Book Review - First Installment of The Aryavarta Chronicles - Govinda by Krishna Udayasankar

I think I have shared earlier in the review of Beast by Krishna Udayasankar, but let me share it again. I have bought Govinda by Krishna along with Auth of Vayuputra when Vayuputra was released. But I read Govinda much later (in 2015). And by the time I decided to buy the next two parts of the series they were out of the shelf. So I didn't get a chance to read the 2nd & 3rd part. Recently I saw a post by Krishna that the Govinda series along with Immortal are adopted by Penguin India and they are re-published. And as a Diwali gift, we were provided copies of the first part of Govinda & Immortal in exchange for an honest review. As Govinda is the same as the previous copy I bought, I went through the book to revise important points that can be covered in the review.

Before I go to plot discussion, let me give you a brief comparison of two editions.

• Cover - Though both editions are paperbacks, the first edition cover was more elegant than the latest one. :)
• Page - I think yellowish pages with a golden look of the title was giving regal look to the first edition. The latest edition is having proper paperbacks look.
• Font settings - Here the latest edition has won the race, where the first edition has smaller fonts this edition has adequate sized fonts for the better reading experience.

Well, the first edition is no longer available, so you don't have a choice to select an edition of your likings. But I have both editions, so I gave details as per my experience.

Book Blurb

Aryavarta – the ancient realm of the noble.

For generations, the Firstborn dynasty of scholar-sages, descendants of Vasishta Varuni and protectors of the Divine Order on earth, has dominated here. For just as long, the Angirasa family of Firewrights, weapon-makers to the kings and master inventors, has defied them. In the aftermath of the centuries-long conflict between the two orders, the once-united empire of Aryavarta lies splintered, a shadow of its former glorious self.

Now, the last Secret Keeper of the Firewrights is dead, killed by a violent hand, and the battle for supreme power in the empire is about to begin.

As mighty powers hurtle towards a bloody conflict, Govinda Shauri, cowherd-turned-prince and now Commander of the armies of Dwaraka, must use all his cunning to counter deception and treachery if he is to protect his people and those whom he loves.

But who holds the key to the fantastic and startling knowledge of the Firewrights, which in the wrong hands will bring doom upon the empire? And does Govinda have it in him to confront the dark secrets of his past and discover the true meaning of being Arya, of being noble?

As name suggests the main character of our story is Govinda Saury, a cowherd who became general of Dwarka's military. The next main character is Panchali, princess of Panchala. And as it is the story of Mahabharata all major characters of actual Mahabharata play a major/minor role in this book as well. To bring a unique angle to the story, the author has shown the world with mere mortal without any divine powers. Aryavarta, as we know today, was led by firstborns sages & his followers through kings & lords. But way before that time, another entity had given a tough time to firstborns and they were known as Firewrights, a clan/group of people who work on machines, weaponry & alchemy. But they were almost wiped off by firstborns & kings. The book starts with the death of Ghora Angisara, the last known Firewrites of Mahabharata time. With his death, a bigger plan of powerful people brought into a crumble. On another side, a cowherd Gopala took it on himself to bring Pandava to the front runners of Aryavarta. Pandava, five brothers, who themselves were not sure of their heritage due to mystery behind their birth, were supported by Govinda achieved many unreachable targets which they may not be able to if Govinda was not present with them. They got a marriage alliance with Panchala, Dwarika; they decimated the Khandavprasth forest with its secrets to start a new kingdom, they killed and subdued the mighty Jarasandha & his kingdom Magadha; and finally able to hold Rajsuya Yagya. Panchali witnessed all means Govinda took to achieve this, for which her husband & his brothers didn't protest even once.

As the already mentioned concept is unique and so was the delivery of the content. Unlike Amish Tripath or Anand Neelkanthan, Krishna's writing style is more lavish. You will get a good amount of description to enhance your experience. It is up to you to decide whether you are okay with lengthy narrations or not. Coming to the content part, I have just read part one, but Mahabharata is vast and writing story till Rajsuya in just first part in around 400 pages, which I found a little bit fast. She might have taken it slowly. Having said that, there are places where the pace of the story was medium, and there are places where the pace was fast enough to keep turning pages. I found a few factual things misplaced, apart from that a nice read.

