Harappa - The curse of the blood river

The author Vineet Bajpai has Story to tell and it's quiet a nail biter. A man in his late 30's claims to be a demigod - half man, half God...!!! Good God!!! Although what he meant by God is a mystery to me. For those who love adventure and a but of fun you can read this book, it has some engaging characters and good action scenes and a dollop of supernatural element going on.
The positive features about the book is it does have a gripping storyline, a captivating love triangle and definitely engrossing characters. There are some aspects in the story like the mystery of the black temple, the new order, about the warrior kartikeya shastri that the author must have deliberately left out to reveal in his next book in the series making reader guessing and eager for more. I myself can't wait for the next book because I love stories especially with a bit of supernatural element in them, and that the author tried a new angle to show that Harappa was the beginning of civilization. The idea I like and would like to explore more of.
Coming to the negative, I find that the author could have used a little more finesse in introducing the characters. when the author starts the story saying that this 30 something hero Vidyut is a sophisticated businessman, successful and unnaturally talented, every time he adds a yaa at the end of the dialog it feels like a school boy trying to impress girls and doing a very bad job at that. They made a great deal about Vidyut meeting His grandfather, that he has to do some preparation to meet the great and powerful soul, even though Vidyut was already doing much, but when Damini arrives she was just sent in without much fuss how come I wonder. If Vidyut was the much awaited Devta, and everyone knew that he was and they waited ages for his return, why did he leave the Matth in the first place, and why has he not come back until now or was he forbidden to come back. The author could have elaborated on this a bit.
All in all a good story to read, may be with an experienced editor it could be a much more...

Genre : Fiction, Mytho Fiction, thriller

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The Rise of Sivagami - a book review

Since the success of Bahubali many have tried to piggy-back on its fame and here I find a book series owing to reveal the history of the most popular Matriarch of Indian Cinema today. When I first saw the book cover I was not impressed but when I found out that it was written by Anand Neelakantan I became a little interested cause I have already read 'Asura' and quiet frankly was impressed by his writing. So I bought the book and started reading, though it started of with a promise of adventure, but soon I found out it was just a matchstick sparking to flame put out very soon. There were some familiar characters and many unfamiliar ones thrown in but the thing that irked me the most is how tacky and raunchy the author made the characters to be. When I read the fore word by SS Rajamouli I was looking forward to an exciting prelude to the Bahubali series but I was very much disappointed to find that the author has to use such lewd scenes to keep his readers interested. If we remove those distasteful pages from the book what it all boils to is a story  which is a most common and uninteresting one. Frankly the book has given me a bad taste and I am not looking forward to buying the next in the series.

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Vanity Fair

I read a lot ...
that being evident from my past blogs I would like to add I am also a big fan of period romances.
Big Big Fan...

I watched Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon, it was a lovely movie about a woman Becky Sharp who would do whatever it takes to survive, and that survivor instinct made her lose her love and life. Society, be it at that time or this frowns upon an ambitious women. They could not swallow the fact that a woman could outwit a man, infact several men. I wanted to read the book so I got into it. When I read the book I found out the author has a deep insight into the woman's world which only a few men are privileged to have. He understands woman on a level that normal people don't... he understands smart and ambitious woman and that is rare. Being a woman I myself could say that I have seen several woman who lost all ambition after marriage and I have seen woman fighting for their rights and equality and COMPLETELY lost their peace of mind. But I think that the author knows what a success is for a woman.

Here is a paragraph from the book I find insightful...

'The best of women are hypocrites. We don't know how much they hide from us; how watchful they are when they seem most artless and confidential; how often those frank smiles which they wear so easily, are traps to cajole or elude or disarm - I did not mean in your coquittes, but your domestic models, and paragons of female virtue. Who has not seen a woman hide the dullness of her stupid husband, or coax the fury of a savage one? We accept this amiable slavishness and praise a woman for it: we call this pretty treachery truth.

'
 
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Bali - The Ocean of Milk

I started reading this new book about The churning of the Ocean of Milk. Well I knew the story quiet well from the puranas but never like this.

In the preface the author mentions a discovery of an ancient city in the Himalayan mountain ranges near Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese engineers which was covered up and a slab that tells a story.
I was intrigued but then there is nothing I could use to search on the net. Google every thing... just like me... but then If I had found it easily then it would not be a mystery. And I like a good mystery.

