my issues with the book. Especially concerning the ending, which I didn’t like. Lots of threads were left dangling and not in a fun ambiguous way that invites theorizing but in a frustratingly anticlimactic way.
Read this if you like:
-Action-Adventure Sci-fi
-Robot narrators trying to understand humanity
-Creative South Asian voices in SFF
This was a fun sci-fi novel set in a sinking cyberpunk world that was loosely inspired by the tale of Aladdin. Lina is the daughter of failed revolutionaries and she has been trained her whole life to do what her parents couldn’t do: save her city. In the meantime, her brother Bador, who is a monkey-shaped robot, is feeling overlooked and ignored. Forget about saving Shantiport, he’d much rather leave forever. With a rumour circulating that the planet is about to die, time is running out for whatever Lina is planning.
The way the story is written really reflects that ‘race against time’ feeling. It’s so fast paced that it’s basically one escapade strung after another with not much room to process a ton of ideas that I thought were cool. I have such mixed feelings about this book.
I really liked a lot of the character concepts and plot elements separately. We meet an invisible drone, a wish granting Jinn, a corrupt oligarch who makes an extremely good villain, a space hero, and various other interesting characters. There are even Mecha-Kaiju fights run by a mob boss which provided a lot of action-packed scenes and I thought were a fun way to learn more about Bador and track his growth.
-The narration was fantastic! Moku, the invisible drone was the narrator and since he split his time between Lina and Bador, we get to see all the important moments through him as he struggles to not form his own opinions. At first I didn’t like it because it created some distance from the characters, but the way the story developed helped me to really appreciate that choice and he ended up being my favorite character.
-The city itself! Shantiport’s different neighbourhoods, from the rich people’s abandoned apartments, to underwater neighbourhoods, to secret treasure chambers, and the seedy underbelly of the town, the descriptions really bring the city to life and it felt vibrant and decaying by turns.
However, I just sometimes felt like the novel was a tiny car, stuffed to the brim with clowns, and I didn’t know why some of them were even there. There was a whole side character arc that I wish wasn’t there and is the source of most of my issues with the book. Especially concerning the ending, which I didn’t like. Lots of threads were left dangling and not in a fun ambiguous way that invites theorizing but in a frustratingly anticlimactic way.
Read this if you like:
-Action-Adventure Sci-fi
-Robot narrators trying to understand humanity
-Creative South Asian voices in SFF
December 11, 2023
Ending was kinda weird. Felt like it was too dense in places? I think some of the action could have been cut out (I was not a fan of the bot battles).
But I adored the worldbuilding and how unique it felt. I adored the characters, and the framing of the Aladdin story.
There were moments here that felt genuinely magical, which I appreciated. Glad to have read it, but ready for the next.
But I adored the worldbuilding and how unique it felt. I adored the characters, and the framing of the Aladdin story.
There were moments here that felt genuinely magical, which I appreciated. Glad to have read it, but ready for the next.
December 6, 2023
The book blurb calls this „Aladdin meets Murderbot“. I got a light Blade Runner vibe. A heist story? Or maybe something game-like, moving from one quest to the next? I never made it to the Aladdin part, DNF in chapter 8 at 22%. Met no amusing Murderbot, the AI was bland. Other reviews talked about a fun romp, about great fight, etc. Nope. This definitely didn‘t hit the spot for me. Very pretty cover though.
What is it all about, at least for the fifth of the book I made it through? We meet Lina, a human revolutionary, her monkey robot brother Bador and a huffy AI, who is their observer and tells the story.
Shantiport seems to be set on Earth or an Earth-like planet in a far future, maybe on the Indian subcontinent. It is ruled by criminal clans and oligarchs. People’s ambitions seems to be to leave the planet. It seems to be dying? Lina wants to stay and fight for the planet. Bador wants to leave.
I started skimming in the 5th chapter, about 50 to 60 pages into it. It felt so scattered. The plot wasn‘t progressing much and then there was that silly staged kaiju-mecha fight in the middle of the city.
Bador wants to be a bot fighter, although he is a small monkey and sounds as if he is about 12 years old.
