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Between Worlds: The IF Anthology of New Indian SFF, Vol 1
About the Book
BOLD INDIAN SF LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN-RADICAL, RAW AND ORIGINAL.
Between Worlds is the introductory IF anthology of new SFF writing. Eschewing the model of commissioning stories to collect a 'best of, this anthology seeks to ask, with curiosity, what's out there? Thoughtfully curated and shepherded by Gautam Bhatia, it showcases the vibrant and diverse voices shaping Indian speculative fiction today.
Blending the surreal with the urgent, these original stories traverse memory and identity, rebellion and love, from queer inter-species romance to interplanetary sleuthing. Alongside the fantastical, the collection confronts the very real-climate catastrophe, AI, surveillance and capitalism-offering bold, unexpected visions from the liminal spaces of Indian SF.
About the Editor
Gautam Bhatia is a writer, reviewer and editor based in New Delhi, India. He is the author of The Sentence, and the science fiction duology, The Wall and The Horizon, and the coordinating editor of the science fiction magazine Strange Horizons. In his other life, he is a constitutional lawyer and public commentator on civil and constitutional rights in India.
BOLD INDIAN SF LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN-RADICAL, RAW AND ORIGINAL.
Between Worlds is the introductory IF anthology of new SFF writing. Eschewing the model of commissioning stories to collect a 'best of, this anthology seeks to ask, with curiosity, what's out there? Thoughtfully curated and shepherded by Gautam Bhatia, it showcases the vibrant and diverse voices shaping Indian speculative fiction today.
Blending the surreal with the urgent, these original stories traverse memory and identity, rebellion and love, from queer inter-species romance to interplanetary sleuthing. Alongside the fantastical, the collection confronts the very real-climate catastrophe, AI, surveillance and capitalism-offering bold, unexpected visions from the liminal spaces of Indian SF.
About the Editor
Gautam Bhatia is a writer, reviewer and editor based in New Delhi, India. He is the author of The Sentence, and the science fiction duology, The Wall and The Horizon, and the coordinating editor of the science fiction magazine Strange Horizons. In his other life, he is a constitutional lawyer and public commentator on civil and constitutional rights in India.
- GenresScience Fiction
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 18, 2025
10 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Gautam Bhatia
16 books970 followersGautam Bhatia is an Indian science fiction writer.
He is the author of the SF Duology, The Wall and The Horizon, both of which featured on Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading Lists in 2021 (Best Debut Novel) and 2022 (Best Science Fiction Novel). The Wall was a finalist for the 2021 Valley of Words Best English Language Novel Prize. Bhatia was long-listed for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer at both the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), and the 2022 WorldCon.
Bhatia is also the co-ordinating editor of Strange Horizons, a weekly online magazine of fantasy and science fiction, which won the British Fantasy Award in 2021, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Awards every year since 2013. In 2022, he was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for his work with the magazine.
His reviews and essays on science fiction and fantasy have appeared in Strange Horizons, The Hindustan Times, Scroll, and The Wire.
In his spare time, he is a lawyer.
He is the author of the SF Duology, The Wall and The Horizon, both of which featured on Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading Lists in 2021 (Best Debut Novel) and 2022 (Best Science Fiction Novel). The Wall was a finalist for the 2021 Valley of Words Best English Language Novel Prize. Bhatia was long-listed for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer at both the 2021 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), and the 2022 WorldCon.
Bhatia is also the co-ordinating editor of Strange Horizons, a weekly online magazine of fantasy and science fiction, which won the British Fantasy Award in 2021, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Awards every year since 2013. In 2022, he was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for his work with the magazine.
His reviews and essays on science fiction and fantasy have appeared in Strange Horizons, The Hindustan Times, Scroll, and The Wire.
In his spare time, he is a lawyer.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 22, 2025
Thanks to IBC & to Westland IF.
In a collection, hardly can one like all the entries, ... or all of the entries equally...
But, this anthology checks a lot of boxes.
- inherently (but not histrionically) Indian
- short, crisp stories
- each piece in the collection is on a different theme & of a different taste
- socially sensitive, envisions a truly "better" future
- sincerely endorses the feminine in the women characters
- many women characters
- optimistic - but not saccharine, mostly not a typical happy ending, but captures a "life wish"
- detailed, nuanced, meticulous writing by all authors, each story comes together on its own at its end
- great world-building, believable & relateable characters, subtle insights
In a collection, hardly can one like all the entries, ... or all of the entries equally...
But, this anthology checks a lot of boxes.
- inherently (but not histrionically) Indian
- short, crisp stories
- each piece in the collection is on a different theme & of a different taste
- socially sensitive, envisions a truly "better" future
- sincerely endorses the feminine in the women characters
- many women characters
- optimistic - but not saccharine, mostly not a typical happy ending, but captures a "life wish"
- detailed, nuanced, meticulous writing by all authors, each story comes together on its own at its end
- great world-building, believable & relateable characters, subtle insights
October 29, 2025
Enjoyed this anthology. Especially Srividya's 'Tomorrow's Ancestors' - powerful and so elegantly told.
November 18, 2025
Amazing collection of SF stories. Creative, Entertaining and gripping!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews