Residents of North America rejoice! Samit Basu‘s excellent TURBULENCE is finally out in the USA! Published by Titan Books, it is the first in a series of super-hero novels, set in India. TURBULENCE was published in the UK in July 2012 (also by Titan). The sequel, RESISTANCE, is due to be published in November 2013.

Here is the synopsis…

Aman Sen is smart, young, ambitious and going nowhere. He thinks this is because he doesn’t have the right connections — but then he gets off a plane from London to Delhi and discovers that he has turned into a communications demigod. Indeed, everyone on Aman’s flight now has extraordinary abilities corresponding to their innermost desires. 

Vir, an Indian Air Force pilot, can now fly. 

Uzma, a British- Pakistani aspiring Bollywood actress, now possesses infinite charisma. 

And then there’s Jai, an indestructible one-man army with a good old-fashioned goal — to rule the world! 

Aman wants to ensure that their new powers aren’t wasted on costumed crime-fighting, celebrity endorsements, or reality television. He wants to heal the planet but with each step he takes, he finds helping some means harming others. Will it all end, as 80 years of superhero fiction suggest, in a meaningless, explosive slugfest? 

Turbulence features the 21st-century Indian subcontinent in all its insane glory — F-16s, Bollywood, radical religious parties, nuclear plants, cricket, terrorists, luxury resorts, crazy TV shows — but it is essentially about two very human questions. How would you feel if you actually got what you wanted? And what would you do if you could really change the world?

Here’s what people have been saying about TURBULENCE…

‘… I finished reading with that rare sense of loss you get when you finish a book you never really wanted to end… it involves superpowers, politics, the limits of human responsibility and is fast paced, deep, crisply written, full of vim, vigour, wit, wisdom and zest. Plus it’s really, really funny… You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll gasp and you will demand a sequel!’  —  Ben Aaronovitch

‘Turbulence has it all… Solid writing, great character development, humor, personal loss, and excellent points to ponder in every chapter.’  —  Wired

‘The characters are brilliantly written… With a globe-trotting sensibility even James Bond would be proud of, the cinematic action sequences are as breath-taking as anything Hollywood has to offer, so the campaign for a big-screen version, or failing that, at least a sequel to the book begins here!’  —  IGN

‘… inventive and very clever. But most of all, it is fun. If you have ever picked up a comic book and enjoyed it, then this is a must-buy.’  —  Starburst

‘TURBULENCE is an excellent book, a thoughtful read that throws out questions without any easy answers, that opens up the superhero genre to deeper analysis, and yet is also an incredibly enjoyable superhero story itself.’  —  Fantasy Faction