Book Review : The Flame of Anahata – Love conquers all by Saranya Umakanthan

Book: The Flame of Anahata – Love conquers all

Author: Saranya Umakanthan

Genre: Fiction (Mythology)

Publisher: General Press

Pages: 240

Price: 295

Blurb:

“They turned to see his tears of love wiping away her blood of agony…”
Diya throws Suraj’s proposal back in his face, leaving him broken-hearted. Why would she do so when she loved him desperately?
Suraj finds his Guruji unconscious beside a cave clutching the warrior Indrajith’s diary. His heart-rending love story then unfolds. Being trapped in a web of emotions, Indrajith endured the pain of his lost love, hurting himself and trampled Deepali’s hope for his adopted brother… Who was he?
Sealed for centuries and holding the Mann-Parivarthana astra, the cave is besieged by evil now. But all attempts to unlock it go futile. Faced with baffling hints, Suraj’s intelligence is sorely tested. What is the potent power required to break through that Paanch-Dost-Gupha?
THE FLAME OF ANAHATA!
Will the fire of love ever flicker in the hearts of Diya and Suraj? 

Review:

I wasn’t sure before picking this book for review because this is the second book in the trilogy and my fears were proved right. Well this book is more of a standalone if one totally neglects the fact that this is a series which is a great sign but I still hope that I had read it in a proper manner. Nevertheless, the book is a mythological fiction set in different dimensions and that give this book a little depth and wide aura of beauty.

There was a fine balance of two world giving this book a great flavor. The main highlight of the book is its easy and wavy language. With such dramatic topic in show one needs to go easy with the other things.

The first impression of the book is great. The blurb is highly impressive, the name is intriguing and the cover is attractive. It was a nice mixture.

At few places I felt that the novel became a bit fast paced. There were a lot of sub-plots and I needed time to grasp them. The good part is the characterizations, its highly diverse. The twists and turns were timely and tickled me to the core. I was highly indulged in the book because of its fine narration and an out of the box concept.

The good thing is that with so much going on in the story there is no space left for any sort of confusion. The execution of the book was amazing. I felt that this book had a right amount of everything, thrill, love, everything.

About the author:

Saranya Umakanthan is a software engineer by profession and a two-time university topper. An avid reader, she enjoys playing with words. She loves coffee, books and online shopping. Nothing brings her more contentment than seeing a reader enjoying her book. The fragrance and texture of paperback novels inspire her and she hangs out at bookstores frequently.

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Book Review : Jim Morgan and The Seven Sins by Bharat Madan

Book: Jim Morgan and the Seven Sins

Author: Bharat Madan

Genre: Fiction (Suspense)

Publisher: NotionPress

Pages: 304

Price: 299

Blurb:

A quest to identify seven deadly sins

A mystery behind seven keys that were passed to seven men

A deadly race against time to seek atonement

On the outskirts of New York City, Jim Morgan, an international bestselling author learns through God that he had committed seven sins in his previous life. Clues lie in the six novels he has written, that would lead him to the mystery. But the novels won't reveal everything to him. With seven days on hand, he must walk in the direction that faith leads him in, to reach the lost chamber of Seven Planets. Unless Morgan understands the secret behind his past life and the sins he committed, his chance to live will be lost forever.

Review:

“Jim Morgan and the Seven sins” has a very different story line. Its dark, mysterious and very well thought of. I was very keen to read this particular book because the plot is very fresh.

When I dived in the book I was wondering how the story would move, luckily the action starts in the first few pages itself and the great images of mystery and drama emerges. It was nice to read something like that. I love stories which have a higher power that guides you or rules the scenario. Everything just glorifies by that factor.

I didn’t like the main character very much because he was just not doing justice to his persona. He was more into boasting about himself rather than focusing on the happenings. Also I think that the story is a little dizzy somewhere in the middle. I can accept that behavior in the starting of the book because at that time there is a lot to explain and connect with but that is unacceptable in the middle because it is the high point.

The book follows the trend of the beginning and it is extremely slow and not to the point. The main idea, i.e., the sins are not presented in a lavish manner. It was like one sin is mentioned in a highly impressive manner and the other is not even showcased in a confined and neat way.

What is great in the book are the side characters, some of them were amazing and it was nice to see them in action. The problem was that only Jim seemed to be the main character and nobody else was there for an ample amount of time. So it was hard to connect with them majorly and as so many characters were coming from time to time it was not easy to think about Jim and his mindset.

But I loved the scenario. I loved the time travel so much that I waited for it so badly. And because of that particular reason I was not able to put the book down. There were very strong connections, very well executed turns and a very sharp reflexes.