Lina meets the not-Prince and tries to show him the truth about his shanti town, which has always been made pretty for him during his visits. Heavy handed messages alternated with silly.
Yeah, I don‘t know. Lina is looking for something, Baldor gets tasks. I guess eventually they will find something…?
I was also not a fan of the narrative voice of the flying bot. It sounded too all-knowing and removed, not like the voice of someone participating in the story.
I was really not enjoying this. DNF in chapter 8.
Roboflop! 💣🤯
What is it all about, at least for the fifth of the book I made it through? We meet Lina, a human revolutionary, her monkey robot brother Bador and a huffy AI, who is their observer and tells the story.
Shantiport seems to be set on Earth or an Earth-like planet in a far future, maybe on the Indian subcontinent. It is ruled by criminal clans and oligarchs. People’s ambitions seems to be to leave the planet. It seems to be dying? Lina wants to stay and fight for the planet. Bador wants to leave.
I started skimming in the 5th chapter, about 50 to 60 pages into it. It felt so scattered. The plot wasn‘t progressing much and then there was that silly staged kaiju-mecha fight in the middle of the city.
Bador wants to be a bot fighter, although he is a small monkey and sounds as if he is about 12 years old.
Lina meets the not-Prince and tries to show him the truth about his shanti town, which has always been made pretty for him during his visits. Heavy handed messages alternated with silly.
Yeah, I don‘t know. Lina is looking for something, Baldor gets tasks. I guess eventually they will find something…?
I was also not a fan of the narrative voice of the flying bot. It sounded too all-knowing and removed, not like the voice of someone participating in the story.
I was really not enjoying this. DNF in chapter 8.
Roboflop! 💣🤯
December 31, 2023
Super imaginative and very fun. There's so much going on in this story, but I really enjoyed it all - complex human and bot characters, interesting but not over-described world-building, and pretty much non-stop action.
February 18, 2024
Similar to what Sarah said, this managed to keep my attention throughout the book but for me there were some flaws I couldn't get past.
The world building was awesome! A city where humans and bots mix interchangeably and bots have some rights but not full sentient status although many of them appear smarter than the humans. It is a dirty, gang ridden mess of a city, sort of a cross between Los Isley and Gotham City.
The plot was somewhat comprehensible although it seemed to change frequently. There was too much mis-direction and hidden agendas to be revealed later and hints at hidden agendas that didn't exist. I would have appreciated just a bit more straigforward direction.
The characters, particularly Lina is where I had issues. Basu seemed to be confused himself what he wanted Lina ending up being. Is she a genius mastermind who has hidden plans and is in control of
everything? Is she just floating along at the mercy of events? Lina flipped between those two far too often and then spend 20 pages at the end explaining what her motivations were, which is of course not how you do it.
Great world and detail, good plot, characters were a bit too undecided and the ending was crap.
The world building was awesome! A city where humans and bots mix interchangeably and bots have some rights but not full sentient status although many of them appear smarter than the humans. It is a dirty, gang ridden mess of a city, sort of a cross between Los Isley and Gotham City.
The plot was somewhat comprehensible although it seemed to change frequently. There was too much mis-direction and hidden agendas to be revealed later and hints at hidden agendas that didn't exist. I would have appreciated just a bit more straigforward direction.
The characters, particularly Lina is where I had issues. Basu seemed to be confused himself what he wanted Lina ending up being. Is she a genius mastermind who has hidden plans and is in control of
everything? Is she just floating along at the mercy of events? Lina flipped between those two far too often and then spend 20 pages at the end explaining what her motivations were, which is of course not how you do it.
Great world and detail, good plot, characters were a bit too undecided and the ending was crap.
April 14, 2024
The first chapter or two of this were delicious, throwing us into a far future world that was not Earth, and not any real city, but that felt like a lot of real cities. I think it needed a bit more editing to tidy up the middle, but it was a fun read.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things that stood out:
-Personhood discussion. I think this one did a pretty good job of showing how hard it is for us to admit that people who are not like us are still people. I am pretty sure that octopuses, elephants, dolphins and whales are people, which means that I do everything in my power to give them the same treatment as I would a human. I can hear folks saying "how can they be people since..." and I can also hear people telling me "there's no way you actually treat them like people, you capitalist omnivore." This book is basically that discussion without too much moralizing.
