Armed with magic, courage
Tanaz Bhathena wanted to be an author since she was 13, but didn’t think she had the imagination for fantasy. Growing up, in Mumbai, then Saudi Arabia and then Canada, she read a lot of Western fiction about witches, werewolves and vampires, while also watching TV shows based on Hindu mythology.
Her first book, A Girl Like That (Penguin Random House India; 2018), didn’t draw on those worlds. It was an earnest look at the life of a 16-year-old girl rebelling against sexist double standards and exploring sexuality, love and vulnerability. “After that, I wanted to write something different,” Bhathena says.
After trying and failing to write a sci-fi dystopia, a friend suggested she add magic to the mix. “I set it in medieval India, a historical period I was obsessed with as a teen.” Hunted by the Sky (Penguin Random House India, 2020) is about a woman named Gul navigating prophesies, destiny, salvation and love while attempting to destroy the evil King Lohar in the magical land of Ambar.
On fantasy and diversity
YA fantasy fiction has changed tremendously in just the past six years, Bhathena says, and part of the credit goes to the global We Need Diverse Books movement. This started as a hashtag on Twitter in 2014, prompted by the announcement of a panel of all-white, all-male children’s authors at Bookcon in New York that year. It grew into a global discussion about the lack of diversity and representation in children’s literature. A non-profit organisation of the same name began to lobby publishers to pick up more diverse books. As markets grew more diverse, with teens looking to see themselves acknowledged on the page, authors began moving away from the White protagonist’s quest for victory and including people of colour and of marginalised backgrounds in key roles. “Earlier, these ethnicities would typically feature as villains,” Bhathena adds. “I think it will only get better, as more young authors find the courage to express themselves.”
Up next
Bhathena’s sequel to Hunted by the Sky, Rising like a Storm is due out in June. “It was pouring out faster than I could write it,” she says. Gul returns, this time to fight an evil queen, armed with magic and courage.