Shannon Chakraborty
@shannonchakraborty.bsky.social
NYT/Sunday Times/Indie bestselling author of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi and The Daevabad Trilogy
Also, very early galleys of The Tapestry of Fate are in! I'm so excited to start seeing Amina's next adventure out in the wild
November 17, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Also, very early galleys of The Tapestry of Fate are in! I'm so excited to start seeing Amina's next adventure out in the wild
Finally sharing possibly the coolest thing that's happened to me this year. Al-'Usur al-Wusta, in connection with the Ottoman History Podcast, organized a round table discussion on The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. The essays can be found here, with the podcast episode soon to come!
November 17, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Finally sharing possibly the coolest thing that's happened to me this year. Al-'Usur al-Wusta, in connection with the Ottoman History Podcast, organized a round table discussion on The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. The essays can be found here, with the podcast episode soon to come!
In honor of Mother's Day, I'll be matching donations to Believers Bail Out and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. Please consider a donation! No parents should be facing wrongful imprisonment or occupation.
believersbailout.org
humanappealusa.org/donate
believersbailout.org
humanappealusa.org/donate
BBO Home - Believers Bail Out
believersbailout.org
May 11, 2025 at 9:45 PM
In honor of Mother's Day, I'll be matching donations to Believers Bail Out and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. Please consider a donation! No parents should be facing wrongful imprisonment or occupation.
believersbailout.org
humanappealusa.org/donate
believersbailout.org
humanappealusa.org/donate
One of the best perks of being a writer: early books! Cannot wait to dive into these three once revisions are done and my brain ceases being mush
May 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
One of the best perks of being a writer: early books! Cannot wait to dive into these three once revisions are done and my brain ceases being mush
What a lovely discovery (and thread!)
Hey, who wants something nice?
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
May 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
What a lovely discovery (and thread!)
And since I'm already logged in, might as well share the snippet I posted on Instagram from the upcoming sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi!
April 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
And since I'm already logged in, might as well share the snippet I posted on Instagram from the upcoming sequel to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi!
I'm not very active here but just had to share the stunning cover of The City of Brass deluxe collector's edition. Look at Nahri! Look at CAIRO!
April 25, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I'm not very active here but just had to share the stunning cover of The City of Brass deluxe collector's edition. Look at Nahri! Look at CAIRO!
I was very excited to share a few of my favorite historical fantasies (set in our world) over at @nytimes.com last week:
Historical Fantasy Novels Offer a Magical Escape Into the Past www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/b...
Historical Fantasy Novels Offer a Magical Escape Into the Past www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/b...
Historical Fantasy Novels Offer a Magical Escape Into the Past
The author of “The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi” recommends fantastical tales grounded in real history.
www.nytimes.com
March 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I was very excited to share a few of my favorite historical fantasies (set in our world) over at @nytimes.com last week:
Historical Fantasy Novels Offer a Magical Escape Into the Past www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/b...
Historical Fantasy Novels Offer a Magical Escape Into the Past www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/b...
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
Ancient Assyrian kings didn’t just go to war with other kings.
They battled queens of the Arabian peninsula, including the formidable Queen Samsi who may even be depicted on a lost stone relief mid-battle on the back of a camel. Fascinating piece by Ellie Bennet anetoday.org/samsi-queen-...
They battled queens of the Arabian peninsula, including the formidable Queen Samsi who may even be depicted on a lost stone relief mid-battle on the back of a camel. Fascinating piece by Ellie Bennet anetoday.org/samsi-queen-...
Samsi, “Queen of the Arabs”, and Her Fight Against Assyria - The Ancient Near East Today
The women referred to in Assyrian inscriptions as “Queen of the Arabs” have been a passing footnote in Neo-Assyrian history — until now. Here is the story of one of them.
anetoday.org
March 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Ancient Assyrian kings didn’t just go to war with other kings.
They battled queens of the Arabian peninsula, including the formidable Queen Samsi who may even be depicted on a lost stone relief mid-battle on the back of a camel. Fascinating piece by Ellie Bennet anetoday.org/samsi-queen-...
They battled queens of the Arabian peninsula, including the formidable Queen Samsi who may even be depicted on a lost stone relief mid-battle on the back of a camel. Fascinating piece by Ellie Bennet anetoday.org/samsi-queen-...
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
After reading this review by Emily H. Wilson, I sat in my car and wept happy tears.
"a new and spellbinding book"
"must-read, millennia-spanning history"
I'm speechless with gratitude and pure joy. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
"a new and spellbinding book"
"must-read, millennia-spanning history"
I'm speechless with gratitude and pure joy. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
The story of ancient Mesopotamia and the dawn of the modern world
Ancient Mesopotamia comes alive in Moudhy Al-Rashid's must-read, millennia-spanning history, cleverly wrought from tablets written in the world's oldest script
www.newscientist.com
February 13, 2025 at 12:25 PM
After reading this review by Emily H. Wilson, I sat in my car and wept happy tears.
