Ashok Kumar Banker (born 1964) is a novelist and short story writer born and living in Mumbai, India. He has written professionally since his early teens, and has worked as a print journalist, columnist, scriptwriter for television series and documentaries, and in advertising.

Banker has published in several genres, ranging from contemporary fiction about urban life in India to multi-volume mythological epics, as well as science fiction, fantasy, and cross-genre works. His first three novels to be published were crime thrillers, claimed to be the first written by an Indian novelist in English. They gained him widespread attention and a reputation for being a crime novelist that has clung to him despite his not having written crime novels since , though he has written short crime fiction, some of which involves characters from the novels . The stories of his "Devi" series are short works featuring avatars of the Hindu goddess Devi, and

Three of his novels contain autobiographical elements and are closely related to one another. His first novel (though the fourth published) Vertigo is about a man struggling to make a successful career and home life in Bombay (the former name of Mumbai). Byculla Boy takes its name from the Byculla suburb of Bombay where he and his mother grew up. Beautiful Ugly and the complementary documentary of the same title are a tribute to his mother, portraying the tragic events of her life .

Having completed a six-volume retelling in English of the Indian epic of the Ramayana that has gained him worldwide attention, he is working on a nine-volume adaptation of the Mahabharata. These are intended to be part of a larger sequence dealing with the major myths of India, along with two yet-to-be published series that will more clearly blend myth with science fiction tropes and quantum mechanics . The Krishna Coriolis is to tell the life of Krishna beyond the Mahabharata, and The Ganesa Palindrome is to be

Banker also has plans for The Epic India saga, a series of historical novels presenting the last 2500 years of Indian history from the perspective of the Indian people. He's also said to be working on an alternate history series titled "The Indus Saga" set in an alternate world wherein Indian scientists discover the scientific basis for the legendary 'dev-astras' (divine weapons) described in ancient Vedic texts and a group of Indian Freedom Fighters led by Mahatma Gandhi uses the dev-astras to change the course of World War II, gain India's freedom from the British Empire, and make India, China and Japan the dominant world powers by the turn of the 21st century. Another project by the prolific author is a graphic novel adaptation of his "Devi" tales, being developed for a major New York comic publisher.

Banker was earlier known as a controversial but hard-hitting columnist, well-known for his attacks on the celebrity-obsessed mass media. His unorthodox views include the rejection of all media that is sponsored by advertising or corporate promotion as being 'unreliable' and 'editorially compromised'. According to a note posted on his official website, he is in the process of launching a 'community portal' with free blogs, email, forums, and even an ambitious "Indiapedia" project modelled on , with the intent of furthering information on Indian culture, history, mythology and literature without outside commercial support. More details are posted on his website.

He wrote a short non-fiction book about Bollywood entitled Bollywood: The Pocket Essential (2001).

Bibliography

The author's name has appeared as both "Ashok Banker" and "Ashok K. Banker".

The Ramayana series:

• The Prince of Ayodhya (2003)
• Siege of Mithila (2003)
• Demons of Chitrakut (2004)
• Armies of Hanuman (2005)
• Bridge of Rama (2005)
• King of Ayodhya (2006)

The Mahabharata series:

• The Seeds of War (2006)

His other novels include:

• The Iron Bra (1993)
• Murder & Champagne (1993)
• Ten Dead Admen (1993)
• Vertigo (1993)
• Byculla Boy (1994)
• The Missing Parents Mystery (1994)
• Beautiful Ugly (forthcoming)