The main problem in the book arrives is the narration and so many characters that comes in play from the very start. It became a little confusing and out of the box thing. Maybe it was because of a glitch in narration or execution of the tale.

But if I neglect that then there was no issue at any place and my reading experience of the book was amazing. The book is not small still I managed to read it quickly because the interest quotient was so high, I was so desperate to know the mystery that sometimes I used to jump ahead a bit to get to know what’s next.

It was a balanced novel for me which entertained me at right places in right amounts. So, it was a good pick.

Eye-Catchers:

• “I was too good with words; he was too good with response.”

Recommendation:

I can easily recommend this book to people who read Indian authors and are bored from romance and stupid thrillers. Jim Morgan has something different.

About the author:

Bharat Madan is an author, motivational speaker and a personality developer. He has been a meritorious student through his time at college and holds an MBA from Amity University. He received the prestigious Shree Baljit Shastri Award and Best All Round Student Award, the highest awards at his university. His journey as a writer began after he finished his education. His first piece of fiction, the story of a college boy over three years, was set aside in favour of his decision to make a debut with a more mature and conceptually unique novel.

As a motivational speaker, he has inspired thousands of students in reputed schools in Jaipur. Through his writing and speaking skills, Bharat endeavours to add value to the lives of students and make their personalities forces to be reckoned with. After pressing demands from his listeners, Bharat started a Youtube Channel called “Bharat Madan” to share his ideas through the digital platform. He derives inspiration from his mother who raised him single-handedly after he lost his father at a young age.

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Book Review : The Four Patriots by Sumit Agarwal

Book: The Four Patriots

Author: Sumit Agarwal

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 296

Price: 250

Blurb:

Have you ever fallen victim to the system? Felt humiliated and helpless? Have you fought back?
Meet four such patriots: Varun, an NRI software engineer; Salman, CEO of Coffee Moments; Raghav, a virtuous politician and Aditya, an altruistic businessman.

Fate brings these four lives together at a crossroads, pushing these unlikely heroes out of their comfort zones to fight a seemingly unstoppable evil force which wants to hold our country captive. The four companions, who have always had each other’s back, will now come face-to-face with the biggest challenge of their lives—a labyrinthine plot rife with perilous twists and wicked turns. With the nation’s future at stake, will they be able to destroy the Chakravyuh intricately laid down by the enemies of India? Will they come out of it alive? 

A story about friendship, faith and courage, replete with romance and patriotism, The Four Patriots is a racy, contemporary thriller sure to give you goose bumps. Pick this book if you do not believe ‘is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta’; and if you think all is not lost, this is a must-read!

Review:

It is hard to say no to a book when you can hear bells of patriotism. But it is harmful to contemplate the main idea before diving in the book yourself. The blurb of the book is interesting, very refreshing and shows you a path to high drama and complexity. The cover of the book is ravishing and stylish. But whenever the hopes are high things tend to fall badly but not in this case.

If a reader needs to pick the book then “The Four Patriots” excel in all the three spheres, a great blurb, an interesting name and a beautiful cover.

The starting of the book is wonderful in all respects. It was intriguing to find out the base of something so big. I mainly loved the tale of Raghav and Salman and how they got so infuriated by everything that happened with them. Varun was a different case altogether. His side of the story was funny from the very start.

So the author did the best thing to keep a reader busy with the basic introductions in a very different way, making the story gripping with every change it inspected. Stories of main leads were different very different from each other. There was a love affair that didn’t succeed; a marriage that wasn’t doing well, a society that needed a change and an office that didn’t promote good work.

The Book 1 ended on a very high note. It was so interesting, so meaningful and it had many moments that gave me Goosebumps. There was no loose end; there were no characters that were added just for the sake of filling places. I didn’t like all the ladies in the book because they had no part to play anywhere, any major part. So it was like a Bollywood movie where the actress doesn’t have even half part as the actor. Disappointing.

I wasn’t expecting what I read in the Book 2. It was like a roller coaster ride in the book 2, so much of action, so much of emotions that I was almost drained after I completed 200 pages. There were so many things happening that I needed a good break. A lot of action is not bad but extreme action is also not very good. I think as compared to part 1 part 2 was over ambitious.

Also I felt that the protagonists were favored way too much. I don’t like reading a very goody good kind of book. There was a strong need of more action from the antagonists. It was evident that they were there no doubt but they were lazy characters, not in their proper form, in dialogues or in action. They posed problems but not of sort which can blow one’s mind. So that was a negative point for me.