"a new and spellbinding book"
"must-read, millennia-spanning history"
I'm speechless with gratitude and pure joy. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
"a new and spellbinding book"
"must-read, millennia-spanning history"
I'm speechless with gratitude and pure joy. www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
i just found out that you can briskly walk the distance from the house of the prophet abraham to the house of ea-nasir the copper trader in under a minute and i genuinely don't know what to do with that information
February 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
i just found out that you can briskly walk the distance from the house of the prophet abraham to the house of ea-nasir the copper trader in under a minute and i genuinely don't know what to do with that information
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
January 21, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.
A rare morning I have a chance to do some writing before the kids wake up and I open my computer to this 😭
January 15, 2025 at 11:52 AM
A rare morning I have a chance to do some writing before the kids wake up and I open my computer to this 😭
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
And since we’re doing this conversation again for the umpteenth time, and since people tend to associate the Middle East with “medievalness” because they’re illiterates, a reminder that smallpox inoculation was first brought to Britain via the Ottomans, thanks to Mary Montagu, an ambassador’s wife.
January 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
And since we’re doing this conversation again for the umpteenth time, and since people tend to associate the Middle East with “medievalness” because they’re illiterates, a reminder that smallpox inoculation was first brought to Britain via the Ottomans, thanks to Mary Montagu, an ambassador’s wife.
Update: it was indeed fantastic and I'm off to find the sequel this week!
There's a certain magic to finally reading a book you've wanted to check out for years and realizing--just a few pages in--that it's going to be a delight
January 13, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Update: it was indeed fantastic and I'm off to find the sequel this week!
There are some great recommendations in the replies. Thank you to everyone who responded; I'm now terribly spoiled for choice!
I might be too new to this platform for any proper engagement of this question: but what are people's favorite print magazines? One of my resolutions for the year was to read more indepth news offline, but I'm trying to think of things besides the usual suspects. Politics and history preferred
January 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
There are some great recommendations in the replies. Thank you to everyone who responded; I'm now terribly spoiled for choice!
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
The scribe of this book has written, “Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesty cat that urinated over this book… because of it many others did too. And beware not to leave open books at night where cats can come.”
January 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The scribe of this book has written, “Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesty cat that urinated over this book… because of it many others did too. And beware not to leave open books at night where cats can come.”
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
mine will always be the sperm whale who reacted to a Roman soldier throwing a bottle at him off the Byzantine coast by sinking every ship he could off that coast for the next 60 years and had the emperor declare him an enemy of the state and name him after the Titan who attacked mount olympus
About once a week I think fondly of my personal icon, the elephant who trampled a woman and then came back later to trample her some more at her funeral.
conversation I had with a ranger at Corbett National Tiger Reserve
me: whats the most dangerous animal in the jungle? Tiger?
him: elephant
me: what about in the water
him: elephant
me: you don't understand, I mean aquatic animal
him: no you don't understand, don't fuck with elephant
me: whats the most dangerous animal in the jungle? Tiger?
him: elephant
me: what about in the water
him: elephant
me: you don't understand, I mean aquatic animal
him: no you don't understand, don't fuck with elephant
January 4, 2025 at 9:05 PM
mine will always be the sperm whale who reacted to a Roman soldier throwing a bottle at him off the Byzantine coast by sinking every ship he could off that coast for the next 60 years and had the emperor declare him an enemy of the state and name him after the Titan who attacked mount olympus
I might be too new to this platform for any proper engagement of this question: but what are people's favorite print magazines? One of my resolutions for the year was to read more indepth news offline, but I'm trying to think of things besides the usual suspects. Politics and history preferred
January 4, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I might be too new to this platform for any proper engagement of this question: but what are people's favorite print magazines? One of my resolutions for the year was to read more indepth news offline, but I'm trying to think of things besides the usual suspects. Politics and history preferred
There's a certain magic to finally reading a book you've wanted to check out for years and realizing--just a few pages in--that it's going to be a delight
January 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
There's a certain magic to finally reading a book you've wanted to check out for years and realizing--just a few pages in--that it's going to be a delight
My first and favorite Trek. I did a rewatch last year when my daughter was born and still love it
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine started 32 years ago today with "Emissary".
This is still my favorite Trek series.
This is still my favorite Trek series.
January 4, 2025 at 12:39 PM
My first and favorite Trek. I did a rewatch last year when my daughter was born and still love it
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
At the AHA (@historians.org) meeting this weekend, and stunned to see this story in Bloomberg: www.bloomberg.com/news/article.... #Skystorians
The Business of History Is Booming
Books and podcasts about the past are surging in popularity, making them increasingly profitable.
www.bloomberg.com
January 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
At the AHA (@historians.org) meeting this weekend, and stunned to see this story in Bloomberg: www.bloomberg.com/news/article.... #Skystorians
Reposted by Shannon Chakraborty
Whether it's volunteering at a local school or taking soup to a sick neighbor, improving the welfare of others can also improve our own physical and mental health, a sizable body of research shows.
When kindness becomes a habit, it improves our health
Whether it's volunteering at a local school or taking soup to a sick neighbor, improving the welfare of others can also improve our own physical and mental health, a sizable body of research shows.
www.npr.org
December 26, 2024 at 4:44 PM
Whether it's volunteering at a local school or taking soup to a sick neighbor, improving the welfare of others can also improve our own physical and mental health, a sizable body of research shows.