Book Review: The Sword of Summer.

Name- Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer.

Author- Rick Riordan.

Rating- 5 of 5 ( Of course :P)

Brace yourselves, Rick fans! The master mythologist and the sarcasm God is back! And this time the orgy is with the entire Norse mythology. Well, I guess the Scandinavian fans are indeed in for a treat. Every year, the month of October manages to induce a sense of anticipation within me as all the Riordan books are generally released during this period. The news of an impending release of a book might provide a reason to live to some people. Well, suppose a person is all ready to jump of a roof and you were to shout to him that a new Riordan book was coming, I am pretty sure he would step back and awkwardly explain that he was just admiring the scenery :P. ( Please do not quit reading the review just yet. Subtly exaggerated as the earlier lines might be, I assure you that the actual review has no exaggerations howsoever. :P)

About the book now. As goes with all Riordan books, this one is  rapid paced and quite a page turner.  Every sentence of the book has been written very splendidly and with quite a bit of humour,

One might think what new the book can have? The same Riordan recipe? Angry and jealous gods fighting and snickering over trivial affairs waiting for the demigods to fight their battles. Some team of brave demigods who save the humanity and the same routine? I must say that entertaining such a thought would be a terrible mistake. The Sword of Summer holds many surprise packages that would not let such a thought dwell your mind.

Humour has always been a highlight of Riordan books. And this book indeed houses humour in a plethora. Imagine the god Thor using his Hammer not to wield in a battle but to watch 'Game of the thrones' and 'Sherlock, :P. Yes, this book has it and much more.

The book is indeed a great read.

Book Review:- If Tomorrow Comes

Book: If Tomorrow Comes.

Author: Sidney Sheldon.

' GOD, don't let tomorrow come!!!' was the prayer that reverberated in my mind as I nestled on a couch quite late at night, hoping fervently that the dawn of day did not signal the end of the book. I must admit that this was the best book of the con genre that I have read till date. Frankly, after watching the Oceans series, I had not thought that I would ever find anything better in this genre. But, this book changed my entire perception.

If Tomorrow comes basically narrates the story of Tracy Whitney, a woman who is beautiful, brilliant, brave and most importantly happy. However, it takes only but one instance for the fate to turn the tables on her and she finds herself locked behind the bars for a period that seems to her like an eternity. And that too for a crime that she did not commit. (Well, I am not too sure about this. I would say infiltrating someone house with a revolver seems pretty much of a crime to me.  But, yeah she was implicated for a robbery and that was a crime she did not commit). As she spends her endless days confined to the prison by a web of lies, there is only one thing brooding over her mind. Revenge.  And Tracy is not a person who believes in letting go of the past.

Not before long, she is released on parole and she steps into the vile world determined to bring down all those who framed her. However, being rendered penniless, she is guided by only three things: her wits, her instinct and a voracious hunger for vengeance. Very soon, she manages to get her revenge and bring all her adversaries down. But for Tracy, things do not end here. Rather, this is only the beginning. A beginning to a journey that makes her the person she was wrongly convicted of being: a criminal. Having no ways to meet the ends, she is forced to resort to crime and burglary. Aided by her flawless beauty and abundant wits, she becomes very finest of cons and is soon tailed by the Interpol whom she manages to evade every single time.

Overall, ' If tomorrow comes' is a very awesome book. All the robberies have been planned to meticulous precision. I reckon that the rate of burglaries must have increased pretty dramatically after the release of this book as it is sure to have fueled a lot of vile minds with ingenious plans of robberies ( Humour intended. :P) . Also, this one is certainly a page turner. Not even a single page will make you regret any penny invested in this book.

So, this book is one hell of a fine read and I sincerely suggest everyone to read it.

Book Review: The Scion of Ikshvaku.

Name: The Scion of Ikshvaku.

Author: Amish Tripathi.

Rating: 4 out of 5.


Well, to say that I was very highly anticipating this book would be an obvious understatement. The fact that I had actually met Amish at one of the promotional events at Crossword Nagpur only served to heighten this insurmountable anticipation. The joy that I experienced on getting my hand over this book could have been comparable to the joy that one might have experienced on handling the elixir itself. At that time, that is even before I had read it, I had been fairly certain that I would be compelled to confer on this book the highest rating and the most positive review that I could muster. But, I guess it was not to be so.

The Scion of Ikshvaku is basically a retelling of the great epic ' Ramayana.' So, a fact that might trouble some of the potential readers is the familiarity of the plot. Out of the Indian population, most of the people are very well acquainted with the epic. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no Indian grandparent would dare miss the opportunity of becoming a 'master storyteller' in his grandchild's eyes by narrating this beautiful epic. But, I must say that people with such line of thought would indeed be terribly mistaken. The Scion of Ikshvaku holds surprise packages for even the people who know Ramayana by heart. So, entertaining any notion of possibility of monotony is futile.