The characters were more enhanced in the second part. A great thing was that the story moved in the same way as it moved in part 1. Every character had a story, had a part to play. The author kept everything very clean and organized by giving chance to every character at a proper time. By that the story wasn’t confusing even for a second. But I do got a little confused by so many names in the start; I had to re-read few pages of everyone’s life to keep my mind clear about who was who.

The writing style of the author is good, not great not average. Narration was very smooth, dialogues were not very powerful but they left an impact when a good turn supported them.

All in all the book was a good read and it was a quick read too though it was good 290 pages long and it was because of its gripping story.

Recommendation:

This is a must read if you like the movie Nayak and get inspired by the action and adventures. This book will give you an equal high.

Eye-Catchers:

• “A love confessed and lost is half as burdensome as a love one could never show.”
• “It is better to at least try your hand at something you fancy rather than just watch and appreciate others do it.”

About the Author:

A graduate from IIT Kanpur, Sumit Agarwal is a successful businessman. He is also a music composer, lyricist, singer, actor and writer. His music videos can be viewed on his YouTube channel, or on his website www.sumitagarwal.net. 

Sumit runs an NGO, Prerna (www.prernaa.org). Among its many social welfare initiatives, the NGO has adopted ten government primary schools, in order to facilitate quality education. He is also the founder of Kasauti, a consortium of NGOs formed to aid clean and answerable politics.

Connect with the author:

Facebook: sumitsvoice

Twitter: sumitagarwal17

Email: info@mlagroup.com

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Book Review : The Princess of a Whore House by Mayank Sharma

Book: The Princess of a Whore House

Author: Mayank Sharma

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Notion Press

Pages: 98

Price: 149

Blurb:

Aparajita is a tenacious go-getter. Her name means unconquerable in Sanskrit, and she lives up to its meaning.

Just like any other ambitious girl, she desires to fulfill her dreams and become an independent individual. Far and wide, the shadow of her melancholy past chases her passage. The fact that her widowed mother is a former sex worker irks the community. Nonetheless, she is not ashamed to reveal her mother's past.

Will she lose hope, or will she defy an enigma that is centuries-old? Will she ever conquer the hearts of a prestige-obsessed community?
See the world through Aparajita's prism in a tale stirred by some real life events.

Review:

The story is a short account of a lady’s life written in not so powerful voice, containing a very touchy and important subject. I was really intrigued by the blurb and the cover to read this piece as they sound really promising. One thing I was anxious about was the length of the book. When you have an important subject in mind it is important to blend the ideas well.

The length of the book doesn’t always relate with the quality of the book but more descriptions, elaborations surely help the reader to connect with the book well. Now here the book was so fast paced that it wasn’t easy to love and adore characters. There weren’t much though but all those who were there couldn’t leave an everlasting impact.

I loved how the story is woven around a simple aspect, education, but in broader terms. I liked all the advancements in the tale from the very start. The flashback telling about Ramya’s side of story. But in the midst of all the good that was happening I was missing the basic pain that a prostitute faces when she is stuck in a surrounding like that.

There is no happiness without a realization of pain. That was the main thing missing from the story, a bit of pain.

Now as we move ahead in the tale there are more characters that show Aprajita the path of success. The story moved in the same way as it moved in the first half.

Even the ending was bland. There was no place where I could have laughed or felt like crying from the bottom of my heart. It was like a mechanical show of an overly sensitive topic.

If we talk about the writing style then the author managed to pass the average line. The narration was a little bit off track. The dialogues were fine, keeping in mind the short tale we were inspecting. It was a nice short story.

Eye-catchers:

•  “Life invariably provides every individual a cause to discover prudence amidst disquiet.”
• "..our fears would disappear when we accept the truth and confront our challenges with integrity.”

About the author:

Mayank Sharma is a ‘left-brained’ professional with over twenty years of global experience in leading multinational companies. His interest in writing intensified when one of his articles was featured in the May 2014 edition of Better Software magazine published in Florida, USA.

As Mayank travelled across continents and associated with people with diverse beliefs and values, he became more curious about the social riddles that curtailed liberties across civilizations. 

He is transforming into a 'right-brained' writer with his debut book, The Princess of a Whorehouse. Besides writing, he is passionate about painting and making sculptures. 

Mayank lives in the National Capital Region of Delhi with his wife, Sonali, daughter, Myra, and son, Aarav. 