-Myths and the use of the narrator. Despits its wackadoo future scifi vibes, it also has a delightfully saturated feeling to it, as it mimics the shape of myths in a way I enjoy.
What detracted for me:
-My own life. I want to take a second to remind future me and anyone else reading this that I didn't dedicate myself to it the way I normally do when I'm reading a book. Because I was reading it at a time when I was very busy and had other things I also had to finish, it's hard for me to say for sure if I dragged my feet because I didn't love it, or if I didn't love it because I kept breaking immersion. Salt grains, etc.
-Monologues and summaries. Two of my all time least favorite forms of exposition are the monologue from a character who COULD have told us things before but did not, and summaries of things in ways that don't tie in to the rest of the story. For example, if they're writing in a journal, I'd expect some things to be a bit cursory and others to be more intricate. If, however, your narrator is a storybot programmed to tell memoirs, I expect a consistent voice and approach. We did not get it here.
-Needs editing. This needed a haircut. It started going off the rails in a way that felt more like not knowing when to kill your darling than it did something inventive and engaging for me.
Not mad I read it, but hardly a favorite.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things that stood out:
-Personhood discussion. I think this one did a pretty good job of showing how hard it is for us to admit that people who are not like us are still people. I am pretty sure that octopuses, elephants, dolphins and whales are people, which means that I do everything in my power to give them the same treatment as I would a human. I can hear folks saying "how can they be people since..." and I can also hear people telling me "there's no way you actually treat them like people, you capitalist omnivore." This book is basically that discussion without too much moralizing.
-Myths and the use of the narrator. Despits its wackadoo future scifi vibes, it also has a delightfully saturated feeling to it, as it mimics the shape of myths in a way I enjoy.
What detracted for me:
-My own life. I want to take a second to remind future me and anyone else reading this that I didn't dedicate myself to it the way I normally do when I'm reading a book. Because I was reading it at a time when I was very busy and had other things I also had to finish, it's hard for me to say for sure if I dragged my feet because I didn't love it, or if I didn't love it because I kept breaking immersion. Salt grains, etc.
-Monologues and summaries. Two of my all time least favorite forms of exposition are the monologue from a character who COULD have told us things before but did not, and summaries of things in ways that don't tie in to the rest of the story. For example, if they're writing in a journal, I'd expect some things to be a bit cursory and others to be more intricate. If, however, your narrator is a storybot programmed to tell memoirs, I expect a consistent voice and approach. We did not get it here.
-Needs editing. This needed a haircut. It started going off the rails in a way that felt more like not knowing when to kill your darling than it did something inventive and engaging for me.
Not mad I read it, but hardly a favorite.
January 31, 2024
2.5 stars. Amid overwhelmingly colorful and inventive worldbuilding, the complete disorganization of the plot and lack of likable or believable characters make this book a blaring and fun romp that is impossible to take seriously and at times to even truly enjoy. This is the first book I’ve ever read where I think the most fitting description is: a hot mess.
The setting is Shantiport- a loud, colorful, beautiful trash pile of a city overrun with crazy evil oligarchs and tyrants and robots of all kinds. We follow a little bot named Moku (one of only 2 likable characters) as he documents the roundabout and at times boring and trivial antics of Bador and Lina, two siblings who are are trying to wreak a bunch of selfish havoc and save the city, separately.
The writing style is chaotic, alternating between serious and completely flippant, sometimes trying to immerse you in the story and sometimes just taking a wild stab at trying to create a scene with a bunch of disparate characters, moods, and events that I’m not sure work together. I couldn’t understand the world or the plot because it was too disorganized and massive to try, and I couldn’t support the main characters because they were confusing, inconsistent, flat, and not particularly compelling (except Moku). The retelling-of-Aladdin angle is pretty cool, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if the book acted more like a book and less of a list of crazy things and philosophical ramblings happening in sequence with only the strength of a colorful piece of Washi tape to hold the plot together. The book is in serious need of an editor and a proper plot planning tool.
