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.