Ratings

1. Cover - 3.5/5 (for latest one)
2. Concept - 4/5
3. Content - 4/5
4. Overall - 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra - Baby Ganesh Agency

Four months back while window-shopping I found an interesting cover of "The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star". It is the latest book by Vaseem Khan in series of A Baby Ganesh Agency. I instantly liked the book and checked more about the author and his work. My efforts led two more books in the same series released earlier. We also got the chance to interview Vaseem on our blog. I got my hands on the first part of the series "The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra" around a month back. I should be punished for not taking the book with priority, but I am glad that I have broken the queue and taken book earlier than my planner prompted me.

Book Blurb

In this Indian-set mystery, Inspector Chopra inherits an elephant and an unsolved murder on his last day at work. Mumbai, murder and a baby elephant combine in a charming, joyful mystery for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Rachel Joyce.

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries. The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved. And the second is a baby elephant. As his search for clues takes him across the teeming city of Mumbai, from its grand high rises to its sprawling slums and deep into its murky underworld, Chopra begins to suspect that there may be a great deal more to both his last case and his new ward than he thought. And he soon learns that when the going gets tough, a determined elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs.

"The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra" is the first book in series and has its importance to take readers into the world of "Baby Ganesh Investigation Agency" sequels. The story started with the retirement of Inspector Ashwin Chopra. Ashwin Chopra had to take earlier retirement under medical conditions. But taking an early retirement for a person like Chopra was not easy to accept. On top of that, on his retirement, he inherited a baby elephant from his uncle. He was asked to take good care of the elephant. Chopra was promised that elephant was not a normal animal. If that was not enough, on last day of the job, he found out a case of a drowned boy. Police found boy's dead body from a sewer, and boy was drunk. Boy belonged to a poor family, and boy's mother wanted justice for her son's death. Chopra assured justice to the lady but it was his last day at the job and he was not able to do anything for the boy.

Police wanted to close the case as accidental death due to alcohol consumption. Being an expert in the field of crime cases, Chopra smelled something fishy in the behavior of his superior and inspector appointed in his place. He started investigating the case independently; and started finding shocking revelation one after another. The story became interesting as little elephant came handy to Chopra at multiple instances. 

The story is gripping yet light. You don't have to give extra effort to understand what is happening. Flow is flawless. I finished the book in 3 sittings. The book is written with an audience in mind. Every detailing, character and scene were portrayed with a proper thought process. It shows efforts applied behind the work. Author has nicely placed comic, thrill and drama in story keeping overall tempo. The book can be easily adopted as movie or series. Talking about rating:

1. Cover - 4.5 / 5 (Conveys book in one picture)
2. Characters - 4 / 5 
3. Storyline - 4.5 / 5
4. Concept - 4 / 5 
5. Overall - 4.25 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Vaseem Khan is Coming Back with Baby Ganesh Detective Agency

Third book in Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series "The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star" is planned to published 18th July 2017. Let talk with Vaseem to know more about Vaseem and the book.

Can you brief our readers about yourself?

I have a BSc degree in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics. My first major job was as a management consultant. This job took me to India at the age of 23, where I worked for ten years consulting to the hotel industry. My next job has lasted eleven years so far. I manage crime and security research projects at one of the world’s top universities, UCL in London.

Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors? Which author inspire you the most? 

I read 60-80 books a year. I love literary fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, who wrote the Discworld fantasy series and first inspired me to write when I was a teenager, and American crime writer Michael Connolly who writes the Harry Bosch series set in Los Angeles.

When did you start writing? 

Age 10, when I would write short stories in long-hand and show to my English teacher. I have no idea if he was impressed, but he did always encourage me!

When did you decide to become a writer? 

At age 17 when I wrote my first novel. I was convinced it would be a bestseller – instead I received my first rejection letter! I wrote six novels over the following 23 years, all of which were rejected, before I got a four-book deal from one of the world’s biggest publishers, Hodder, for my Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series.

