The Sialkot Saga by Ashwin Sanghi (Book Review: 4.75*/5) !!!

There are only few sensible fiction authors in India whom you can name whenever people are ridiculing you over the fact that you do not read foreign authors. The first three names that can save you from humiliation are Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian and Ashwin Sanghi. The eager wait for each of their book cannot be described in words. I am just done reading Ashwin Sanghi’s latest release, “The Sialkot Saga” which is almost 600 pages and I am glad that it has turned out to be the book worth waiting for. As obvious, right from the first page, this book attracts you towards itself and doesn’t let you think about anything else until and unless you are done with its last page. Unfortunately, I have not been able to complete this book in a single sitting but I would like to say even when I took break while reading this book, I didn’t forget name of a single character. That’s how much interesting every character in this book are even when they have a small role to play.

Once again, Ashwin Sanghi have chosen to tell two stories- one based in history and another one between the year ranges of 1947-2010. This time, he has chosen to go Jeffrey Archer way than Dan Brown and he seems to have succeeded in it undoubtedly. Though, there’s nothing like suspense for which you’ll keep on turning the pages but the narration of the story is done so splendidly that you will find it hard to keep the book aside. The real incidents are used to build up the premises which is the USP of this book. Even the real characters like Atal Bihari Vajpayee are used to make the story look more significant. The book consists of all the dramas- business, competition, politics, wars, partition, Bollywood, sports, underworld, family, science, history, crime, etc. Like the Bollywood movie “Mausam”, author have set many of his sub-plots with some real tragic incidents such as Godhra incident, 9/11, 26/11 etc. Thankfully, he manages to handle it with his wit and creative writing skills.

The kind of research and study that Ashwin Sanghi must have gone for writing this book can be easily deciphered in every 10 pages. The last few pages reflects how he challenges himself to write something that people won’t even expect from him. And this acts as an added value for the reader. Coming to few drawbacks, I feel that the title of the book didn’t do much justice as Sialkot have very less to do with the story. Similarly, I feel that few pages could have been edited as they didn’t provide much boost to the story. Again, the usage of real-life characters aren’t used but kept as cameos in book. They should have been used somewhere in an important junction of the story which could have added more power to it. Anyways, this is a book which shall always stay in my Recommended List as it has everything which a reader dreams from a new book. I give this book undisputed 4.75* out of 5. 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!! 

The Prince of Patliputra by Shreyas Bhave (Book Review- 4*/5) !!!

        Reading historical fictions have become a new habit for me considering the number of books releasing in this genre these days. Greatest fact to know is that almost all the writers in this genre are of younger generation who are either in college or just passed out of it. Shreyas Bhave is the newest one to release his book in this genre with his first book in the Asoka Trilogy named "The Prince of Patliputra". He is just 21 years old and studying in an Engineering college. The book is almost 400 pages thick and this young debutante should be applauded for his work. Not even once did I feel that an experienced hand was needed to write this book. He has given his 100% which is quite reflective in each and every chapter that you'll read in this thrilling story based on the history of Asoka.  

             Shreyas Bhave's command on the language is great which makes the reader in you very happy about it. Trilogy is the new cool in Indian publishing market since the emergence of Amish Tripathi. But not all authors are doing justice to it. I am glad to find Shreyas understanding the concept and choosing a perfect plot for each of his book. The sequence at which the first part has ended gives you enough impatience to read the next one. Not many trilogies are making you feel like that. The way the author have carved each of the characters tells you how creative he is. Though the history has been read by us during school time, yet you do not feel it boring when you read it through Shreyas's eyes. 

            Coming to the book, the initial chapters are little confusing and you find yourself trapped in it. You want to finish the book earliest so that you can move out of the jail. But as the purpose of the book starts becoming clear about 50-70 pages or so, you start getting addicted to it. The political strategies, wars, military experiences, battles and everything that is discussed adds charm to the story. The way Chandragupta Maurya and Asoka's story runs parallel makes it easy for you to understand why Asoka is considered to be the perfect successor to his grandfather. Also Chanakya's character win you over with its own charm and wit. Radhagupta's character is also well-justified. The mention of Alexander in the flashbacks also comes like a fresh air to us. Overall, the book is a clear winner except few spelling errors. I give it 4 stars out of 5. Hats off, Shreyas.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!! 

The Ribbon Trap by Shine Syamaladevi (Book Review: 2.75*/5) !!!

           I am just done reading the 7th book of the year in the first month itself and I am quite happy with the speed I am about to complete my year's target of 60 books. I hope I achieve it without any further hurdles in this odyssey of reading. This time I picked up the debutante Shine Syamaladevi's The Ribbon Trap publishing by LiFi publication. The book is 271 pages thick but the disappointment is its price tag which is Rs. 295/-. In the country where even famous pulp authors like Chetan Bhagat and Durjoy Datta sell their book at Rs. 130, publication should think it 10 times before sticking such a price tag to a debutante work. It affects the author's career. 

         Well moving ahead, The Ribbon Trap begins with a sweet journey showing the two protagonists in a great relationship of love where the male is keeping care of the female as she is going through some problem related to depression and trauma. The sweetness gets interrupted when the author takes us in to the flashback because of which the girl, Smita, have reached this situation in a hospital where she in unable to remember her past properly. The flashback isn't any interesting until the 100th page or so when the real story begins on which the whole book has set its premises upon. The interest level continues until some 200th page or so and then the narration becomes very weak and the pre-climax isn't as interesting as a reader expects after reading some 100 pages of great page-turner value. 

          Shine has a fine command over the language which makes his narration pretty simple. The characterization of Smita is done wonderfully but I feel that he lacked when it came to giving importance to other character in the story. But I liked the author's effort in taking a risk of writing such a complex story in his first attempt itself rather than doubting his caliber. The twist that he suddenly brings in the flashback and the way he continued it by taking the story further from the present was interesting. 

          Coming to the drawbacks of this book I would say that because author isn't very great in the language, sometimes he is at loss of words in describing or narrating a scenario. Also there are many grammatical mistakes which are unavoidable. I can only advise the debutante author to read more books, understand how sentences are formed, generally the ones which are part of a conversation between characters. And read as many thriller books as possible because he has an inclination towards it. It would be great to read a thriller again from the author with better sentence formations, twists, turns and pre-climax where I found him a little lacking this time. I give this attempt 2.75* out of 5. 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!