And yet! It was funny, creative, and inspiring to read from a world-building standpoint. The characters did end up growing on me, helped out by the fact that the ones I did like took center stage more in the latter half of the book. Turns out if you Yeet the burden of good writing, believability, and pacing, you can spend a lot more time coming up with cool bots and describing outlandish sci fi scenes with gusto! Who knew?
I read this based on a recommendation from Ann Leckie, who wrote the marvelous Imperial Radch series. Glad I gave it a go- even gladder it’s over!
The setting is Shantiport- a loud, colorful, beautiful trash pile of a city overrun with crazy evil oligarchs and tyrants and robots of all kinds. We follow a little bot named Moku (one of only 2 likable characters) as he documents the roundabout and at times boring and trivial antics of Bador and Lina, two siblings who are are trying to wreak a bunch of selfish havoc and save the city, separately.
The writing style is chaotic, alternating between serious and completely flippant, sometimes trying to immerse you in the story and sometimes just taking a wild stab at trying to create a scene with a bunch of disparate characters, moods, and events that I’m not sure work together. I couldn’t understand the world or the plot because it was too disorganized and massive to try, and I couldn’t support the main characters because they were confusing, inconsistent, flat, and not particularly compelling (except Moku). The retelling-of-Aladdin angle is pretty cool, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if the book acted more like a book and less of a list of crazy things and philosophical ramblings happening in sequence with only the strength of a colorful piece of Washi tape to hold the plot together. The book is in serious need of an editor and a proper plot planning tool.
And yet! It was funny, creative, and inspiring to read from a world-building standpoint. The characters did end up growing on me, helped out by the fact that the ones I did like took center stage more in the latter half of the book. Turns out if you Yeet the burden of good writing, believability, and pacing, you can spend a lot more time coming up with cool bots and describing outlandish sci fi scenes with gusto! Who knew?
I read this based on a recommendation from Ann Leckie, who wrote the marvelous Imperial Radch series. Glad I gave it a go- even gladder it’s over!
April 24, 2023
Rating:3.7/5
Review: Pretty dam awesome other than some deus ex moments where circumstances easily fall into place to drive the story line. The characters were crafted quite well even though they did not mature with movement. This lack of depth did not in any way detract from the story line.
What I liked a lot was the constant turns during the reveal. Every opening is surprising in content and execution. Outcomes rarely meet expectations and dialogue can be abrupt as it is lengthy. The characters are pretty thick in the head as in once they are told something pivotal to their quest, they ignore or gloss over its significance.
The eutopian society that Lina speaks of in fervent gasps, may reflect the authors diminished perspectives. UBI, socialist democracies are used to paint a fix on an endemically rotten world. Problem is, all the fixes presented have a history of failure, coupled with misery.
An entertaining ride for sure.
Review: Pretty dam awesome other than some deus ex moments where circumstances easily fall into place to drive the story line. The characters were crafted quite well even though they did not mature with movement. This lack of depth did not in any way detract from the story line.
What I liked a lot was the constant turns during the reveal. Every opening is surprising in content and execution. Outcomes rarely meet expectations and dialogue can be abrupt as it is lengthy. The characters are pretty thick in the head as in once they are told something pivotal to their quest, they ignore or gloss over its significance.
The eutopian society that Lina speaks of in fervent gasps, may reflect the authors diminished perspectives. UBI, socialist democracies are used to paint a fix on an endemically rotten world. Problem is, all the fixes presented have a history of failure, coupled with misery.
An entertaining ride for sure.
September 12, 2023
This book, y'all. Murderbot walked so that Jinn-bot of Shantiport could fly (off the rockers, in the best way).
It's easily the most entertaining, gleeful, break-out-laughing book I have read this year, and at the same time one of the smartest and kindest -- and I'm delighted by this discovery of this combination. It's a reimagining of Aladdin in space, and it's a romp and a half with the most vividly depicted cast (I love Moku so much. And Bador. And Lina. And everyone!). It was thrilling to both recognize the beats of the legend overlayed over the characters, and to be taken by surprise by the wild plot twists that are completely organic to the zany fabric of reality in which Shantiport exists. For a price of one you are getting an unputdownable adventure, and a relentless critic of humanity's main character syndrome, but not an unkind one. There is just so much heart in this story there is enough for everyone.
