Book Review: The Veiled Universe by Rob Garnet | Cosmic Tales of Science Fiction

Book Review

The Veiled Universe by Rob Garnet

The Veiled Universe by Rob Garnet

Author: Rob Garnet

ISBN: 978-9353961008

Genre: Science Fiction and Time Travel

Length: 144 Pages

Publisher: Red Knight Book (13 December 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2FvNpzV

About the author: 

Rob is an engineer who has spent years working in various global companies. He is a keen traveler who has so far covered sixteen countries. This helps fulfill his desire to understand the local language and customs, and realize the further we go, the closer we humans come to each other.

He has penned professional articles and is a frequent public speaker on management and human resources. He has also written short stories in science fiction and fantasy. He believes that the future of humanity is bright; there are many more scientific discoveries yet to be made.

With over two decades of experience working in the fields of science, he understands the anxiety this poses to the general reader who is at risk of getting lost in the jargon. Therefore, his foremost desire is to simplify the concepts of science and present them in the form of narratives that the readers will not find overwhelming. He spends hours thoroughly researching his selected themes and then weaves his tales around them. He hopes that these stories will ignite the imagination of the readers and take them into uncharted realms of science fiction.

Rob Garnet

Instagram: @robgarnet
Twitter: @RobGarnet

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rob.garnetauthor.3

REVIEW

Narration

The Veiled Universe is a collection of 11 Sci-Fi ‘cosmic tales’ taking you through the ‘potential’ realities of this veiled universe that we are trying to discover since time itself. So these are just possibilities but are actually directly or indirectly based on the facts and discoveries till date and that’s because the author has sound knowledge of physics and space because of his twenty years’ experience with fields of science.

Also, most of the tales involve advanced science and technology because discoveries wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Talking about the writing style, it was fabulous and stories well researched. Despite stories being very complex in nature, there were not any loopholes, at least I couldn’t find any. Each story was well-plotted and executed. As being a student of science, I had no difficulties understanding scientific laws and the nature of celestial objects. However, I don’t think that really would affect any reader’s experience as long as they enjoy Sci-Fi genre.

Location and Setting

Some tales are set on earth and others in the space. There are a few tales that focus on the nature of Black Holes. These tales span the whole observable universe and a few major objects or astronomical bodies like stars and galaxies. About time, I remember the Year 2320 in the book, so yes it can be from future and also from past as one story is about Time Travelling.

Theme

As we can see already, science and technology have dramatically changed our ways of life. We are discovering something new in space every once in a while which leaves humans shook and we humans are continuously inventing something new to understand the universe. But is that so easy? Back to the cosmic tales. In these tales, humans, aliens and even objects that we think, don’t have a brain to think, are on a mission. The mission of discovery, interplanetary wars, a heist in space, saving planets, etc. As the cover says, YOU. WILL. BELIEVE. I believed it all and trust me these sci-fi tales are not just usual novels you might be reading, but these actually give answers to our quest of the universe. Also, the author Rob Garnet has covered everything from how would machines make everything easy and effortless, to the dangers of overusing the resources we have been extracting from the stars and universe.

The universe is veiled and we may never really know all its secrets.

My Opinion

I am really an astrophile, I love observing the sky, I wait for the meteor showers every year, I like spotting satellites using an app in my phone, I always point out to Jupiter and tell everyone about it. Ah, that’s enough. So, if I would be reading more of sci-fi or anything related to space, the universe then thanks to Rob Garnet. He made me revive my curiosity about the freaking universe and all that I have been thinking and assuming about the same. I loved this book and I would recommend to anyone who has the same interests. 

Happy Reading!

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Book Review: Temple Classroom & Other Stories by Puja Roy | Short Stories

Book Review

Temple Classroom & Other Stories by Puja Roy

Temple Classroom & Other Stories by Puja Roy

Author: Puja Roy

ISBN: 978-8194182634

Genre: Short Stories

Length: 117 Pages

Publisher:  Rubric Publishing (19 September 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/358g09g

About the author: 

A Comparative Literature graduate from Jadavpur University and a Diploma in Film Studies, Puja is also the founder of the digital book club The Book Buzz'. She holds a Master's degree in Advertising and Public Relations and is currently employed with an education foundation that works for children from the underprivileged sections of the society. An avid reader and a translator, Puja loves to research on history, cinema, art and culture.

