- Rajat Chaudhuri

Reviews, research, academic papers, citations, mentions, news, events and ratings of Rajat Chaudhuri's `The Butterfly Effect' below this book introduction.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT BY RAJAT CHAUDHURI

A self-obsessed Calcutta detective who goes by his last name `Kar’, an enigmatic internet cafe hostess in Seoul, and a hotshot geneticist labouring away on a top secret corporate project. These are just a few pieces in the puzzle that need to be put together to explain a world sucked into the whirlpool of the `butterfly effect’.

In the decaying capital city of a near-future Darkland, which covers large swathes of Asia, Captain Old – an off-duty policeman – receives news that might help to unravel the roots of a scourge that has ravaged the continent. As stories coalesce into stories – welding past, present and future together – will a macabre death in a small English town or the disappearance of Indian tourists in Korea, help to blow away the dusts of time?

From utopian communities of Asia to the prison camps of Pyongyang and from the gene labs of Europe to the violent streets of Darkland – riven by civil war, infested by genetically engineered fighters – this time-travelling novel crosses continents, weaving mystery, adventure and romance, gradually fixing its gaze on the sway of the unpredictable over our lives.

ISBN: 978-93-86906-52-6

Published by: Olive Turtle (Niyogi Books)

Waterstones

Amazon

1. Review snippets and mentions

`Propels the accumulated anxieties of a city into a shape-shifting future vortex' Anjana Basu, Outlook magazine

`Explores a Ballardian near-future' Amy Brady, Words Without Borders

`Genre-bending' Amy Brady, Houston Chronicle, USA

`Projects the tropes of a new politics of imagination ... a new eco-sophy is created' Krishnan Unni. P, Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters)

`Indian novel's story parallels the deadly coronavirus outbreak' Times of India (news)

`Compelling' UNI

`A magic box ... brings Allan Poe to mind' Scroll

`Ten Works of Environmental Literature from Around the World' Book Riot, USA (listing)

`A wild ride, with brilliant and Ballardian descriptions' Eco-fiction

`Vivid storytelling dovetails with a playful structure' Bengaluru Review

`Fifty Must-Read Novels about Eco-Disaster' Book Riot, USA (listing)

`Around the World in 80 Books' Dragonfly Ecofiction (listing)

2. Academic Research, Book chapter/section, Papers, Publications, Citations, University courses,. Reviews and Mentions of The Butterfly Effect.

1. Book chapter/section - For an extended critical analysis of the The Butterfly Effect in the context of Indian science fiction writing read the book `Star Warriors of the Modern Raj' (University of Wales Press) by Sami Ahmad Khan. Excerpts from Star Warriors of the Modern Raj are available at Google Books.

2. Book chapter: Chapter about The Butterfly Effect by Damini Ray in the Routledge Handbook of Crime Fiction and Ecology (Editor: Nathan Ashman, 2023). Chapter title: `Magic Seeds and the Living Dead - Investigating Transnational Ecocrimes in Rajat Chaudhuri's The Butterfly Effect'. (Routledge, Taylor & Francis 2023)

3. Ph.D. dissertation analysing The Butterfly Effect among other novels. `Neoliberalism, development, and environmental crises in contemporary South Asian Anglophone fiction' by Hossain, Md Alamgir, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

3. University teaching/syllabus -

The Butterfly Effect is a required text for this English course at University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign (ENGL 109: Introduction to Fiction (Advanced Composition). (USA)
The Butterfly Effect is included in the official syllabus of the Uttar Pradesh government (India) colleges.
The Butterfly Effect is a recommended reading for this c ourse at Amrita University (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham)  (EN864 Climate Change and Psyche : Living in the Anthropocene 4-0-0 4)
The Butterfly Effect is included in this course (teaching workshop offered by Angelillo Maria Del Carmelo) of University of Milan (Italy).
The Butterfly Effect is a recommended text in Uttar Pradesh government colleges/universities. (India) (News item in Bengali daily `Ei Samay' of Times of India group, April 15, 2023)
The Butterfly Effect is on the World Literature Reading list of LitENV which `is a reference platform on ecocriticism, environmental humanities and world literature that was inspired by the teaching of the University Scholars Programme’s module USE2324: Gender and Ecology in Asia,' of NUS, National University of Singapore.
`Conversation with author' Rajat Chaudhuri with students of the English Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) about his novel The Butterfly Effect. (31st October, 2022)

