Books and Authors question: An Era of Darkness first appeared in 2016. Which option correctly identifies its author and original language?

The verified answer to “Books and Authors question: An Era of Darkness first appeared in 2016. The source-backed, question-specific record explains: An Era of Darkness is correctly associated with Shashi Tharoor. The work’s first publication is conventionally dated to 2016, and its original language is English. These three details—title, author, and language—form the decisive bibliographical combination required here. Shashi Tharoor, a major Indian literary figure, is also associated with The Great Indian Novel; that companion title helps confirm the authorship independently rather than through guesswork. The distractor set (William Dalrymple; English; Stephen Hawking; English; Karl Marx; German) must therefore be tested as complete statements: one true fragment cannot make an entire option correct. A candidate should first lock the title to its writer, then check the language, and finally use 2016 as a chronological cross-check. A common examination trap is to confuse an author’s nationality with the language of composition, or a translation date with first publication. Another is to treat a well-known adaptation or later edition as the original work. Revision takeaway: remember the compact chain “An Era of Darkness — Shashi Tharoor — English — 2016,” and connect it with The Great Indian Novel for stronger recall. This evidence establishes the bibliographic relationship required in this Books and Authors item. A correct solution must preserve the exact title, author, publication context, language, award or comparison requested by the stem. Similar periods, genres or national traditions do not make two book–author pairs interchangeable. Option C gives Shashi Tharoor; English and satisfies the wording of the question. The remaining choices—William Dalrymple; English, Stephen Hawking; English and Karl Marx; German—do not satisfy the complete requirement.