Pralayer Porer Ek Budhbar by Rajat Subhra Karmakar [Hardcover]

With Rajat Shubhra Karmakar as the author, dystopian elements are a given. But beyond that? The book features two interconnected novellas set in two different worlds and timelines. One revolves around American football, deeply entangled with the real-life neurological disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The other explores a basketball league controlled entirely by AI, where players act only as much as artificial intelligence dictates. A final short chapter bridges these two worlds, linking the separate timelines in an unexpected way. To put it simply, this book can be described as Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic Sports Mythpunk - a genre so unique that it may very well be the first of its kind, not just in Bengali literature but possibly in world literature. The novel paints a strikingly eerie yet plausible vision of our future, shaped by current socio-political realities. As readers turn the pages, they will feel a creeping sense of unease - yet the author may leave room for a glimmer of hope by the end.