4. Mentions, Citations and Academic research about Rajat Chaudhuri's `The Butterfly Effect'

i) Mentioned in Research Handbook on Communicating Climate Change, Edited by David C Holmes and Lucy M Richardson (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. USA, 2020)

ii) Mentioned in Sami Ahmad Khan's essay in Parallel Worlds and Postcolonial Paradigms, Edited by Shweta Khilnani and Ritwick Bhattacharjee (Bloomsbury 2022).

iii) Mentioned in research paper by Axel Goodbody in Nuevos horizontes de la literatura comparada (Vol. 2): Ecocrítica, 2021. Editors: Bruno Echauri Galván and Julia Ori, ISBN: 978-84-09-27247-1 (Spanish Society of General and Comparative Literature)

iv) Mentioned in book chapter (Samrat Laskar) in the book Ecodisaster Imaginaries in India: Essays in Critical Perspectives. United States, Lexington Books, 2023. Edited by: Joyjit Ghosh, Samit Kumar Maiti, Scott Slovic

v) Paper in academic journal - A paper about The Butterfly Effect in The Text journal: `Climate Change and Ideological Denialism: Critiquing Misdiagnosis and Limited Actions in Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect', Anjan Saikia, The Text, Vol.6, No.2. (July 2024) ISSN: 2581-9526

vi) Paper in peer-reviewed academic journal - A paper about The Butterfly Effect in the peer-reviewed journal: Literary Enigma - The Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture: `Navigating the Ethical Labyrinth of Genetic Engineering in Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect', Priya Roy, Special Issue, Volume 1, Issue 2, International Conference on English Language, Literature, Culture, ELT, and AI (Virtual) (April 6th and 7th 2025), Literary Enigma - The Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture (Literary Enigma - The Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture ISSN (Online): 3049-2033 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15316062

vii) Conference paper by Anindita Shome discussing the book: "Dystopia, Climate Fiction, and Globalisation: Reading Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect"

viii) Conference paper by Kaushani Mondal, Topic: Recalibrating the Climate Crisis and Ecological Imbalances in the Globe: A Reading of Rajat Chaudhuri’s The Butterfly Effect. (INTERNATIONAL LEVEL CONFERENCE On the topic Environment across Disciplines: Perspectives on the 21st Century Date: 9th to 11th February, 2022 Organized by: Bodoland University Sponsored by: ICSSR-NERC)

ix) Mentioned in Interrogating Eco-literature and Sustainable Development - Theory, Text and Practice (Editors: Sharbani Banerjee Mukherjee and Soumitra Roy), Routledge, Taylor & Francis (2023)

x) Discussed in the paper `Pertaining the Feminist Vision of Ecocriticism for Environmental Justice against Gender Biases and Women Critics: A Literature on the International and National Perception' by Md Shahazadi Begum in International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS) Vol-7, Issue-2; Mar-Apr, 2022.

xi) Discussed in `Ecocritical Readings of Contemporary Indian Novels' by Dr. Janmejay Kumar Tiwari in Central Asian Journal of Literature, Philosophy and Culture 3(5), 89-98.

xii) Mentioned in this Editorial in The Telegraph newspaper.

xiii) Mentioned in `The Rise of an Ecospiritual Imaginary: Ecology and Spirituality as Decolonial Project in Contemporary Multi-Ethnic American Literature' by Andrew Michael Spencer, Southern Methodist University (USA). Spencer, Andrew Michael, "The Rise of an Eco-Spiritual Imaginary: Ecology and Spirituality as Decolonial Protest in Contemporary Multi-Ethnic American Literature" (2022). English Theses and Dissertations. 12.

https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_english_etds/12

xiv) Mentioned in this conference call for papers from Tezpur University, Department of English, Conference title: Crisis In/And South Asian Literature in English.

xv) Mentioned in `Environmental Activism and Ecofiction' by Lakshmi Muthukumar in Setu (January, 2020).

xvi) Mentioned in The Day After Tomorrow in Bengaluru: Environment, Global Climate Change and Dystopia(s) by Sami Ahmad Khan, Project neoMONSTERS

xvii) Discussed in `Eco-dystopian Elements in Rajat Chaudhuri's The Butterfly Effect' by Aditya Sureesh Kulkarni in Langlit, Vol 9, Issue 2 (An international peer-reviewed open access journal)

xviii) Mentioned in this paper in ISLE - Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Oxford Academic (2025).

5. Review links, excerpts, interviews, reports

Listed in `Ten of the Best Novels about Environment from Around the World' by Book Riot, USA (North America's largest independent book site) (Screenshot at the bottom of this page)

Cli-fi writer interviews by Sonam Joshi in a feature on climate fiction in Times of India. (screenshot below)

Mentioned and quoted in this article in The Print.