I can't wait for the publication date for this one, because I'm going to rock up to the bookstore and buy, like, ten copies to give to friends. Their birthday presents are sorted :D
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Dot Com for an advance copy of The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport.
It's easily the most entertaining, gleeful, break-out-laughing book I have read this year, and at the same time one of the smartest and kindest -- and I'm delighted by this discovery of this combination. It's a reimagining of Aladdin in space, and it's a romp and a half with the most vividly depicted cast (I love Moku so much. And Bador. And Lina. And everyone!). It was thrilling to both recognize the beats of the legend overlayed over the characters, and to be taken by surprise by the wild plot twists that are completely organic to the zany fabric of reality in which Shantiport exists. For a price of one you are getting an unputdownable adventure, and a relentless critic of humanity's main character syndrome, but not an unkind one. There is just so much heart in this story there is enough for everyone.
I can't wait for the publication date for this one, because I'm going to rock up to the bookstore and buy, like, ten copies to give to friends. Their birthday presents are sorted :D
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Dot Com for an advance copy of The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport.
April 19, 2024
4,5 rounded up. I enjoyed this book so much! The characters, the twists, all the funny and not so funny moments. I liked Moku's POV a lot. He did his best to be just a recorder of events and failed spectacularly.
The very end felt a bit off (hence 4,5 stars). I can't even put my finger on what exactly was wrong for me. Maybe it's the way Lina
Anyway, still it was a great read and I had ton of great time with this book. If I ranked the books I read, this would have definitely made the top 5 this year.
The very end felt a bit off (hence 4,5 stars). I can't even put my finger on what exactly was wrong for me. Maybe it's the way Lina
Anyway, still it was a great read and I had ton of great time with this book. If I ranked the books I read, this would have definitely made the top 5 this year.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](http://web.archive.org/web/20240509224036im_/https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
Shelved as 'dnf'
November 30, 2023DNF at 7%
Writing style is not for me. I'm having such a hard time with sci-fi right now.
Writing style is not for me. I'm having such a hard time with sci-fi right now.
October 3, 2023
How can I even describe this book. Blade Runner meets Dragonball Z? Dune meets Super Mario Brothers? Snowpiercer meets uh… Arthur? Okay none of these combos fully capture the secret sauce lol.
Look, I was laughing constantly when I wasn’t tearing up. This book has everything and WAY more - and what an ENDING!! 🥳🥰🤩😛😂🥹 (Look I’m just trying to compensate for the fact that unlike Bador I don’t have eyemojis, I simply have standard human eyes that cannot reflect knives/prayer hands/scream face/heart emojis when that is what I’m feeling inside!!)
Look, I was laughing constantly when I wasn’t tearing up. This book has everything and WAY more - and what an ENDING!! 🥳🥰🤩😛😂🥹 (Look I’m just trying to compensate for the fact that unlike Bador I don’t have eyemojis, I simply have standard human eyes that cannot reflect knives/prayer hands/scream face/heart emojis when that is what I’m feeling inside!!)
May 3, 2023
Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley.
I wanted to like this so much more than I did.
A reinvention of Aladdin? Sign me up! And it's sci-fi? Heck yeah!
The setting of Shanti-port was well-realized and intriguing. It was a bit of a mess on its planet, neglected by the wider galactic community, and ripe for social and political change. The best parts of this book talked about places within the city and small points of interest.
The largest problem I ran into with this book was the narrator, Moku: a story-bot
Moku spends so much of the book telling us stuff. It's not shown. The prose felt dry and detached even as Moku became less detached. There are long passages of conversation conveyed to us from Moku, and huge infodumps of the setting and political climate. It felt like when a friend tells you at length about their dreams that you aren't really that interested in because it's one of those things you just had to be there for.
On top of this, many of the main characters keep their motives unknown (for good reason) or change them haphazardly. It felt impossible to connect with anyone but Moku because of this! Similarly, a lot of political action/dastardly planning happens off-screen, which is normally something I might enjoy but instead just left me with whiplash.
Spoilers for the ending:
All in all, the setting was great but the characters and prose were detached. Finished it, albeit slowly, and don't regret reading it, but wouldn't read again.
