Reflections

The Hidden Children : The Lost Grimoire is a book written by Reshma K Barshikar , and stands as perhaps the only book to render me speechless, or rather wordless as a book reviewer. Penning a review entails giving an opinion – for that, the pre-requisite is that I should have one! And, once I have formed an opinion, I should have idea of what to write, or how to express myself in words. In both, I honestly admit to having faced great difficulty. After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that this book rates 3 to 3.5 Stars in my scale; I settle for 3 stars. Why? Read on! THE BOOK The book is about, well, magic. Almost. And, the book is also not about magic. Confused? Good. That will keep you glued -   I hope – to the end of this review. The book blurb at the back doesn’t reveal much, and neither shall I. The book is about a teenaged young lady, 17-ish, avid sportsperson and a good student {rare combination, that} – and her travails as she meets & b...

This book has been a long time coming; 4 months was much too much a wait, given the cliffhanger exit of the first novel of this series – Harrappa { Reviewed Here }… It closed on a point that had brought us to tenterhooks. Mr Author, when you place someone on any hooks, tenter or otherwise, do remember to take us OFF the hook. The second book just carries on from there, and continues without a pause, without a break – and stops right dang in the middle of…. ­ I don’t want to give spoilers . Yes, you start on Tenterhooks, and stop on them. 5 Stars. THE BOOK This is the revenge of Vivasvan Pujari – intertwined with the rise of Vidyut Pujari in the parallel timeline of thousands of years later. The story revolves around these two primary timelines; and introduces a new segment, that of the slow rise of Manu Pujari, the son of the greviously wronged Vivaswan Pujari. In the ancient timeline, as Vivaswan Pujari takes revenge – the mysterious Matsya prophecies the coming Pralay,...

The fantasy genre seems to be the in-thing for Indian writers nowadays; we have seen a series of books around this theme, a few having reached my blog as well. This is in keeping with a rising trend among Indians, a fascination for our past – which  has both positive as well as negative overtones and ramifications. One of the positives is the emerging trend of fiction writing using our past as a backdrop; this is a significant factor, as these writings influence the public to seek more of the truth, as well as get regarded by some as based on truth. That is why it is incumbent on the authors who are indulging in this genre to be as close to the truth as it is feasible for them to be – and give a proper bibliography at the end of such  books so that fact can be separated from “literary licence” – that is, the padding used by the author to flesh out the story. East or west, most writers {save one} have failed on this score; they just neglect to give a proper bibliogr...