Kim's Review : The Prophecy of Trivine

Xona / Agni - An emissary of an advanced alien race and the Steward of Earth, travels to our planet to undertake responsibility of an experiment that has gone out of control. The outcome of this fateful experiment, which was conceived millions of years ago by her species, now rests in her hands.

As she prepares to deliver her final judgment, she comes across three young men in a sacred forest who change her life forever. These three men - a scientist, a hacker and an artist, happen to take refuge in that forest, trying to escape from their own lives. Struggling with their dreams and demons, they begin to explore the dark and paranormal behavior of the forest by forging a companionship. From the rare flora and fauna, to the deadly wide expanse of the whimsy black sky, everything they find is yet another puzzle unsolved. Little do they know that four of them hold in their hands the future of mankind and that they are connected through an ancient Prophecy that was long lost in the sands of time.

This is the gist of "The Prophecy of Trivine", a science fiction tale co-authored by Pulkit Gupta, Srivatsan Sridharan and Tnahsin Garg. The 3 authors were best friends fro Thapar University who are currently geographically seperated and working in entirely different streams. Yet somehow, like the trio of Phil, Shiv and Arty in the book, this partnership works.

The book opens rather dramatically, with a bang, but the rest of the novel can't seem to hold on to that initial excitement. The story itself isn't bad, but it would really benefit from a good editor who can take out the pieces that aren't relevant to the story and polish up the text. The text feels a bit juvenile at times, which is fine if your target audience is restricted to those currently in an Engineering college, but for a wider audience, a bit of editing is definitely a must.

The story progresses along reasonably well, but the suspense never seems to build, maybe this is the reason why I wasn't quite gripped by "The Prophecy of Trivine".

A word of warning though, this book only hints at the Prophecy, hopefully the Prophecy itself will be revealed in the next book?

Rating : 3 / 5

This book review is a part of The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program. To get free books log on to: thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com

Brajesh's Review : Amreekan Desi - Masters of America

Kim received Amreekan Desi for review from The Readers Cosmos along with Good Reads, so since it was at home, I picked it up, but with really low expectations (given the title and cover you can't blame me).

But once again Amreekan Desi, proved my "judgement by cover" erroneous. The story of a young Indian professional starting his life in US (Amreeka) is explored to death. But Atulya Mahajan brings a freshness and sincerity to his humour which I think is rooted in is his autobiographical experiences.

The characters are stereotypes but keep you engaged, situations are standard but keep you turning the pages and climax is cliched but brings a smile. A light read for anyone, but a MUST read for all engineers who are buried under Baron's guide to GRE.

Rating : 3 / 5

Also Read Kim's Review of Amreekan Desi - Masters of America

Kim's Review : Amreekan Desi - Masters of America

Obviously with a title like "Amreekan desi" and a glance through the contents, the comparison with "the Inscrutable Americans" would be inevitable. However, Atulya Mahajan's - Amreekan Desi, does manage to hold its own, quite easily.

Atulya is next in the line of well followed bloggers and twitterers to be able to get his book published by a large house and out in circulation. So it isn't a complete surprise to learn from credits that Sidin and Arnab helped him with the publishing process.

The Readers Cosmos along with Good Reads, sent me this book to be reviewed. I wasn't expecting to love the book, I thought it would be a good distraction, a light humorous book after the heavy reading about the War of the Roses.

The Amreekan Desi - Masters of America did tick these boxes for me, but it was also a very well researched, nuanced book with a keen understanding of people and their perspectives formed through experiences. Atulya Mahajan has delved behind personalities and given a depth to his characters through these insights.

Having lived in the US for awhile, I did come across plenty of Akhil Aroras and Jassis in various degrees. So I know that these characters aren't caricatures, nor are they figments of the authors imagination. A large percentage of Indians, visiting the US for further studies (mostly MS) fall somewhere on the scale between Akhil Arora and Jassi.

Its not just these 2 characters, but also the rest of the cast who are quite well fleshed out for a short novel. Mr Arora, Priyank, Goyal Uncle, Dilpreet, Nandita, Kedar, Anil, Priya, Sundar, Suresh and the others. Not all of them have backstories attached, but with just a few lines of presence, its quite easy to identify the character behind the person.

The language is simple and easy to comprehend and the story is a human story. Its not high brow literature but its not bus station book stall fodder either.

Amreekan Desi is in essence a tale of discovery and an adventure. Akhil and Jassi start at 2 different ends of the spectrum in their attitude towards going to America and what they want to accomplish by this move. Yet situations and perspectives change and while Akhils life seems all sorted out by the end of the book, the reader can believe that Jassi's life will also have a happy ending of its own.

The part of the book I loved best was Akhils interation with the janitor and his conversation with his mother over Diwali rituals. I almost snorted out the coffee I was drinking when I read that bit.

Its a well written book and anyone who has been to the US or plans to visit the US for studies will absolutely love the book and the characters. Even if you do not even have a passport of your own, you can still enjoy the book, because at the end of the day its an interesting story inhabited by characters that any Indian can identify with. Americans who wonder why Indians in America behave the way they do could also glean a glimmer of insight by reading American Desi.

Rating : 3.75 / 5

This Review is a part of "The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program". To get free books visit thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com

Kim's Review : The Homing Pigeons

The Homing Pigeons is Sid Bahri's debut novel.

Sid's journey from Guwahati to Chandigarh, his current move to Majkhali near Ranikhet after giving up his job to focus on writing, his job stint with Citibank, all these experiences have shaped him and wormed their way into the story line of The Homing Pigeons.

There were a few similarities that hit home for me too. Like the hero & heroine of The Homing Pigeons, I too graduated in 1999, I had a bunch of classmates that joined Citibank (amongst other companies). I hail from Mangalore which is supposed to be the hometown of the anti-heroine in the book - Divya. So I was hoping to identify more with the lead characters.

Aditya and Radhika are the Homing Pigeons of this tale. Classmates in High School, colleagues at Citibank after a couple of years, separated by continents only to throw them back together again in a year. Life seems to be drawing them apart and yet they keep coming back to each other.

The Homing Pigeons, moves forward and backwards through a series of flashbacks alternating between Aditya and Radhika's viewpoints. A lot of historical events are covered over the years : the backlash against the Sikhs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's Assassination, the recession that hit the job market badly, the reverse brain drain - amongst others are all woven into the tale through the perspective of our 2 lead characters.

The tale is interesting, but to me their actions at times seemed extremely impetuous and at times downright childish. And hence I couldn't really identify with the characters. But I also know that a ton of students in colleges across the country will identify with them very well and this could be the main target audience for The Homing Pigeons.

The start is quite gripping and the middle is quite fast paced too, but at the end, somehow the entire tale seemed to rush to finish in 5 pages. After agonising over every tiny detail in the preceding 300+ pages, the ending seemed abrupt.

***SPOILER ALERT***
If Aditya hated being dependent on his wife once he lost his job, how come he is suddenly OK with living off Radhika and her ex-husbands money?
Why does Radhika take him back so easily given how badly he treated her, especially during the abortion he forced her to undergo?
***End of Spoiler***

It is these questions that beg to be raised that made me feel the ending was abrupt. However, if the target audience for the book is teens and those in their early 20's, the Happily ever After Ending, may just be enough for them to love the book.

I don't think, that I'm the target audience for this book, so my rating is low, however except for some minor editing issues, the book isn't bad and I'm sure it will do very well for itself among readers of this genre.

Rating : 2.8 / 5

This Review is a part of "The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program". To get free books visit thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com and can be checked out on Good Reads