I wanted to like this so much more than I did.
A reinvention of Aladdin? Sign me up! And it's sci-fi? Heck yeah!
The setting of Shanti-port was well-realized and intriguing. It was a bit of a mess on its planet, neglected by the wider galactic community, and ripe for social and political change. The best parts of this book talked about places within the city and small points of interest.
The largest problem I ran into with this book was the narrator, Moku: a story-bot
Moku spends so much of the book telling us stuff. It's not shown. The prose felt dry and detached even as Moku became less detached. There are long passages of conversation conveyed to us from Moku, and huge infodumps of the setting and political climate. It felt like when a friend tells you at length about their dreams that you aren't really that interested in because it's one of those things you just had to be there for.
On top of this, many of the main characters keep their motives unknown (for good reason) or change them haphazardly. It felt impossible to connect with anyone but Moku because of this! Similarly, a lot of political action/dastardly planning happens off-screen, which is normally something I might enjoy but instead just left me with whiplash.
Spoilers for the ending:
All in all, the setting was great but the characters and prose were detached. Finished it, albeit slowly, and don't regret reading it, but wouldn't read again.
January 11, 2024
For unknown (to Earth) reasons Earth has been cut off from the wider galaxy, and its tech is as behind the galactics' as the city of Shantiport's leaders are corrupt. Generations of them have slowly, repeatedly, sucked all the resources and money out of Shantiport. Now the city is gradually sinking and the main source of money seems to be from tourists who come to gawk at the former trade capital.
Alina is a tour guide by day, but she's a revolutionary by night. She and her brother Bador (a monkey robot) have been looking for ancient galactic tech for years, until at last they find it. Functionally, the tech is a jinn, sworn to manifest any three wishes for each of its owners. Alina and her mother Zohra argue over how best to use their wishes to help Shantiport (and their debate and how to best overthrow the oligarchs and create a better world is a highlight of the book for me--read it here
but before they can finish their plans, other players get hold of the jinn.
This book is a fascinating mixture of bodacious action scenes (Bador the monkey bot gets a lot of these), wry narration from a bot that's distant but still interested in humanity, political and philosophical discussions, and underhanded heists.
Alina is a tour guide by day, but she's a revolutionary by night. She and her brother Bador (a monkey robot) have been looking for ancient galactic tech for years, until at last they find it. Functionally, the tech is a jinn, sworn to manifest any three wishes for each of its owners. Alina and her mother Zohra argue over how best to use their wishes to help Shantiport (and their debate and how to best overthrow the oligarchs and create a better world is a highlight of the book for me--read it here
but before they can finish their plans, other players get hold of the jinn.
This book is a fascinating mixture of bodacious action scenes (Bador the monkey bot gets a lot of these), wry narration from a bot that's distant but still interested in humanity, political and philosophical discussions, and underhanded heists.
Read
December 8, 2023I will need to return to this book when I’m braced for the risk of bot harm and have the fortitude for a climate apocalypse. I enjoyed this right up until it made me too anxious to go on. Alas.
November 10, 2023
Samit Basu follows up the success of 'The City Inside' with a sprawling, energetic, Anime and/or video game inspired book about a city in India that where political intrigue and violence go hand in hand, and a most unusual family is at the center of it.
Lina has been raised to be a revolutionary, her 'brother' Bador is a bot built by her mother but accepted as a family member. Their father was disappeared by the authorities years ago. Meanwhile, Bador finds a most unusual piece of alien technology that is ssntient, has strange powers, and turns out to be the first person narrator of the story.
There's a lot going on here. Here's an example:
“When flying in panic mode from the house of the brilliant but imperiled human key to a priceless mysterious alien magic treasure to the lair or training ground of her ambitious fighter cyborg monkey-bot brother, it is always best to have precise location markers.”
This is not a subtle novel. The characters are big, bold and extravagant in their actions and feelings. Bador, especially, is powerful and seems to have the impulse control of a 13 year old. He's a lot of un to follow, and Moku the narrator is fascinated by both him and Lina. As they work to uncover the truth behind the city's power structure, we find out more about the family's background, while Moku's origins remain mysterious.