Interview and conversation with Jvalant Sampat in Mithila Review

Interview and conversation in Galaxies-SF, French science fiction magazine. (Edition: No 86, April, 2024) (in French, Translated by Pierre Gevart)

Review of the book in Outlook magazine (pdf)

Review of the book in Scroll

Review of the book in Indian Literature Journal (Sahitya Akademi, National Academy of Letters)

Review of the book in Kitaab (Singapore).

Review in Frontlist

Review of the book in Bengaluru Review

Review of the book in Purple Pencil Project

Podcast interview with Ayushi Mona on India Booked

Review of the book in Canadian website Consuming Cyberpunk

Mention in Hindustan Times

Mention in Scroll article by Tashan Mehta about sff

Mentioned by Amy Brady in Houston Chronicle (USA)

Mentioned by Amy Brady in Word Without Borders

News in Times of India

News in Mid-Day

News in Indo-Asian News Service (IANS)

Long article about the book in the UNI (United News of India) news agency and wire service

Here is a pre-release excerpt which appeared in Asian Review of Books (Hong Kong), August 2018.

Another pre-release excerpt appeared in Scroll.in, August, 2018.

Notice about Calcutta Book launch in Anandabazar Patrika (25th September)

The Butterfly Effect is spotlighted in the Global Ecofiction Series of Dragonfly and Ecofiction.com, Canada, alongwith an author interview by Mary Woodbury. The largest library on the web that explores novels about climate change and related environmental issues.

Article about genetically modified food and the novel The Butterfly Effect in The Telegraph.

The book receives a mention in Korean newspaper Wonju Today (14th January, 2019).

The book receives a mention in Korean newspaper Shina Ilbo (17h January, 2019) and Korea News Union.

Article discussing the book in independent student driven portal, Sociology Group.

6. Book and related events

(Some event photos are also available on the Videos and Images page)

Rajat Chaudhuri spoke about Climate Dystopias and Techno-chaos in his novel The Butterfly Effect at ILSR (Institute of Language Studies and Research), Ministry of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal (11 June, 2025) (Images on News and Climate Talks pages of this website)

Book Reading on the occasion of a presentation --Introduction to Climate Change Fiction at the National Library of India (Nov, 2019)

Keynote address on the Literatures of Climate Change, National Conference, St Andrews College, Mumbai, India (Sept, 2019)

Book reading (The Butterfly Effect) talk (biotech in fiction) and book signing at Museum of Science Fiction, Washington D.C. (USA) part of the Escape Velocity event supported by NASA and others. (May, 2019). Images below

Presentation about sustainability and culture in the context of fiction writing at George Washington University (Washington D.C. USA) part of the International Communication Association (ICA) pre conferences, supported by Indiana university and others. (May 2019). Images below.

Readings and discussions about the book at Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters), Delhi, India. Video at Sahitya Akademi Youtube channel.

Calcutta Book Launch by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay followed by a panel discussion on Speculative Fiction and the Stories of our Times with Dr. Sanjukta Dasgupta (former Dean and Head of English Dept, Calcutta University), Chandril Bhattacharya (Columnist) and Dr. Priyadarshi Basu (Geneticist) Videos of the event.

Hyderabad Book Launch and readings at Caesurae International Conference organised with Maulana Azad National Urdu University and Osmania University (Centre for Advanced Research and Training—Translation & Multilingualism) Photo

7. Ratings,Honours and more

Listed as a YA Cli-Fi (climate change fiction) read by the global Earth Day Network.

Rated among Top 8 in Science Fiction (Editor's Picks) for December (2018) and also Best of the Month on Amazon India. Images below.

Listed 50 Must-Read Eco Disasters by Book Riot.

Listed in Around the World in 80 Books: A Guide to Ecological and Climate Themes in Fiction.

Listed by Kunzum - Seven Indian Climate Fiction Novels to Make you Think about the Natural World.

Rated Best (book) of the Month in October 2018 on Amazon India. (Very Best in Fiction) Images below.

Rated Best of the Month in November 2018 on Amazon India and included in Editor's Picks under Science Fiction and other Categories) Images below.

The Butterfly Effect is a Book on the Delhi Metro

For more information about Rajat Chaudhuri's lectures and other writing about climate change fiction, sustainability, contributions to a climate fiction video game, visit this page.

8. Clippings and Screenshots

The Butterfly Effect among other books in this Times of India feature on climate fiction.