Puja Roy

Instagram: @roy.puja03

Twitter: @ROYaltyPuja
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puja.roy.900

REVIEW

Temple Classroom & Other Stories is the collection of sixteen distinct stories, which have nothing specific in common and are addressing a variety of subjects. Talking about the writing style, the foreword is written by Koral Dasgupta and it was so wonderful that my expectations became very high for the book. After reading the stories I can say the overall experience was a bit disappointing. I'll expand on that later. Some stories are set in villages and some in cities like Vadodara and Mumbai.

Well, the positive side of the book. I felt that these three stories were unique and brilliant. 'The Root', 'Silver Anklets' and 'The Tea Story'. These all stories elaborate on the feelings of characters very well and shows how these characters are struggling in their own mind. It literally shows the change of perspective in the end and how these characters develop, be it a very little change. I loved them. These characters. Emotions and feelings surrounding them. Other than these, there is a story about a girl who wishes to bring quality education to her village where girls are not allowed to study after certain age. There is an inspiring story of a housewife who finds her true calling and has to go against her family, for the better. One story talks about the acid attack and another story about child sexual abuse and another about an underprivileged child who has to go through so much in life at an early age. This 'Phulo' story has a unique lesson in it.

Some of them are inspiring but mostly these stories are ordinary. Let me clear this first, what I mean by ordinary is, we all have come across these stories (most of them) in various forms, in news, social media, I mean these stories are found everywhere. Also if these weren't extraordinary (tales of struggle, fulfilling dreams, lasting hope and courage and more) then it wouldn't have made to these pages. Considering that, I didn't find anything new in these stories. Stories lacked of emotions and the perspective that could have narrated the stories better, although the characters were well defined. Another thing that I didn't like was the purpose of these stories. Fine, some are inspiring and others are addressing the issues we're struggling through but other than that I found few of them very idle. And the endings were unsatisfactory.

This collection might not be one of the best, but I really appreciate the efforts put in this work and talking about these issues. As Suzanne says and I repeat every now and then, 'The least we can do is call it what it is and talk about it.'

Happy Reading!

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Author Interview with Rajesh Konsam | Author of Bittersweet | Debut Novel

Author Interview With

Rajesh Konsam

Author of Bittersweet - Debut Novel

follow this blog for more such content!!👉

Hey Readers' Fam, we are back with another Author Interview. This time we will be having a conversation with the author of  'Bittersweet', most welcome Rajesh Konsam.

If you don't know about 'Bittersweet' book, then check out my review of Bittersweet here.

About the author:

Rajesh Konsam is a young software engineer and writer. A geek at heart, he loves programming and feel-good novels in equal measure. When not writing poems, he ticks travel destinations off his bucket list. Although Rajesh hails from Manipur, he works in Chennai after completing his B.E. in Coimbatore.

Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com

Follow him on Instagram: @rajeshkonsam

Reach out to his Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRajeshKonsam/

Twitter Handle: @RajeshKonsam

Order your copy of Bittersweet here: https://amzn.to/30GvVce

Before we start, there are two options for you. You can either enjoy the video of the interview or read it here on the blog. Thanks to the author for recording the answers in the camera for you all readers! (Video is available with subtitles)

Let's Start!

Q: Why you chose this musical theme for your book?

A: I wanted to write a story about young millennials who come together and share their creative ideas, help each other out during their formative period and be emotionally available during your failures. Also, I'm a huge music fan and my brother is a musician, so yeah!

Q: The protagonist had many flaws yet your readers connected with the character and found very relatable, so what was the idea behind that character?

A: The protagonist here possesses the mindset of a lot of disturbed young millennials from our generation. So I decided to leave him that way. I think, he is more or less younger version of me. I remember having the same set of thoughts when I was younger and I remember this quote from my favorite authors, Anthony Doerr. A real diamond is never perfect.

Q: How important it is to follow passion according to you?

A: I think it's very important whether it's your daytime job or whether it's your secondary or tertiary passion. Passion is what keeps driving a life. Passion is important to make your reality better than your dreams. I wake up every morning knowing that I have so many things to look forward in life and they makes me happy.