This book has some points to make about autocracy and the difficulty of establishing a just society. Here's an example:
“(Tech) can promise us all these things, but those promises are always lies, and humanity's surrender of its own agency to algorithms and oligarch-owned tech has brought us to the brink of absolute ruin.”
However, the action in the book constantly overcomes any careful consideration of these issues. It seems there's always another battle to be had, usually between battle bots, half the time as a performative piece a la video games (complete with martial art poses – very important).
I got the feeling that Basu had a core plot to begin with (he admits as much in the acknowledgments, starting with a revision of the Aladdin story but veering off). Much of the action feels like Basu was writing as a pantser, making it up joyously as he went along. Great fun for him to write, and for us to read, but not helpful in making the book coherent. It also expanded the book quite a bit; while 'The City Inside' was 240 pages, this one hits the 400 page mark on the acknowledgments page. It could probably have been finished at 300 without much loss of substance.
Also, I had a fundamental problem with how the city of Shantiport is portrayed. For being part of the title, and a large part of the discussion on autocracy and democracy, we see very little of the regular people of the city. No major character is a 'normal' citizen. This, despite the massive destruction levied upon the city by the massive battles and riots that occur constantly in the book. This makes the book feel somewhat hollow, as if it's all being done on a stage set (or a video game with a bunch of NPCs). In worldbuilding, you want to establish a sense that the place is 'lived in'. I didn't get that sense here, despite the constant reference to how downtrodden everybody was. There's a lot of downtrodden people in Dickens, for example, but he personalizes it with memorable characters. Basu's characters are either the powerful elite, or the family members with special abilities or roles.
All in all, kind of like candy. Fun to consume, but not a lot of nutrition, unfortunately.
Lina has been raised to be a revolutionary, her 'brother' Bador is a bot built by her mother but accepted as a family member. Their father was disappeared by the authorities years ago. Meanwhile, Bador finds a most unusual piece of alien technology that is ssntient, has strange powers, and turns out to be the first person narrator of the story.
There's a lot going on here. Here's an example:
“When flying in panic mode from the house of the brilliant but imperiled human key to a priceless mysterious alien magic treasure to the lair or training ground of her ambitious fighter cyborg monkey-bot brother, it is always best to have precise location markers.”
This is not a subtle novel. The characters are big, bold and extravagant in their actions and feelings. Bador, especially, is powerful and seems to have the impulse control of a 13 year old. He's a lot of un to follow, and Moku the narrator is fascinated by both him and Lina. As they work to uncover the truth behind the city's power structure, we find out more about the family's background, while Moku's origins remain mysterious.
This book has some points to make about autocracy and the difficulty of establishing a just society. Here's an example:
“(Tech) can promise us all these things, but those promises are always lies, and humanity's surrender of its own agency to algorithms and oligarch-owned tech has brought us to the brink of absolute ruin.”
However, the action in the book constantly overcomes any careful consideration of these issues. It seems there's always another battle to be had, usually between battle bots, half the time as a performative piece a la video games (complete with martial art poses – very important).
I got the feeling that Basu had a core plot to begin with (he admits as much in the acknowledgments, starting with a revision of the Aladdin story but veering off). Much of the action feels like Basu was writing as a pantser, making it up joyously as he went along. Great fun for him to write, and for us to read, but not helpful in making the book coherent. It also expanded the book quite a bit; while 'The City Inside' was 240 pages, this one hits the 400 page mark on the acknowledgments page. It could probably have been finished at 300 without much loss of substance.
Also, I had a fundamental problem with how the city of Shantiport is portrayed. For being part of the title, and a large part of the discussion on autocracy and democracy, we see very little of the regular people of the city. No major character is a 'normal' citizen. This, despite the massive destruction levied upon the city by the massive battles and riots that occur constantly in the book. This makes the book feel somewhat hollow, as if it's all being done on a stage set (or a video game with a bunch of NPCs). In worldbuilding, you want to establish a sense that the place is 'lived in'. I didn't get that sense here, despite the constant reference to how downtrodden everybody was. There's a lot of downtrodden people in Dickens, for example, but he personalizes it with memorable characters. Basu's characters are either the powerful elite, or the family members with special abilities or roles.
