Smorgasbord Fantasia

Malayalam Movie industry has been relentlessly churning out some fantastic movies, one after the other. So much so, that I actually have missed out watching a few good ones that released late last year on the OTT platforms. One such gem is ARM ( Ajayente Randam Moshanam) or Ajayan's second theft.  A mix of historical folklore, fantasy adventure and an impossible heist, all rolled into one - this one's Tovino Thomas' magnum opus post-covid big screen release from late 2024 ( He plays a triple role in this, three characters across three generations!) directed by Jithin Laal (in only his first ever big outing as a director) ably bringing to life a surreal story penned by Sujith Nambiar. It truly deserves all the accolades and the money it has made and I only wish more people would get acquainted with this fantastic period action movie, laid with overtones of fantasy firmly rooted in folklore. Being a big fantasy nerd and a fan of anything mythological, this movie was an abso...

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean has an absolute bonkers of a concept. North of England in the Yorkshire Moors, live a clan of six “Families” – who are humanoid/aliens and survive by eating books, gaining knowledge or experiences depending on the kind of literature they “devour”.  They are secretive and surrounding them is an almost Dracula-like legend that cloaks them from the rest of the humanity, only a few even suspecting as to their existence.  Devon belongs to one of the oldest ‘families’ among these people and being one of the rarer “female” of the species, is tasked with the preservation of the clan/race. Which basically leads her leading an oppressive life of being a mule, tasked with marrying into other families as directed by her elders and procreating for the sake of the survival of the clan. Naturally, Devon – a headstrong perceptive young woman, doesn’t take kindly to her “assigned” tasks. Especially after having gotten attached to her first daughter, Salem. Who is...

  A startlingly original tale - Leech by Hiron Ennes has been on my reading list ever since tordotcom released it way back in 2022. This and Manhunt were two of my most-anticipated titles that had me super intrigued. Now that I finally finished it, I am glad I got around to it. It's a very cleverly written story about what it means to be human, in a wonderfully constructed gothic horror setting in a bleak post-apocalyptic scifi world. The tale is narrated by a millennia-old parasite that has ingratiated itself into the human society taking over as The Institute, posing as 'doctor' on duty from the more prosperous industrial town of Inultus, complete with the world's best medical resources and library. The way it hides in plain sight, is by taking over the minds of any promising young person who can be trained as a doctor, within the institute. As the story starts, we learn that the institute has sent one of it's hive-mind doctors to investigate the death of one of t...

 October seems to be the month for series finales for me! Right on the heels of Mirrored Heavens (Between Earth and Sky) I wrapped up The Fury of the Gods the much-awaited third and final book in this norse-inspired epic fantasy by fan-favorite J ohn Gwynne , known for having his fabulous big fat epic novels ( Faith and Fallen , and the sequel Blood and Bone )  His new trilogy, the Bloodsworn saga is set in an Viking-sque world, still scarred and reeling from the last war between Gods, all of whom are now fallen or lost.  The Shadow of the Gods and  The Hunger of the Gods sets up the readers for this absolutely compelling nail biting frenzy of a climax, bringing this brilliant tale to a closure. Written across multiple narratives, the readers follow the fate of the lead characters, damaged and scarred by their life experiences, as their world Vigrid comes under attack yet again with colossal powers rising up from dead, set to clash with each other.  By...

With Mirrored Heavens , Rebecca Roanhorse takes us to the nail biting climax of this series Between Earth and Sky - one of the finest examples of epic fantasies done right, where prophecies come alive, Gods pit themselves against each other through their human avatars, and the humans themselves, fall prey to their baser instincts, fighting for power in this brutal bloody game where backstabbing, deceptions and in-fighting are the rules, not exceptions.  War  finally  comes to Meridian.  The merchant lords are gunning for the city of Tova. Tova itself, has fallen under the Crow God's eclipse and now the city is smarting under the new tyrant Serrapio, the chosen Carrion King, the God's instrument of bloody reckoning. While the Sky Made clans are conspiring against him, Serrapio has to decide on what alliances to trust and what to avoid or eliminate. And then there is this new prophecy by the trickster God Coyote that has him confused and scrambling, looking for ways t...

Alex Grecian ’s first novel, The Yard , set in the 1889 in a Victorian London coming on the back of the horrors of Jack the Ripper’s atrocities on the city, is a lurid grisly historical thriller/crime novel. Set in the seedy underbelly of the most populous city at that time in the world, featuring a deranged killer who is butchering the policemen themselves, the Yard introduces us to the Murder Squad, a set of policemen tasked with investigating the most difficult murder cases that pile up in this city, especially with “Saucy Jack” having unshackled the chains off a deranged set of killers. The Yard takes us to the unexplored dark alleyways of London, featuring a trio of policemen – Inspector Walter Day, backed up by the ever-resourceful constable Hammersmith and aided by the progressive thinking pathologist Dr. Bernard Kingsley who is out to clean up London’s morgues and also the doctor society at large of primitive practices. The story starts off with the discovery of a trunk, stuffe...