Ashok Banker

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Ashok Kumar Banker (born February 7, 1964) is a novelist and short story writer born and living in Mumbai, India. He has written professionally since his early teens, and has worked as a door-to-door surveyor for market research firms, a print journalist, columnist, scriptwriter for television series and documentaries, and in advertising.

Banker has published in several genres, ranging from contemporary fiction about urban life in India to multi-volume mythological epics, as well as science fiction, fantasy, and cross-genre works. His first three novels to be published (though not the first written) were crime thrillers, hailed by the India media as the first written by an Indian novelist in English. They gained him widespread attention and a reputation for being a crime novelist that has clung to him despite his not having written crime novels since [1], though he has written short crime fiction, some of which involves characters from the novels [2]. The stories of his "Devi" series are short works featuring avatars of the Hindu goddess Devi, and have appeared in various science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazines.

Three of his novels contain autobiographical elements and are closely related to one another. His first novel (though the fourth published) Vertigo is about a man struggling to make a successful career and home life in Bombay (the former name of Mumbai). Byculla Boy takes its name from the Byculla suburb of Bombay where he and his mother grew up. Beautiful Ugly and the complementary documentary of the same title are a tribute to his mother, portraying the tragic events of her life [3].

Having completed a six-volume retelling in English of the Indian epic of the Ramayana that has gained him worldwide attention, he is working on a nine-volume adaptation of the Mahabharata. These are intended to be part of a larger sequence dealing with the major myths of India, along with two yet-to-be published series that will more clearly blend myth with science fiction tropes and quantum mechanics [4]. The Krishna Coriolis is to tell the life of Krishna beyond the Mahabharata, and The Ganesa Palindrome is to be set in the present and far future and focus on Ganesha, Kalki, and the end of the Day of Brahma.

However, Banker's next book immediately following the Ramayana is a novel titled "Iron Gods" scheduled to be published in 2007. A contemporary novel, it is an epic hard science fiction story about a war between the gods of different faiths. Weary of the constant infighting between religious sects and their deities, God (aka Allah, Yahweh, brahman, or whatever one chooses to call the Supreme Deity) wishes to destroy creation altogether. A representation of prophets and holy warriors led by Ganesa, the elephant-headed Hindu deity, randomly picks a sample of mortals, five of whom are the main protagonists of the book--an American Catholic, an Indian Hindu, a Pakistani Muslim, a Japanese Buddhist, and a Japanese Shinto follower. The mortal sampling, called a 'Palimpsest' is ferried aboard a vast Dyson's Sphere artifact termed The Jewel, which is built around the sun itself, contains retransplanted cities and landscapes brought from multiple parallel Earths and is the size of 12,000 Earths. It is also a spaceship travelling to the end of creation, where the Palimpsest is to present itself before God to plead clemency for all creation. Meanwhile, it is upto the five protagonists, aided by Ganesa and a few concerned individuals, including Lucifer Morningstar, Ali Abu Tarab, King David and his son Solomon, and others, to bring about peace among the myriad warring faiths. The question is whether or not they can do so before the audience with God, and if they can do so peacefully--for pressure is mounting to wage one final War of Wars to end all war itself. "Iron Gods" is planned as the first novel in a quintet titled The Ganesa Palindrome.

Banker also has plans for The Epic India saga, a series of historical novels presenting the last 2500 years of Indian history from the perspective of the Indian people. He's also said to be working on an alternate history series titled "The Indus Saga" set in an alternate world wherein Indian scientists discover the scientific basis for the legendary 'dev-astras' (divine weapons) described in ancient Vedic texts and a group of Indian Freedom Fighters led by Mahatma Gandhi uses the dev-astras to change the course of World War II, gain India's freedom from the British Empire, and make India, China and Japan the dominant world powers by the turn of the 21st century.

Another project by the prolific author is a graphic novel adaptation of his "Devi" tales, being developed for the major New York comic publisher, DC/Vertigo. Tentatively titled "Age of Kali", the comic is planned as a longterm monthly series intended to be collected into periodic graphic novels. The series is slated to begin publication sometime in summer 2007. Edited by Karen Berger, illustrated by Peter Gross, and created and written by Banker himself, the series unfolds an epic adventure involving a girl from a remote village in Madhya Pradesh, a visiting Indian American teenager, and is an original story involving various Hindu gods, asuras and other mythological and historical characters.

Banker was earlier known as a controversial but hard-hitting columnist, well-known for his attacks on the celebrity-obsessed mass media. His unorthodox views include the rejection of all media that is sponsored by advertising or corporate promotion as being 'unreliable' and 'editorially compromised'. Eschewing the typical route of self-promotional media interviews, book tours and similar PR devices, Banker maintains a direct one-on-one relationship with his readers. His official website features a Live Chat Box where readers can 'talk' directly with the author at any time, and also features free blogs, email, forums, and even a burgeoning Indian Science Fiction & Fantasy fanclub. Banker also proposes an ambitious "Indiapedia" project modelled on Wikipedia, with the intent of furthering information on Indian culture, history, mythology and literature without outside commercial support. More details are posted on his official website [5].

He has also written a short non-fiction book about Bollywood entitled Bollywood: The Pocket Essential (2001).

While he used to occasionally publish opinion pieces, reviews, and essays at Desicritics until recently, he now writes exclusively for his own blogsite, Epic India.

[edit] Bibliography

The author's name has appeared as both "Ashok Banker" and "Ashok K. Banker".

His previously published works include:

  • Amazing Adventure at Chotta Sheher (1992)
  • The Iron Bra (1993)
  • Murder & Champagne (1993)
  • Ten Dead Admen (1993)
  • Vertigo (1993)
  • Byculla Boy (1994)
  • The Missing Parents Mystery (1994)
  • A Mouthful of Sky (1995-96)
  • Bad Karma (1998)
  • Brandwarriors (1999)
  • Bombay Times a.k.a. "Swing City" (2000)
  • Vortal (2000-01)
  • The Pocket Essential Bollywood (2001)

The Ramayana series:

Forthcoming: (TBA=To Be Announced)

  • Iron Gods (Penguin India, August 2007)
  • Untitled graphic novel (DC/Vertigo Comics, August 2007)

The Mahabharata series:

  • The Seeds of War (TBA)
  • As The Blind King Watched (TBA)

Non-fiction/Autobiography:

  • Beautiful Ugly (TBA)

The Krishna Coriolis

  • Childslayer (TBA)
  • Ravisher (TBA)
  • Widowmaker (TBA)

The Indus Saga:

  • Gandhi's War (TBA)

Epic India series:

  • Historical novels (TBA)
  • Vetaal: The First Vampire (graphic novel, TBA)

The Vortal Codex:

  • Vortal (TBA)

[edit] External links

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