Shannon A. Chakraborty (born December 7, 1985) is an American

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthu ...

and speculative fiction writer based in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, best known for

The Daevabad Trilogy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

Literary career

Chakraborty's debut novel, ''

The City of Brass ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'', was highly acclaimed when it debuted in 2017 and was a finalist for several science fiction and fantasy awards, including the

Crawford Award :::''See also'' Crawford Medal The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (short: Crawford award) is a literary award given to a writer whose first fantasy book was published during the preceding 18 months. It's one of several awards presented by ...

Compton Crook Award The Compton Crook Award is presented to the best English language first novel of the year in the field of science fiction, fantasy, or horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society at their annual science fiction convention, Baltic ...

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

, and won the Booknest.eu award for best Debut Novel. The sequel, ''The Kingdom of Copper'', was published to critical acclaim in 2019, and later that year she was named a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award. The final installment in the Daevabad trilogy, ''The Empire of Gold'', was released in June 2020. ''The'' ''River of Silver'', a collection of stories taking place in Daevabad, is set to come out in 2022. Chakraborty's next trilogy is set in the 12th-century Indian Ocean, pitched as ''

Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The film ...

'' meets ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the ...

'', in which an infamous, retired pirate returns to her old profession when she is offered the chance to right a wrong from her past and gain a fabled treasure. The series debut, The Adventures of Amina al-Sarafi, was published in February 2023 by Harper Voyager.

Adaptations

In May 2020, it was announced that Complete Fiction, a film and television company, will be developing The Daevabad Trilogy as a series for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Personal life

Chakraborty was born and raised in New Jersey to Catholic parents and converted to Islam in her teens. "Chakraborty" is her married name. She originally intended to be a historian specializing in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

; however, the

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around 2008 derailed those plans, so while she worked to support herself and her husband, she also kept herself occupied by writing what she called "historical fan fiction", that later became her first novel, ''The City of Brass''. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter.

Bibliography

The Daevabad Trilogy

# ''

'' (2017) # ''The Kingdom of Copper'' (2019) # ''The Empire of Gold'' (2020)

Amina al-Sirafi

# ''The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi'' (2023)

Short fiction

# "The Djinn" (2011) (as S. Ali), published in ''Expanded Horizons'' issue 29, June 2011 # "Yerushalom" (2011) (as S. Ali), published in ''Crossed Genres'' issue 31, July 2011 # "Bilaadi" (2012) (as S. Ali), published in ''The Future Fire'' February 2012

Collections

# ''The River of Silver: Tales from the Daevabad Trilogy'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakraborty, S.A. 1985 births Living people American fantasy writers 21st-century American novelists American Muslims Converts to Islam from Roman Catholicism Writers from New Jersey American women novelists Women science fiction and fantasy writers 21st-century American women writers