Smorgasbord Fantasia

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...

Absolutely loved this one! An action-packed visceral examination of casteism and colonialism in the backdrop of a bloody siege through the eyes of an underdog, who discovers herself and comes into her own. Kavithri by Aman J Bedi marks the beginning of a fascinating new epic fantasy headlined by a firecracker of a heroine, Kavi aka Kavithri Taemu , a young woman, broken by the unfair ruthless world around her, who finds a purpose worth fighting and killing for, a dream she lives for. The Taemus are a shunted lot, a diminished set of people who have been systematically hunted down, eradicated over years by the rulers (be it the current Raayan Empire or the erstwhile colonial oppressors from the Kraelish empire – almost drawing parallel to the British East India company) for having taken up arms and led a rebellion ages ago. The lowest dregs in a stratified society that takes its caste system very seriously, the Taemus are treated to daily degradations and humiliations by the rest of t...