Getting back to the book, the first impression I got of the book after a few pages was, it is for today's youth, like the mention of words like TLC made me think that the author wrote the book, but for the adolescent readers, well he was trying to introduce the age old stories to the new generation in their own lingo. IMPRESSIVE but then the reference to our Gods in such a casual manner like they were mere humans is a bit .... you know disappointing. Like they could make parchments appear in air but are sooooooo concerned about the gold and silver. What do Gods want with gold and silver, according to me their wealth are the number of devotees that have faith in them. Their power comes from the offerings that these devotees offer, so I read in one of the puranas. May be he should have written something in that angle.

Oh well! to each their own, but I have completed just half of the book and I like it. Especially If I do not think of them as the Gods we know, but new characters in the book. This opens up a whole new world, these characters are definitely more real and conceivable than the almighty figures we were told.

I will be writing more once I finish reading...

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Jaal - the Kaal triology

Jaal started out great, promising to become the next best seller. The story being the fist of an ambicious triology needed a lot of introduction. The new magical land of this book were explained indetail and the Gods of the land were discussed. Aushij, the lord of maya tried to dominate the other three primal Gods and a war ensues in which the three Gods were successful in imprisoning him in a prison of his own dreams. But they knew he would rise once again so they propheciesed the birth of Devnampriya who would save the world.

The commander of Kozipuram one of the kingdoms of the land assasinated the king and assumed the throne. He belonged to a secret sect of the population who worshipped Aushij and eagerly awaited his arrival. When the queen heard about the death of the  king she suspected the commanders hand in it and fearing for the safty of the unborn child in her womb fled the country and took shelter in an island. She gave birth to a girl.

In another kingdom a blacksmith and the trusted friend of the king makes a magical sword for the prince. Something told him that the king would not live long. As suspected the king was dead so he smuggles the young prince to the ashrams in the borders of the kingdom where he was rised to be a justice seeking vigilanti.

Meanwhile the commander after assuming this throne immediately sent his trusted kinnaras in search of the prophecised Devnaampriya. Accodingly they reached a small village where they knew the Devnaampriya was to be born. They arsoned the village to kill the new born baby but the rishis who were also bent on safeguarding the Devnaampriya were also there. The mother to whome Devnaampriya was to be born gave birth to twins, the rishis managed to rescue the boy, but the girl was taken to the commander where she was brought up in a severe conditions, to host the spirit of Aushij himself. The boy was raised in a remote village by the name of Arihant, in a loving family who took great care of his education. But when trouble came looking for Arihant in the form of a trader who recognised the signs and suspected Arihant to be Devnaampriya the adventure starts....

A nail-biting chases, thrilling fights, innovative magical worlds, politics and intrigue. A book you would want to read...
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Shadow Princess

Just books in Rajajeswari nagar banglore, does not have Indu sudersans 'Feast of Roses' book. That's disappointing because I was looking forward to reading that. Anyway I got the next book in the series 'The Shadow Princess', this book is about Jahanara, the daughter of Muntaz and Shahjahan.

Her secret love story, her influence over her father, her command over the zenana, her role in the life of her siblings. Jahanara took over the zenana right after her mother's death, she had to control her over enthusiastic siblings, her jealous sister Roshanara, her over zelous brother Aurangazeb and the callous brother who was supposed to be the next emperor after Shajahan but lost everything due to his carelessness. She took care of Shajahan until his death as her life burned away. Strong women existed in every period of time, some were recognised but many lie in the shadows....

Twentieth Wife

I have joined Just books and have been reading a lot. Recently I came across Indu Sudarsan's Twentieth wife. I am really glad that I have read this book. Indu Sudersan has a way with words, she paints a beautiful and colourful pictures with her words. Though the book goes a little too slow to my liking, I couldn't stop reading it. I could tell you how she researched for the material, how historical the book is, but I will not go into it, because I am here as a regular reader and not a critic. To me the book appealed so much because Indu Sudarsan is such a good narrator. She has transformed my bedroom into those colorful and vibrant zenanas with her vivid description. I could actually see the extravagance of the ladies of the zenana. I could actually feel for those people who lived and died so many years ago. She brought those historical figures to life and gave them character. I am truly amazed and inspired by her, cannot wait to read her other books...