A thing that I absolutely love about Amish is his rational approach. Well, describing Jatayu and Hanuman as genetically mutated humans rather than some supernatural animals capable of interacting with humans is absolute genius, is it not? So, overall the book is fantastic. Various concepts have been modified with Machiavellian precision to show relevance in today's modern world and this is indeed the highlight of the book. The philosophical discussions  between the princes and the gurus are very enlightening and these along with the fantastically crafted dialogues make this book much difficult to put down once initiated.

However, the book has some drawbacks as well. The prologue of the book is more than enough to suggest how this book might end. So, there is a very little suspense if not nil. Also, each part of the Shiva Trilogy was concluded on a cliffhanger that made people die from waiting for the next edition of the series. However, this book is not in consistence with this feature. The end of the book is very simple and does not exactly ' make you die' for reading the next book of the series.

Book Review: The Cuckoo's Calling.

Book: The Cuckoo's Calling.
Author: JK Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Why were you born when the snow was falling?
You should have come to the cuckoo's calling.....

With these rather poignant words phrased by Christina Rossetti, begins another tale straight from the hands of JK Rowling herself ( Or was it Robert Galbraith....? Well, never mind!!). Though Rowling was clearly intimidated by this rather sudden shift of genre from 'Fantasy' to 'Crime and mystery' ( Well, the reason she adopted this misleading pseudonym), her intimidation must certainly have been one of those few petty things that backfired after the release of this book. This statement comes in light of the fact that this novel received a very warm response throughout this world and beyond.( Not forgotten the magical world of Hogwarts, have you??)

The cuckoo's calling basically revolves around the apparent 'suicide' of Lula Landry, a famous model and a would be, well no, actually 'would have been' actress. Known to be suffering through depression and psychiatric problems, this is regarded as as the ultimate extreme step taken by the troubled model. However, everything is not a tad bit simple as it seems. The model's brother has his own doubts and in an attempt to prove his line of thought and apparently to refrain from being framed a lunatic for such thinking, he decides to hire a private detective.

 Enter Cormoran Strike. A war veteran virtually on the brink of financial and emotional bankruptcy, With ex-clients offering death threats instead of payments and with the meager number of even such clients themselves, this case appears to have materialized just like 'the hope' did from the Pandora's box. Strike manages to delve into and expose the mist of falsehood and lies that seems to have occluded the regarded 'suicide'. With the murder of an acquaintance of the deceased model, things begin to get a lot murkier and now it is upto Strike to find the killer before he 'strikes' back.

Overall, the plot is pretty interesting and has ample twists and turns that have been planned to utmost precision. Rowling has delved into all the details very meticulously and this certainly proves to be a highlight of the novel. Well, the characters are interesting and this can be especially said so regarding that of the protagonist himself. Strike is rather an intriguing and complicated personality. At times, he appears stern having a sardonic demeanor (Often while dealing with the witnesses) but at other times we are brought abreast of his benevolent and touchy side (Often while dealing with his charming assistant Robin!!)

As said before, although this book has its own shares of twists and turns, the plot gets somewhat slow at times and a tad bit of patience might be required at some instances. This minor hitch being disregarded, the book indeed makes a every enjoyable read.

Will Cormoran Strike cement its place in history just like ' Sherlock Holmes' did? Will the budding future detectives aspire to become like 'Cormoran Strikes' just as the today's generation looks upto Sherlock Holmes.I guess only time will tell.

Prisoner of Birth: Book Review

Name: A Prisoner of Birth.
Author: Jeffrey Archer.
(May Contain Spoilers)

Well, saying that this book was one of the Archer's best books is the least I can do to praise this book. The book has everything that you hope to find in a novel. The plot is amazing and the story has been woven together really wonderfully.

The book basically revolves around the protagonist Danny, who is convicted for a crime that he did not commit. However, the fact that all the four prosecution witnesses are against him and his sentence of twenty one years in the Belmarsh prison does nothing to quench his thirst for revenge. And as the saying goes Danny staunchly believes that revenge is a dish best served cold.... .  

Well, the court cases have been presented artistically and the tactics employed by the protagonist are indeed Machiavellian. The stunning court cases and brilliant stratagems will surely make adrenaline gush through the deepest of your veins. I must say that the book is a must read for all and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

But I must mention that there are some things that the author should have emphasized on( At least according to me). I thought that Danny, the protagonist was really insensitive towards the death of his close friend and prison mate, Nick. Well, he did not show even a speck of remorse when he assumed Nick's identity to escape the prison after his murder. But, of course this is not germane to the plot of the novel.In spite of this very minor hitch, the book is very enjoyable and I enjoyed every moment of reading it.