Turbelence : Book by Samit Basu

Turbulence by Samit Basu

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I liked The Game World Trilogy a lot and had high expectations on Samit-Basu. But this is a big disappointment as it looks very very ordinary. The imagination looks like a little child's who watched too many super-hero movies. I think after you watch too many super-hero movies and read so many comics, anything you try in that area will eventually look like an existing super-hero.
   Even the plot was very hazy and the ending felt as if he didnt know what to do and just finished it someway. It all looked like a B-grade action movie. Suddenly  Tia and Jai's gang become insignificant and he never explains the Iron-man suit (it even becomes a suit-case just like the Iron Man movie!!). The whole thing is so badly written that I cannot believe that someone as imaginative as a person who wrote the amazing Game World Trilogy could have written it. Maybe even I could have had a better imagination if I started with the basic premise of the plot.

Bottomline: If you liked Game World Trilogy, don't read this. Your appreciation of Samit Basu will dampen!



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The Unwaba Revelations:Game World Trilogy-3

The Unwaba Revelations by Samit Basu

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


   I always had second thoughts on this book because after all that happened in the second, I was not sure how he could manage to close the trilogy thrilling enough. As I expected, the last few pages were interesting and relevant. The rest all, even the battle pages were boring and looked like they were written to just fill up the pages. Alsso he created so many characters that he couldn't give enough importance to any. Characters which were the main one's in the beginning too get very less pages in the third part. Aswin character was completely neglected(it was not etched properly,intentionally i guess, right from the beginning). Even Kirin and Maya do nothing in this book. I agree that it was all supposed to be part of the plan but seeing pages and pages of Rakshas-Ravian war is not exactly interesting.

     Still, I am satisfied with the ending and the trilogy as a whole. The only regret I have is this trilogy also turned out to be like maximum trilogies, awesome and exciting first part and downhill from there. Still, am proud that an Indian managed to successfully pull off a 1500 page fantasy trilogy!



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The Manticore's Secret

The Manticore's Secret by Samit Basu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


       This book is even better than the first part! If the first part is just a setting to introduce the main characters and start off the narration, this has lot more plot items and excellent dibs at typecasts in the fantasy genre and is equally fun and entertaining as the first one.
       The plot with all the Gods discussing the Game World is pure magic. It has elements of philosophy, making fun, surprise everything. That part is a brilliant work by Samit Basu.
        All those references to various religions, mythologies too are very subtly placed and goes with the flow. I still don't know in which genre this book goes. Its definitely a fantasy but is it a spoof of fantasy genre or a light-hearted fantasy book which pokes fun of itself? Whatever it is, I am in love with this series which is important for any fantasy tale to be successful.
       I would LOVE to see it as a motion picture trilogy like LOTR but I don't think the book is famous enough in India itself and I don't think Western people can completely understand the Genius of Basu as many references include Indian Mythology.
       I am eagerly waiting to read the third part...
       



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The Simoqin Prophecies

The Simoqin Prophecies by Samit Basu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Never thought an Indian writer could write such a detailed fantasy book. A very good book with so many creatures and a decent story that you will never get bored. The first few chapters were a difficult to pass with so many characters getting introduced but after 60-100 pages, the book is un-putdownable.

Also the ending was a very good surprise. I am not sure how the lead characters are going to become in the second book. ****spoiler this line***** It looked like Heroes are going to become villians in the next book but need to read it to know! I already ordered the second part on flipkart.

I also enjoyed the gentle poking at traditional fantasy tales.
I highly recommend it to all readers who like fantasy tales but it is 500 pages long and only the first book of a trilogy!

The Rozabal Line

The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

       This is one of the best novels I have ever read and I am proud that it was written by an Indian. Its definitely way better than Da Vinci Code(maybe I am partial to him as he is an Indian). He is India's answer to people who think CB is the face of Indian writing. Though his narration looks a bit similar to Dan Brown's, the way he handled the story is highly commendable. He almost convinces you on everything he tries to say though I feel he went a bit overboard in driving the point(but I am definetely not complaining!). You can't deny but get convinced about the origin of several religions after reading his book.

