Chandrasekera, Vajra
Entry updated 12 February 2024. Tagged: Author.
(1979- ) Sri Lanka-born author of mostly speculative fiction, who began to publish work of genre interest with "Pockets Full of Stones" in Clarkesworld for July 2013. He has published over a hundred short stories, essays, reviews, and articles, appearing in Analog, Clarkesworld, The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, Volume 2 (anth 2021) edited by Tarun K Saint, Strange Horizons (for which he was also a fiction editor) and Uncanny Magazine. His short story, "The Translator, at Low Tide" (May 2020 Clarkesworld), takes place in a ruined world (see Ruined Earth) where children savage the elderly.
Chandrasekera's debut novel, The Saint of Bright Doors (2023), follows Fetter, trained to kill his sainted father, through a surreal environment. It succeeds in teasing the reader with details of the world without dimming its lights through over-explanation. RAKESFALL (2024) opens during the Sri Lankan Civil War and follows the protagonists through cycles of Reincarnation into the distant future. His novels, much like his short fiction, characteristically incorporate Dystopian elements tinged with the fantastical aspects of various Religions. [JM]
Vajra Chandrasekera
born Colombo, Sri Lanka: 17 August 1979
works
- The Saint of Bright Doors (New York: Tordotcom, 2023) [hb/Amanda Hudson]
- RAKESFALL (New York: Tor, 2024) [hb/Andrew Davis]
links
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