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Exclusive Interview: “The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport” Author Samit Basu

 

We all know the story of Aladdin. Well, the Disney version, anyway.

But while author Samit Basu knows that version, too, his love of Aladdin goes back further than Disney’s 1992 animated movie. Which is partially why he wrote The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport, a humorous science fiction space opera / science fantasy / adventure story inspired by the original Middle-Eastern folk tale character from One Thousand And One Nights.

With The Jinn-Bot Of Shantiport now available in paperback — a year after originally being released in hardcover and for Kindle — I spoke to Basu via email to discuss what else inspired and influenced this sci-fi story, his plans for possible sequels, and why he made one of the central characters a monkey-bot.

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Books

Exclusive Interview: “The City Inside” Author Samit Basu

 

The last couple of years really screwed up a lot of things. Weddings were delayed or reworked; TV shows were cancelled because they couldn’t film them correctly (R.I.P., Stumptown); and don’t get me started on my plans for world domination. But on some occasions, the terrible times we’ve been living through may have made some things better. Take The City Inside (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), Samit Basu’s near-future anti-dystopian science fiction novel, which, he reveals in the following email interview, was originally a rather different novel.