      I liked the way he gave detailed references to all his research at the end of the book(the same thing I didn't like in Chanakya's Chant).The only complaint I have is his over enthusiasm to drive home the theory of Karma and Re-birth and also the ending was too much to take. After so many interesting theories, the ending looked just too hypothetical. I can understand his need to make it look like what he did.

But I am more than happy at such a great and successful attempt by an Indian. I rate it better than the other more famous recent Indian phenomenon 'The Shiva Trilogy'. A must-read for everyone to understand history(I am not saying religion) better.

Hats-off to Ashwin Sanghi....


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The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I have never come across such an insane book. I now understand why it was such a smash hit worldwide and particularly among the teenagers at the time of its radio broadcasts because it is so imaginative and very very(write as many number of 'very's you want) funny. The book isn't about the plot. The plot is just a mask to bring out the awesome one-liners. You never know where the story is going but frankly you don't care! The constant references to the vast universe and the triviality of life is so exciting! I am still in the process of completing the series but couldn't resist talking about it. I think why it clicks so much is because it is not only funny but couples it with amazing imagination and talks about 'The Life, Universe and Everything' ;). The whole mood is so up-lifting and takes the series to a much higher level.
        It is true that I found it a bit boring at some places mainly because the story is not gripping and bores you after a while. But it is worth reading for the crazy, wild and insane dialogues. I am thoroughly enjoying reading it and strongly recommend it to everyone. To further stress my point, I will soon come up with another post with a compilation of some of the best dialogues from the book which made me crack-up a lot.
        I rate it 4/5 for entertaining me so much.

And then there were none : my review

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another gripping novel from Agatha Christie. Though by the very nature of the story, it is impossible to solve the mystery as a reader, the actual story of what happened(explained in an epilogue) is too vague and far-fetched. I liked the poem and how close she followed it in all the deaths, though.

From the three books I read of hers, I feel that all her books have the suspense and mystery all the time we read the book but the endings are too convoluted for a reader to guess. A mystery novel should be such that a careful reader should be able to solve it before it is explained or at least at the end, one should feel like he could have solved it had he paid more attention. That doesn't seem to be the case with her books. But still, as I said we can read the books for the thrill we get while reading it(though the ending might seem to complex to have guessed).

P.S. I said above things after reading only three of her novels. So, I might be wrong.

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I've had enough God!! My review

I've Had Enough... God by Tejeshwar Singh

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I bought this book when I was interning in bangalore and wanted to kill time. It starts off with an interesting premise but the story takes a downturn from there. The author mixed up philosophy, religion, philanthrophy and many other elements(even a quarter-baked love angle). To do such a thing, the author should always have proper idea of what he wanted to show. He mixed up all and ended up showing the protagonist as God. After you complete the book, you don't find any question answered or any point made. Its more like how the lead came to know he was a God(that too I feel is not at all convincing). Half the book is spent on how the lead sees negative deeds being done and how cant see all these things happening, occasionally aided by that Baba. Add to this some seriously filmy threads like his dad's friend's father angle, love angle etc and you end up with a very immature handling of such a heavy concept(this is his first book).

The only good thing about this book is its beginning(maybe a few tens of pages).

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read a lot about this book that the radio show was kind of path-breaking and all. So, I bought the book. I am definitely not disappointed by the first part though I don't think it deserves all its adulation. Funny book,yes but not a timeless classic. It has some very very funny one-liners like where the author says " A number of monkeys from the other door are trying to give us a copy of Hamlet they wrote!" during the infinite improbability drive. It had me laughing for at least 10 minutes. The climax had me in splits when they find out why the attackers suddenly died( Marvin is an awesome character)
But these kind of gems of a joke are good enough pages apart but just enough to sustain your interest in the book. I started reading second one but it kind of became a routine jokes and I kind of lost interest after reading 50 pages.
Still, I strongly recommend the first in the series i.e. this book to all fans of sci-fi and comedy! A rare blend indeed.

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