All in all, kind of like candy. Fun to consume, but not a lot of nutrition, unfortunately.
April 7, 2023
Finally, a novel where the characters are concerned with the fact that their city is falling apart and becoming ruled by a bunch of random criminals, as opposed to just living in that society and loving it. Especially because these characters did like their city a lot as well. This book also includes the trope of human with robot parts/augmentations and the bots that have flesh parts as well, which is something I personally really love. The narration however, felt a bit too much like exposition at times, making it a bit difficult to truly be invested
November 25, 2023
A funny sci-fi adventure in the world with galaxy wars, jinis and very mischievous robots. We follow the journey of Lina and his bot monkey brother trying to save Shantiport. I especially love Moku, the bot story that narrates the book and also wants to reconnects the family who grows apart.
Bador is a very funny character, really like his dream of explore the universe. Some of the best scenes were the ones when he try to be a space hero. Lina have strong ideals, but she don't seem to truly care of her family if they not are in her side. I did not think that character involve that much in the end.
"The jinn bot of Shantiport" is a very refreshing sci-fi book that have some references of the Aladdin story and explore a world that have similarly with Singapore.
Bador is a very funny character, really like his dream of explore the universe. Some of the best scenes were the ones when he try to be a space hero. Lina have strong ideals, but she don't seem to truly care of her family if they not are in her side. I did not think that character involve that much in the end.
"The jinn bot of Shantiport" is a very refreshing sci-fi book that have some references of the Aladdin story and explore a world that have similarly with Singapore.
January 8, 2024
This was a solid 4! This book was hilarious. Bador was my favorite character. Everything Bador did or said had me giggling. The world and the other characters were weird but creative and I liked how the story was narrated through a story bot.
There were a lot of plot points which didn’t really bother me and for the most part I was able to keep up, except for when I did forget that there was a mission for a missing magic stick.
The ending… was a little questionable but overall I found this to be a fun and enjoyable read.
There were a lot of plot points which didn’t really bother me and for the most part I was able to keep up, except for when I did forget that there was a mission for a missing magic stick.
The ending… was a little questionable but overall I found this to be a fun and enjoyable read.
May 7, 2023
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is an exciting, nail-biting, fast-paced joy ride of a novel. From page one readers will want to immerse themselves in this vibrant world. Basu's expansive and cinematic, yet personal, world-building, and character developing skills made this story come alive in my mind. Whenever I was forced to put the book down, which I did only grudgingly, thoughts of this world, and especially the humorous and clever Bador, kept me distracted as I continued to imagine this world and what my new heroes could possibly do in the face of their all-powerful oppressors. For fans of Martha Wells and Becky Chambers this is a story that will echo some of the questions All Systems Red brings up around the rights of bots, paired with questions about community that are often at the forefront of Becky Chambers Wayfarer's series.
Bador and Lina are heroes of Shantiport, though many don't know of their existence. Until Moku shows up, alien technology that may or may not be part of their father's legacy. The siblings, each with their own questions, fears, and desires, must find the many strings and bring them together in order to save Shantiport. Is the end of the world approaching? Who is the space hero Tanai and what is his true mission? Will one of them end up marrying the not-prince!?
This is a book I will definitely use in Reader's Advisory and in-library displays - it was a pleasure to read - Basu's writing flows like the most beautiful yet chaotic martial arts action sequence in my brain and the characters take their places as some of my favorites.
ARC provided by NetGalley - thank you!!
Bador and Lina are heroes of Shantiport, though many don't know of their existence. Until Moku shows up, alien technology that may or may not be part of their father's legacy. The siblings, each with their own questions, fears, and desires, must find the many strings and bring them together in order to save Shantiport. Is the end of the world approaching? Who is the space hero Tanai and what is his true mission? Will one of them end up marrying the not-prince!?
This is a book I will definitely use in Reader's Advisory and in-library displays - it was a pleasure to read - Basu's writing flows like the most beautiful yet chaotic martial arts action sequence in my brain and the characters take their places as some of my favorites.
ARC provided by NetGalley - thank you!!
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