Kevin Missal is a masterful mythologist who tells his stories set in a world similar yet distant from the ones we get ours from. The characters are shades of grey, some darker than others, rather than sticking out as brilliant white or cold and black.
Retelling the exciting bits of the Ramayana, this time through the story of Meghnad in this furiously paced book, is one of his latest endeavours.
Retelling the exciting bits of the Ramayana, this time through the story of Meghnad in this furiously paced book, is one of his latest endeavours.
I've read many a mytho-fictional retelling of the Ramayana, some long and drawn out over multiple books, some intricate and told over many sub-stories and a myriad of characters. This is not like one of those retellings.
Its short, crisp and easily readable in one sitting, as are all books by the author who seems to write an ungodly furious pace. The familiar characters are there, the familiar settings are there, but there are quite a few interesting twists and turns that lie await as the reader leafs through the book.
The history is told through flashbacks by primarily 4 characters who are our eyes and ears of the story and through the minds of Suparnika, Prameela, Lakshman and the eponymous Meghnad himself, the story unfolds.
I am not a great fan of the language used in the books, neither am I of the imagery and the atrocious scientific expositions equating nuclear weapons and radioactive minerals to the Astras and precious mythological stones, but they work in the larger narrative of Kevin's Hindu Pantheon inspired Universe. The language jumps ahead and back in time with phrases and words from all time periods littered over, that makes for an awkward read. The story is well paced and keeps you turning the pages but doesn't have a great hook.
The world is built. It is expansive. We are introduced to many characters but we see the close on only the ones we get into the skin of. Kevin isn't shy to get in and murky and change our perceived opinions of characters that either he or in some cases the literature that came before have established as. I think that only adds to the brilliance.
We don't see heroes. We see everything but, in our protagonist, but we see the potential for greatness and that's what holds everything and everyone together. A good one time read and one that kept me entertained for as long as I held it!
Its short, crisp and easily readable in one sitting, as are all books by the author who seems to write an ungodly furious pace. The familiar characters are there, the familiar settings are there, but there are quite a few interesting twists and turns that lie await as the reader leafs through the book.
The history is told through flashbacks by primarily 4 characters who are our eyes and ears of the story and through the minds of Suparnika, Prameela, Lakshman and the eponymous Meghnad himself, the story unfolds.
I am not a great fan of the language used in the books, neither am I of the imagery and the atrocious scientific expositions equating nuclear weapons and radioactive minerals to the Astras and precious mythological stones, but they work in the larger narrative of Kevin's Hindu Pantheon inspired Universe. The language jumps ahead and back in time with phrases and words from all time periods littered over, that makes for an awkward read. The story is well paced and keeps you turning the pages but doesn't have a great hook.
The world is built. It is expansive. We are introduced to many characters but we see the close on only the ones we get into the skin of. Kevin isn't shy to get in and murky and change our perceived opinions of characters that either he or in some cases the literature that came before have established as. I think that only adds to the brilliance.
We don't see heroes. We see everything but, in our protagonist, but we see the potential for greatness and that's what holds everything and everyone together. A good one time read and one that kept me entertained for as long as I held it!