Smorgasbord Fantasia

Govinda is the debut novel by Krishna Udayasankar, the first in a trilogy called Aryavarta Chronicles. I finally finished this deceptively “slim” book last week and really was impressed with the depth and quality of a debut attempt. Indian fantasy scene truly is an unexplored terrain, layered with countless beautiful astounding stories and myths, a lot of which all of us have grown up listening to. Mahabharatha is my favorite and can actually make Tolkien’s LOTR look like a pale shadow – it stands out among all epics for reasons more than one – fascinating characters, tons of back stories that loop back and forth until the complexities drive you silly and above all, the epic nature of the narrative itself spanning across time and distance.  Krishna bases her novel against the backdrop of this grand epic and this by itself, should make her book a winner. But wait, a retelling of the tale that we’ve heard countless times ? Now that’s going to be treading dangerous waters. ...

Been a busy weekend - though didnt get much of reading packed in. Travel to friends' wedding, Nephew Birthday party, another friend's mom passing away and Comic Con. Barely managed to get a few hours of shut eye this weekend and hence feeling more than a little bushed out. Good thing is I've put in a solid few hours into the delightful Govinda - a mesmerizing recounting of the stories that formed the Mahabharata -I wouldn't say this is Mahabharata itself, though of course the strong foundations on which Krishna's stories build on is undeniably India's biggest epic. But Krishna brings in her own sweet little twists, plots and counter plots spinning wheels within wheels, a dizzying array of splendidly fleshed out characters, some well known to us from childhood ( and yet with some amazing surprising twists in their character-study!) and some new ones, adding a distinct voice to this re-telling. Am still ploughing through this deceptively "slim" book t...

So are  you RED-DDYYY ??? Sorry - couldn't help it, but the world knows I am a big fan of Mr. Abercrombie - the God of Gritty Fantasy and all things bloody and gory in today's literary fantasy :D Without confusing you guys anymore, I am happy to announce that Joe's next book, The Red Country coming out soon AND you, my lucky reader, are getting a chance to wallow in his blood soaked literary landscape right here: (Grin - I sometimes hate myself for sounding so pompous, but I cant help it when I am talking about one of my recent favorite authors ) They burned her home.   They stole her brother and sister.                   But vengeance is following.  Read an Excerpt on his blog and you decide - http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/red-country/extract/

I finished the much-hyped Passage by Justin Cronin last week. What did I feel about it?  I felt spent. Drained. Exultant that I finally have been inducted into the elite few who now know for certain, what lies beyond the passage. A tad bit frustrated with the ending. But aglow with a sense of achievement for having conquered this monster. Monster it truly is – what with being compared to a weapon to ward (literally strike out at the effing vampire using this 800-pages tome, LOL) off evil in some remote villages of Romania – this book has definitely had some brickbats coming its way – but all things considered, Justin Cronin has a winner here.  Some amazingly drawn out characters whom you fall in love with, brilliant evocative prose, stunning action set-pieces – all backing up an “intelligent” vampires book. Mind numbing Horror, Intelligent Science Fiction, Bleak Post-Apocalyptic, dark Western – you may fit the book into all these genres and not be wrong. Th...