Mamang Dai’s The Black Hills takes us back in time to Arunachal Pradesh of the 1840s and 1850s. Here in this land, which is yet untouched by the British and left alone by the Chinese authority in Tibet, arrives a French pastor, Father Nicolas Krick to spread the word of his Lord.
Empire by Devi Yesodharan | Book Review
The story of Empire by Devi Yesodharan is based in the 11th century Chola Kingdom at a time when they are at their mightiest and richest. When a Greek pirate ship sails in to loot the wealth of the Cholas, it is brutally defeated and forced to pay a compensation; a payment that includes a twelve-year-old girl, Aremis.
Keepers of the Kalachakra | Ashwin Sanghi | Book Review
PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 My Musings India’s greatest storyteller is back again after a long gap. After penning masterpieces such as The Krishna Key, The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant and The Sialkot Saga, Ashwin is back again with yet another magnum opus and this time its size […]
Rani Padmavati: The Burning Queen | Anuja Chandramouli | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5CHARACTERS: 4/5WRITING STYLE: 4/5CLIMAX: 3.5/5ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 My Musings The recent days have seen a hot debate ripening between the various stakeholders in the Padmavati game. Yes, I am talking only about the movie and nothing else. In such a backdrop, with the battle between the two sides dragging on infinitely, there is a […]
Pralay: The Great Deluge | Vineet Bajpai | Book Review
PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 My Musings I am ardent fan of historical fiction. I am irrevocably in love with the works of Ashwin Sanghi and Dan Brown. I first noticed Harappa – Curse of the Blood River in the Amazon bestseller list and since it was available […]
Harappa – Curse of the Blood River | Vineet Bajpai | Book Review
PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 4.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 My Musings If I talk about mythological and historical fictions, the year 2017 was an exceptional one for me. I had the pleasure of reading some of the best works like Sita Warrior of Mithila, Scion of Ikshvaku, The Resurrection of Evil, Palace […]
The Dravidian | Kalyan C. Kankanala | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTER: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 The prologue to The Dravidian opens with a scene from the Ramayana when Hanuman is worried about saving Laxman’s life and goes to Upa Vaidya in Lanka. He gives Hanuman a tonic that helps save Laxman’s life. Indebted to Hanuman for his prompt […]
The Sacred Sword | Hindol Sengupta | Book Review
PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 A little babbling History is one of my favourite subjects and consequently, I love reading historical thrillers when it comes to fiction books. My craving for historical fiction books is such that I gobble one or two such books every month. “The Sacred […]
Last Train to Istanbul | Ayse Kulin | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 “All he was now was a wretched number and old, very old, even older than his father, whom he referred to as “the old man.” He was now 3,233 years old.”― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul A few musings I love reading in the […]
A Time to Burnish | Radhika Nathan | Book Review
PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 Historical thrillers have a peculiar charm to them. Not only do they give you a historical perspective and information about the past, but there is also a certain thrill in the anticipation that something built or written hundreds of years ago can still […]
Songs of Stone | Sujata S. Sabnis | Book Review
PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 Close your eyes and think about these two words – monument and eternal love. If you are somebody from India (though I believe it will be true for most people around the world too), I am sure that the first thing which comes […]
China Dolls | Lisa See | Book Review
PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 4.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 Lisa See is an American writer and novelist who has to her credit a number of bestsellers including Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, Dragon Bones, Dreams of Joy and “China Dolls”. I came across this book while […]