What are your ambitions for your writing career? 

To connect with my readers. After waiting 23 years to be published this means more than anything else to me. My series seems to have struck a chord with readers and I hope to continue to write books, featuring Inspector Chopra and little Ganesha, that fill my readers with delight.

How is your day structured to accommodate your writing? 

I am an insomniac, so I write early in the morning, 5am, for two hours before I go to work. Sometimes I write on the cricket pitch. I’m an opening batsman, and if I get out early, I have plenty of time to sit on the sidelines and write!

Tell us more about the book you have written so far.

I have written three books in the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series so far. The first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra was a Times bestseller, an Amazon Best Debut, and a Waterstones paperback of the year (Waterstones are the largest bookstore chain in the UK).

What genre are your books?

Crime novels which include humour. Sometimes called ‘Cosy crime’.

Can you describe your current book in few lines? What’s it about? 

My new book, the third in my series, is called The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star. In this book Inspector Chopra is hired to find a kidnapped Indian film star. The star in question goes missing while performing on stage in front of thousands of people so Chopra’s first task is to work out just how the crime was committed. With Ganesha in tow he then sets about trying to recover the star, and quickly discovers that lifting the lid on Bollywood and peering behind the scenes reveals a lot more than he bargained for.

Give us an insight into your main character(s) 

Inspector Ashwin Chopra is in his late forties. He was forced to retire from the Mumbai police service after thirty years, but is still determined to pursue justice, and thus he sets up his own detective agency. He cares deeply about the social problems in his country, and hates the fact that sometimes, in India, if you have wealth and influence you can get away with crimes. He is an honest and serious man, but with a generous heart. 

Where did you get idea for this book? 

The idea for this series came when I first went to India in 1997. I was in a taxi going from the airport to my hotel, staring at the main road and the river of passing traffic with honking rickshaws and hooting trucks, cows and goats and dogs - and that’s when I saw, lumbering through this chaos, the surreal sight of an enormous grey elephant. At that moment I fell in love with these wonderful creatures and when I got back to the UK ten years later and decided to put those memories of India into a novel I knew elephants would have to be involved.

How much research did you do for this book? 

Living in Mumbai for ten years was the best research! In Mumbai you cannot escape Bollywood. It permeates the air; it obsesses everyone.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

The film director, B.P. Agarwal (also known as Blood Pressure Agarwal), who is obsessed with creating films that show India’s social realities … but ends up directing a big budget Bollywood production.

Who is your least favorite character and why?

Mr Pyarelal, a sinister character, who seems to roam around the set of the movie that Chopra is investigating. 

What was the most difficult thing about writing your latest book? 

This book was a joy to write, because I adore movies. Researching the history of Bollywood cinema was a great experience.

Release date. 

UK launch date of The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star: May 4th 2017

Can you tell us about response you got for your first two book in series?

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra was a bestseller in the UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UVN14OW

What are you working on at the minute? 

The fourth book in my series, which is about the murder of an American billionaire at India’s most famous hotel, in Mumbai. Chopra and Ganesha are hired to find the killer before an international scandal develops.

What are your thoughts on writing a book series? 

I love returning to these characters. India is such a vast place that there are an infinite number of stories to tell. My series allows me to explore ‘Incredible India’ in depth.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers? 

Write until you are sick of it. Then write some more. Getting better at writing takes practice, like anything else. I wrote six novels before being published. With each one I improved my skills. There are no shortcuts! Here is an article I wrote about how to get published: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/989/a-writers-toolkit/developing-an-idea/

Links for your book readers

• Website: http://vaseemkhan.com
• Blog:  https://vaseemkhan.com/blog/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/VaseemKhanOfficial/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/VaseemKhanUK
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaseemkhanuk/
• Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/vaseemkhanUK/
• Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vaseem-Khan/e/B00XLOQQ8W
• Book Links: The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra - Book 1, The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown - Book 2, The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star - Book 3 
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13340713.Vaseem_Khan