Connect with the author:

Twitter: @mayanks5572

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Book Review: The Origin of Martin Krooger By Sameer Kumar

Book- The Origin of Martin Krooger

Author- Sameer Kumar

Genre- Fiction (Fantasy/Thriller)

Publisher- Half Baked Beans

Pages- 187

Price- 299

Blurb-

In the land of Gods, the arrival of a vigilante stormed the silence. He was brutally used and harassed by Gods. His emotions and sentiments were toyed with.

The most powerful god, Agusthus, feels crippled before him. He targets everyone responsible for his state. He drains Agusthus by slaughtering his son. He exhausts Moira, daughter of Agusthus, by killing her brother before her eyes. He breaks Castle Gray, the only one capable of stopping him, by cursing his love into a cold bloodless stone. He weakens the powerful Queen Iris, Gray's mother, and enslaves her husband. He certainly has no opponent.

However, no one targets him. He is so silent and precise that no one buys the fact that the vigilante, who was cursed and killed long ago, is somehow back. Hence, the time waits for the birth of the last hope left to save the world from the wrath of the demon. Time waits for 'Martin Krooger.'

Review-

The origin of Martin Krooger is the first book in this series and it has done quite a lot of justice to the name and mystery is creates by its first look. The dark cover, the mysterious blurb and an amazing title, the book has it all.

When I think about this book I feel really connected to it in one way or the other. Every aspect of the book is written in a wonderful way, it surely attract you towards it from the very first page.

The main highlight was the characters. It was all really gothic and mythological but not in an absurd way mind you, it was a light show with a very edgy topic. I loved the supporting characters, the main leads, everybody, I loved everybody, from Andrew to Queen Iris, from Moira to Agusthus and I loved Castle Gray. I enjoyed everyone at large. And this was mainly because everyone was so different from each other that every time a new character came in view, it was a treat. My favorite was Eli.

In every character there was a different spark, a different attitude which was attractive beyond limits. I loved Adam, I simply loved him. He was this darkest of all, mysterious and full of rage, it was so nice to hear him, his part, his pain and his version of the tale. His words could move the mountains, so much of grief and sadness. It was mind-blowing.

The problem was in the untimely and unannounced change in the course of action. At one time I am reading the part of a group of friends and suddenly the story changes to the serious discussions between Agusthus and Marion. The author should have separated these two things by a certain symbol so that I could have prepared myself for such change in the tale. It became a little disoriented for me. Also the overall narration was a bit not great. Queen Iris was narrating a tale and I didn’t get to know when that ended. Many different parts came in the tale and I just lost the track. A little more specific narration was needed.

Now coming on the story, the starting was amazing. The whole idea of Eva and the Gods was superb. It was penned well, with fine characterization. As the story was still emerging fully, the author was very subtle with it and a right amount of everything was there in the beginning. I loved the whole episode of Nirvana and the people living there; the whole decorations to the surroundings that the author did and the use of imagery to exaggerate its splendor.

The story moved in the similar manner in the middle as well. There was a lot of suspense going on then and it didn’t get ruin anywhere, not even an inch was disturbed. Though the episodes of all the friends meeting was not jelling up with the main tale but it was nice break to see all of them enjoying a bit when a lot was going on in reality. They played a very important role in the end though.

I loved the whole episode of Mary and Andrew visiting the underground. It was the main highlight of the book. Everything said, everything done in that course took my breath away. It was so dark and supernatural that due to that I am more excited to read what happens next in this series. I was concerned about the end at first because only few pages were left and the tale was nowhere close to ending but then all endings have a beautiful start. I hope the same happens here.

If I talk about the writing quality then the author managed to pass a good bar. There were no hindrances or difficulties in understanding his point of view in the book. The vocabulary was fine, the editing was fine. All in all, the book was a really enjoyable read only if the printing could have been more eye-friendly I would have finished it a little sooner. Waiting for the next part.

Recommendation-

I can recommend this book to all fantasy readers who want to explore Indian authors’ books falling in this category. It is not a big book so those who want to read more books this year can give it a try too. You won’t be disappointed at the end.

Eye-catchers-

• “A demon with patience is the most powerful of all.”
• “Never target an opponent without knowing him.”
• “…success does not mean attainment of your aim or ambition, because one aim compliments another.”
• “Destination is just an event, holds for just a fraction of time, journey on the other hand defines you.”
• “You never know when and how life will surprise you. Great things can happen in a single moment.”

About the author-

Sameer Kumar is a mechanical engineer from B.I.T Sindri. He works at Tata Steel as a management trainee. It took him nine years to research and complete his novel. Being a motivational speaker, he works silently for the betterment of the society. He is a tech savvy and loves to make gadgets with his friends.

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