Smorgasbord Fantasia

Godkiller  is  Hannah Kaner 's highly acclaimed debut, set in a richly realised brutal world, in the throes of a chaotic looming civil war. It is a world rife with with conflicts, between the Gods and humans sick of their tyrannical murdering world order, nobles scheming against royals, and the long-suffering citizens caught in the middle of all this, trying to flee from their own wretched destiny.  Hannah presents an interesting, refreshing take on the conflicts between Gods and humans, giving us a world that is teeming with strife, torn between half the populace on the side of the King, wanting to kill and eliminate the errant murderous Gods who are drunk on their concept of power derived from the desperate faith and the other half, clinging to hope that their prayers would still be heard by the Gods left. Cities are in ruins, where the shrines are destroyed and gangs of Godkillers, mercenaries who specialize in exactly what that name implies. The only city that still h...

I think I have zeroed in on my top fantasy debut of the year already :)   The Silver Blood Promise is James Logan 's debut - a masterfully crafted epic fantasy full of action, mayhem and magic that is right up your alley, falling somewhere between the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and First Law books by Joe Abercrombie. Ed McDonald calls it post-grimdark and he wouldn't be wrong. Because the staples of that grimdark genre which we all love are all in there; the hero with his regretful choices of his past, who is content drowning his life in wine (Parvan Red, anyone?) and gambling his wealth away in decrepit smoky dens, picking fights with shady goons, characters drowning in their own guilt and making illogical choices, back-alley fights and a flighty convoluted dash through a seedy city of merchants, underground criminals and power hungry nobles conspiring against each other.  The story primary centers around the character of Lukan Gardova, a minor nobility, a failed ...

  Manjaveyil Maranangal  is the first Malayalam novel that I have read fully; this also happens to be my first taste of  Benyamin , the celebrated Malayalam author of  Aadujeevitham . While I always knew that Malayalam language (my mothertongue) has had a fascinating list of literary greats, I frankly never knew the depth or breadth of this immensely talented bunch of writers. And after having thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating immersive and yet divisive novel, consider my mind blown. I am yearning for more now! It's like I have just got the keys to a whole new chocolate shop, all to myself, without any one to stop me from going insane as I go wild, stuffing my face with the choicest of flavours, shapes, colours, ready to gorge. It's a veritable treasure trove and I have just opened that lock on that hidden trunk. Malayalam Literature, here I come!  Manjaveyil Maranangal   ( Loosely translated to the Yellow Sunlight Murders!) is a crime thriller, but in re...

A clever mix of historical fiction and fierce feminist literature, Weyward is a timeless story that touches upon the topics of liberty, patriarchy, nature and what it means to be a woman, across the ages. By cleverly bringing together the lives of three women across different ages, connected by their steely resolve to maintain their individuality, dignity and pride, using their wits and perhaps aided in parts by something supernatural.  Weyward doesn't read like a debut, more like an assured work of fiction from a new voice, Emilia Hart, successfully stringing together an engaging narrative that doesn't flag, despite it being stretched across three POVs, three different timelines. Juggling the lives of three very different women, who are nevertheless, very similar - in that they are all "weyward" linked by their bloodline but also in their earnest need to protect what they believe so earnestly in. Their own freedom of expression, supported by an ability to be deeply ...

The Devil and the Dark Water is the second book by award-winning author Stuart Turton, a delicious mix of historical fiction, fantasy and supernatural. As is usual with Stuart, the book defies genres giving us an impossible mystery on the high-seas in the times of Dutch East India Company of the 17th century, a devil onboard and a colorful array of characters who would leap out of the pages to park inside your heart, including the world's best detective Sammy Pips and his brawny bodyguard, Arent Hayes, whose mystery-solving exploits are famous across the world.  This is my first Stuart Turton book and I am truly blown away by it. I am in awe of his writing prowess, his narrative is truly a guilty pleasure, with the wild but very befitting comparisons, his clever turn of phrases and of course, the fiendishly clever construction of the whole puzzle, this mystery turns out to be. Needless to say, Stuart goes right to the top of my "must-read-authors" for any of his books n...

It's that time of the year when you sit up and realize yet another year has rocketed past you!  But this year has been at least, a fairly soul-satisfying one for me, from a creative pursuits point of view. My writings are not been dead - I have finished rewriting about forty-thousand words of my previous manuscript with some solid new storylines which I think, is promising. Got a bite from an agent even! Took active participation in some writing contests, did a few nice short stories, even won an award for one of those shorts. The most soul-crushing aspect of publishing journey, which is the querying phase is on now and the agent research is in full swing now. So hey, not bad at all in terms of reviving that flagging part of my tired soul which had been caged up for like two three years past!  So coming to the topic I wanted to write on, the Best TV Shows for this year 2023 - I will run past a few of my favorites that I finally came around to watching, not necessarily released...

I consider myself an animal lover, but this beast from the Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, was an animal I just couldn't bring myself to like. Sure, there are many things to like about the movie. Like the trailer. Which in fact, drew me to watch the damn bloated excercise in misogynism and excessive alpha-male fan-service that has a run-time of over three hours.  I mean, I love Ranbir Kapoor and grudgingly agree that he's one of the finest actors of his generation but how much of his seething red-eyes and deranged father-hero worship can you take? Seems, not more than perhaps the first half that runs to perhaps a little over ninety minutes.  So well, the basics first : The story is about Vijay, a rich spoilt brat, son of one of the wealthiest industrialist in India, Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor excels, in this role without resorting to much of his usual bon-vivant histrionics, just resigned fatigued eyes that watch a son go crazy in the name of unrequite...