Asur Kanya & Her Route To Unrequited Love by Maneesha Agrawal

I was attracted to the fancy font style of the book "Asur Kanya & Her Route To Unrequited Love" by Maneesha Agrawal. I took a blind call based on a few of the trusted reviewers and got the copy. The book is a fast-paced story fictionally set around early civilization after the great flood. This short read of around 170 pages gave me company for a day or so and I finished this book in 2 sitting last Sunday.

Let me give you a brief of the story. As I just mentioned story is based on historical/mythological events of the great flood. Ira, the daughter of Asura king, is our protagonist. Her father had expected her only daughter to join marital knots with Banasur a promising general of the army. She took time a year to explore the world before marrying Banasur. Ira's adventure led her to the Manava settlement of Manali where she met Manu, the chieftain who played a pivotal role during the great flood. Though Manu was married when he met Ira, Ira was attracted to Manu. What will be the outcome of this wanderlust and how will it affect both Manavas and Asuras is portrayed in the later section of the story. Read the book to know more.

Few good points about the book

• The book is a short and fast-paced read
• Language is smooth and easy to cope up with
• Language is age-appropriate for almost all age groups
• The story is written in and around few characters and encaptures their mindset only.
• Prequel read is beneficial but not mandatory. I read this part directly and faced no issues.

Few points of improvement

• Though the author has done some research on earlier Indian civilizations, the story sounds too much like a fantasy tale than a historical one.
• Though the cover is nicely designed, I have seen people selecting mythology reads based on character-drawn covers, which is missing here.

Overall a 3.5 out of 5.

Book links - Amazon and Goodreads

AgniBaan: Guardians of the Fire Chamber by S. Venkatesh

The first book of S Venkatesh Was Kaalkoot, which was a nice read. Except for the end, I enjoyed the book and finished in 2-3 sittings. So I had higher hopes with "AgniBaan: Guardians of the Fire Chamber". And I am glad that the author has surpassed all expectations. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say Venkatesh has outperformed twice or thrice than Kaalkoot.

The book is written in two parallels. One around 535 CE when around 15-20 months earth atmosphere was covered with dust due to multiple reasons and proved very stressing period for civilizations over the world. And the second parallel is written after the Covid situation where political chaos is going on throughout the world due to multiple reasons. In between this chaos in both parallels we have two strong protagonists as well as two strong antagonists to give us company till we reach the last page. 

The book belongs to the league that of Dan Brown from foreign authors and Ashwin Sanghi from Indian authors. The book shows the depth of research done by Venkatesh. Not just cultural analysis but the author has given vivid details about India's and Egypt's geopolitical situations. He has taken support of numerology and astronomy of ancient times to give us added interest. The book easily glues you to the story, because every place in the book you will get a good combination of fiction with facts. I liked the story and this time I found the ending better planned and written than Kaalkoot. The pace of the story is apt for fast reading, you can read this 350-page story in less than 4 sittings for sure.

Overall a 4.5 out of 5 for this book. And I am putting it in one of the best read of the year and must-read thrillers written in the last decade by Indian authors. 

Book links - Goodreads & Amazon

The Misters Kuru by Trisha Das

When I took "The Misters Kuru" by Trisha Das, I was not aware that it was a sequel. And the author has kept it so independent that till I came to Goodreads for writing a review, I didn't realize it. So for those who haven't read the prequel, not to worry, just plunge yourself into this one.

Let me give you a brief of the story. For Pandavas, life became usual and predictable in the heavens. They were so accustomed to heaven that they didn't realize the passing of many millennia. But one fine day, Arjuna came to know that Kunti, Draupadi & Amba went to the mortal world and decided to stay there till their mortal life ends. He along with his brothers (who self-appointed themself as protectors of women of their family) thought that these women needed protection. He took special permission from Krishna to visit the mortal world for 30 days (just like part one) and reached Delhi. Their journey through the modern world starts and takes us on a trip to the world of laughter & joy. Read the book to know more.

Good points about the book

1. Frank tone of the storytelling. No extraordinaire display of vocabulary

2. Easy to follow pace. Not too slow, not too fast

3. Filled with many satirical situations

4. A good companion if you are taking it to 2-3 days trip

I will give 4 out of 5 to this laughter-filled book.

Book links - Goodreads & Amazon