Vyom And The Royal Weapon by Tripty Bhardwaj (Book Review: 3.5/5*) !!!

Reading book of any debutante is a different experience altogether considering that they pour in everything that they have as an author in their first book and does not hold back any idea or potential that they have. This exposes the author in his/her first book itself which is why the first book is very important for anyone in his literary journey. The book that I have completed reading last week is written by another debutante, Tripty Bhardwaj, with the name- “VYOM AND THE ROYAL WEAPON”. As I have already read many books from the same genre, I did not have much expectation from the authoress to write anything different from those books but I must say, the story of the book is unique in its own way.

The 1st book generally have references from many classics as it’s obvious that authors have their own favorite authors whom they have kept reading until they themselves start writing but I found that Tripty’s story isn’t influenced as there are ups and downs in the storyline which tells how strong and yet vulnerable the authoress is. The command over English is great which ensures that authoress is successful in communicating her imaginative story to the readers as most of the scenes in the book are created in highly fantasy-based world. Not generalizing but mostly the contents related to science fiction is interesting for boys than girls but it is surprising to see Tripty writing such a story covering elements that make the book genuine and thrilling. The only problem that I have felt in Tripty’s writing is the way she narrates the story. It is quite boring. It could have been interesting if the book had little less seriousness in its approach of story-telling and less description of segments which did not actually required detailing.

Talking about the characterizations, this book has many characters in it and almost all of them are widely discussed which doesn’t let the reader feel that he is not aware of the character’s background or mindset. As this book is based on an organization which has some values and morals, authoress had to ensure it is reflected in the conversations between characters which is done with pitch-perfectness. The two different groups of people are nicely portrayed to make you differentiate between them just in the first few chapters itself. It could have been great if authoress could have made some table describing the characters as their group so that readers could refer it when they are reading this book with lot of breaks the way I did.

The way the whole fantasy world is described does justice with this book. The blend author has ensured in the book with sci-fi content, kind of a mythological aspect, and also being philosophical in few parts of it through the characters is wonderful. The book is divided into many chapters which makes it easy to remember the many sub-plots happening in the story one after another. I just felt that the book could have been edited well as 250 pages are too much for the limited number of instances shared in the book. As already stated above, over-description kills the soul of the chapter sometimes. Overall, as a debut authoress, Tripty has made a respectable entry. Vyom and the Royal Weapon gets 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Swami in a Strange Land by Joshua M. Greene (Book Review:- 2.5*/5) !!!

It is quite evident to all of you who have been following my book reviews and personal blog that I am quite attracted towards spiritual concepts and the first thing that attracted me towards mythology and spirituality was when I picked up a copy of Bhagavad Gita: As It Is being sold by Iskcon volunteers on a Mumbai local railway station. This version of Gita is written by Iskcon founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And who would not want to read about the personality which introduced you towards a new concept in life. Jaico Publication published the biography of Swami Prabhupada written by Joshua M. Greene recently which has become the 52^nd book I read this year thus completing my annual target of 2018.

The book covers the spiritual life of Prabhupada on his devotion towards his Guru and how he ends up reaching overseas just to fulfil his Guru’s wish of spreading the Krishna consciousness all over the world. The book is divided in three parts- Prabhupada’s life in India, America and the World. The most interesting one that I personally liked is the one in America which discusses his struggle in gaining the followers and popularizing the Krishna consciousness and the Hare Rama Hare Krishna chant. The impact of these two sentences is nicely discussed throughout the book. The biographer’s research on the life of Swami Prabhupada is commendable and covers many such personal events which is nearly impossible to bring out in public or say, even know about it. Kudos to author for the same.

Talking about the drawbacks of the book, I must say that author should have divided the book in small chapters rather than three vast sections. This made the reading experience quite hectic where author just kept speaking continuously which becomes boring after a point of time and remains just a drag. Also, regarding the spiritual concept and belief or the meditation techniques that Prabhupada himself followed is nowhere discussed which is a very big setback for a spiritual reader who went through these 300+ pages to know new ways of meditation and spirituality. Even regarding the struggles in opening the first few centres is hardly discussed. The book just keeps on speaking the same thing for most of the middle section of the book which took me 10 days to complete this book. One of the struggling reads ever. I give this attempt 2.5 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Beyond What Meets The Eye by Sameera Kotta (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

As you guys are aware that I do not often fall for e-books considering the strain it causes to my eyes but still I keep trying some of them because for books, I can give away my eyes too. Haha! Well, sorry for the bad joke. Today, the e-book which we are about to talk is Sameera Kotta’s “Beyond what meets the eye”. Considering that the authoress is a debutante, this 165-pages book is very well edited and kept up to the mark without dragging it to the boring level which many debutante end up doing in the passion of writing as much as possible in their first book itself. The two things which attracted me towards this book were the cover page and the title of the book. It is very necessary for the debutante to come up with a little different perspective when they write their first book and I am impressed that Sameera has been able to qualify in this aspect as her story is not the regular stuff which people are writing these days.

Sameera’s writing style is simple which makes it easy for new readers who are just starting with books to complete the book within a sitting or two. Sameera has kept her book so well-edited as I have already mentioned above that it doesn’t make you want to skip any sentence or paragraph. Every word in the book takes the story ahead. The best part about Sameera’s writing is her characterization. Right from the protagonist, Majnu’s character to Varsha’s character including Soumya’s cameo, all of which is covered so nicely that you are able to connect with each one of them. The struggle of people living without parents, the students studying tough subjects like medicals etc, the pain they go through because of the tough past they have been subscribed to, the revenge that they want to take going out of their way etc. is very well handled through characters.

Talking about the drawbacks of the story, I would say that author could have worked little more on developing the twists and turns in the book. Though the book is written in a manner where certain suspense’s are held up and revealed at some certain point trying to maintain the thrilling aspect of the story, but still, they are unable to make the reader jump off their seat or stagnancy of mind. If the book is supposed to be a thriller involving murders, death, goof-ups etc, it should be chilling and frightening. Overall, I would rate this book 3 star out of 5. Having good expectations from the authoress in the future.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!