Smorgasbord Fantasia

 Bringing to you, some of the most anticipated titles releasing this year - this week on Waiting on Wednesday we are featuring this hotly awaited Epic Fantasy novel The Stardust Thief (Sandsea trilogy # 1) that has been dubbed Arabian Nights meets Ocean's Eleven with  unforgettable characters, enchanting magic, and plenty of heart. I cannot wait to read this one.  Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.   With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a maliciou...

 To be frank, I had zero expectations from the new Batman movie and I had not been following this on the media circles, even after a week post release. But when a friend suggested that this one’s in the Theatres, I decided to give it a try.  And hot damn! Color me pleasantly surprised, this turned out to be one intense ride, a grim crime-noir about the seedy  underbelly of the perpetually dark Gotham city . The main story is a twisty investigation into the shifting power circles within the shadows of the city, that involves solving riddles and brings Batman to tackle not just righteous “terrorists” attacking the city but also, to have the courage to face the demons from his own murky past.  Of all superheroes, Batman is one of my favorite ones. Because of his fallibility, his ‘heroic’ intentions that always land him in the no-man’s land, where he has to choose between doing good for this city he has grown to love, sworn to protect and sacrifice his personal goals or...