The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport Samit Basu
404 pages, Hardcover
Published October, 2023 by Tordotcom
I don’t remember where I first heard of this novel, somewhere along the line I put a hold on it at the library and I don’t honestly remember why. I also didn’t remember what it was about. The discovery element is always fun, that is part of my system, that way I get to read the books without preconceived notions implanted by back cover descriptions. I also have to admit that if I had been told the concept, I am not sure I would have read this one at all. A SF re-telling of Aladdin is not something that would not have piqued my interest. I am almost certain my desire to read more worldwide SF writers was the reason for the library hold. I may have only looked at the title.
So even though the concept is not an instant sell I am mostly on board with the execution. I am not sure if my initial elevator >pitch< review sold or turned people off. To me, it was Aladdin via Alita Battle Angel on a cyberpunk-ish Asian-styled colony world. I like the movie Alita Battle Angel, so that should not be taken as an insult. Samit Basu is on my list of authors to watch, while this is not going to top my list for the year, I was really happy that I read it.
“The jinn grants wishes. Three per user.”
“Why three?” Bador asks.
“It was judged to be an appropriate free trial period,” the jinn says.
“More wishes can be unlocked in Unlimited Mode.”
If you want a thumbnail review, one devoid of any details let me give you the short version first. This is a very action-oriented story, that I felt was very good at times. In my opinion, the novel overstayed its welcome by about 70 pages. Most of which were the literary equivalent of CGI battle scenes that feel like video games. Those can be hard to watch. Entire chapters of punches, kicks, dives and acrobatics can be tough for an author to pull off. Sometimes I felt like Jinn-Bot went too long without emotional stakes naturally reminding us of why the action was happening. It is important in a film, but in a book it is crucial.
That said, the world-building is top-notch, and the story and character carry the book past those moments to make an overall experience that I liked. If that sounds critical I can say I enjoyed it more than I disliked it. The best compliment I can give this book is I am going to read Basu’s first book The City Inside, that is a promise. A strength of the book is something that is blended in very naturally with the World-building, lots of subtle and natural commentary on colonialism, the rise of post-colonial gangs and criminals underground, the rights of AI, consequences of all these elements on a city on an alien world.
The setting is a bit amorphous at first. Is this the far future? Our future? Yeah probably. Shantiport is a wonderfully alien feeling place. It comes off the page as wet and dangerous. Lina is the daughter of a failed revolutionary, and her brother is a bot in the body of a monkey named Bador. So as you can see there are lots of wild and funny elements. It is more bonkers than Arthur C. Clarke's hard SF crowd could handle, and that is a good thing. The strange factor of the setting is the greatest asset.
For a book that was supposed to be a SF re-telling of a classic story the plot at times took off in all kinds of desperate directions. Making the story confusing at times, a bad combo with the action. When Basu kept it simple the book worked better. Switching POVS worked sometimes. Because seeing Shantiport through the eyes of humans, bots, revolutionaries and gangs is not a bad idea. Lina and her monkey-bot brother certainly make for an interesting view, but outside of them, Moku the bot gave a cold inhuman look that was an interesting change of pace.
Lina was a very interesting character because in a typical Western-style movie she would have been an action hero designed to shoot guns and serve the male gaze. One of my favorite moments is when this action-oriented commented on that while introducing a fair amount of world-building-narrative wise it was cutting two carrots with one knife.
“I am not cute.”
“Not to the underclasses you think you care about, definitely not. Have you ever seen yourself? You’re augmented, capable of incredible physical feats. That body is a masterpiece. You owe your uncanny beauty to gene-editors, your self-healing body to bioengineers, I wouldn’t be surprised if your parents had pheromone work done to make you extra sexy. Who knows? The common people you think you’re championing see you as a monster, and you will live long enough to watch their grandchildren hate you too.”
When the story gets into the Aladdin-like scenes Basu smartly connects the wishes to the wider world and social justice themes.
“I am ready with my second wish,” Zohra says, rubbing her eyes.
“No you’re not, Lina says. “Jinn just give us a few minutes.”
She turns to Zohra.
“Breathe,” she says. “You just managed to win back your freedom, and unlimited wealth and access, and safety for your children too, after a terrible decade. Let’s adjust to our new reality for a bit, find out what it means.”
Jinn-Bot of Shanti-Port is good to excellent SF at times. My problems with it are essentially minor issues. Compared to some lifeless idea over substance SF it is a good example of modern speculative fiction. Parts of the story would work better in film, but this is exactly the internationally diverse genre fiction only the modern scene provides. I have friends who think SF died before this century began, but this worldwide genre is breathing new life into the scene and I am thankful.
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