The Demon Sage's Daughter
Published in Strange Horizons, 2021
"This is a story about you. You are Devayani, daughter of the demon sage, mistress of his ashram now that he is gone. Your father taught you how to meditate for as long as it took to bottle thunderstorms and weaponize blood."
Praise & Reviews
World Fantasy Award Finalist
Locus Recommended List, 2021
Reprint in Paula Guran's "Year's Best Fantasy, 2021"
Reprint in "A Case of Indian Marvels", edited by David Davidhar
"The story hints at many different ways to tell the story, but in all of them Devayani’s cleverness (and also impetuousness) shines through." - Karen Burnham, Locus Magazine
"Devayani is in an impossible situation, shaped by her nature, her desires, and her frustrations. And it speaks as so real to me, the way she is in pain and the way she lashes out because of it. It’s intense and mythic and so good." - Charles Payseur, The Book Smugglers
"beautiful writing, full of vibrant imagery and rich lore" - Tangent Online
the engineer of the undersea railways
Published in Podcastle, 2021
"The undersea engineer Persis Makhanwala cut a solitary figure to all those who knew her. The gossip rags reeled in the wake of her spangled saris and perpetually bruised eyes, scrambling to dredge up old dark-eyed paramours and sad, sparkling scandals. They called her such epithets as Queen of the Undersea and Siren of the Rails, crowding to get a glimpse as she emerged from a pincered little car at Bombay’s Marine Drive."
Praise & Reviews
"A wonderfully imagined story about a woman and her undersea train, and the many things she creates for it." - Charles Payseur, Quick Sip Reviews
"A steampunk India and a fantastic Railway that travels under the sea on routes such as Bombay to Fujairah and Bombay-Madagascar-Mogadishu is the setting for this story. Your head will spin with images of the world Persis forges."- Jeff Xilon, 2021 Short Fiction Roundup