Q: How is it being a writer in India and how was your experience publishing your debut novel?

A: I think it's a good time to be a writer in India. If you look around there are so many stories that need to be talk, there's a lot of culture and a lot of diversity. Yeah. I love being a writer in India. Coming to the second part of your question, how was your experience publishing your debut novel? I think it has been rather a very long journey for me. It was depressing in the beginning, a lot of publishers rejected me. But then again I met this wonderful literary agent Suhail Mathur from The Book Bakers literary agency. He helped me find a couple of publishers out of which Vishwakarma Publications came to my life and it has been an uphill journey ever since.

Q: What steps are you following for improving your language?

A: I must say, if you want to improve your language, you need to follow very good authors. In my case, I love reading books from Booker Prize shortlisted or Pulitzer Prize shortlisted authors, they write very well. But since I'm a contemporary fiction novelist, I love reading magazines, magazine interviews, I also watch Talk shows, they are very interesting and they help you improve your language.

Q: How’s been your journey so far as an author?

A: I think it has been a very good learning experience. I met a lot of new people, I met a lot of readers, I've learned a lot in just one month and the book is surprisingly doing well. I think I have to thank all my readers, I have to thank my publisher, I have to thank my literary agent, thank you so much. I'm starting to enjoy my success.

Q: You favorite book, author and genre and why?

A: I wish I could name any other book but my favorite book is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. It's my favorite because there's very good character development in the book, I felt for the male lead, I could feel his pain and anguish throughout the book and it's one of the best examples of the good characterizations. Secondly my favorite author, I like Paulo Coelho who wrote 11 minutes, the kind of satisfaction I got when I read 11 minutes that I don't get from a lot of writers. And my favorite genre is modern classic because it has an artistic touch to it and is still set in familiar world.

Q: The most cliché romance plot you’ve ever read.

A: I once read about this novel where in, protagonist ends up in a mental hospital because he broke up with his girlfriend. I think its fine but then again the execution was very bad. And no, I didn't like it.

Q: 3 reasons why people should read your book ‘Bittersweet’?

A: Number 1: The thorough research done for the book. When you read the book, you'll see.
Number 2: Cultural diversity. There are characters from Kerala, characters from South India and Indo-Portuguese female lead and minor characters from the North-East.
And Number 3: There are a few surprises in the book.

Q: Three secrets about the book which readers don’t know yet.

A: Number 1: The book was written when I was a college student. I did my engineering in Coimbatore and that's when I completed the first draft of the book. It took some time for the book to get published.
Number 2: The Mumbai which you find in Bittersweet is an entirely fictional one. I have never been to Mumbai but I plan on visiting Mumbai soon.
Number 3: I maintain a colored chart for every book I write and in Bittersweet I used different colors to track flow of different characters and I did this primarily for shadow some of the characters and to help them throughout different chapters. I don't want some of my characters to go missing from chapters and that's why I used character chart using different colors. I think that's all. Thank You!

Thank you so much for being here Rajesh! We all wish you the best!

Show some love!!

Order your copy of Bittersweet here: https://amzn.to/30GvVce

Instagram: @rajeshkonsam

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRajeshKonsam/

Twitter: @RajeshKonsam

==================================

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Book Review : Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy | Short Stories

Book Review

Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy

Tales from Bengal by Sourish Roy

Author: Sourish Roy

ISBN: 978-8193963982

Genre: Short Stories

Length: 103 Pages

Publisher:  BIGFOOTPUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. (2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2ngloH5

About the author: 

Sourish Roy, an M.A. in English with distinction in Linguistics from Burdwan University and B.Ed. with specialization in Teaching Methodology from North Bengal University, has been serving as an Assistant Teacher in High Secondary school since 2005. With degrees in Classical Art from Nikhil Bharat Sangeet Parishad, he has also been a frequent practitioner in painting. Having earned professional training in Lead Guitar under the tutelage of Sri. Kaushik Bhattacharya besides being a vocalist himself, he also takes time out to musical ceremonies.

He is also a certificate holder of National Science Society. Alongside enjoying serenity in his multi-faceted life he has had experiences of trekking under the supervision of Himalayan Nature & Adventure Foundation, Siliguri.

From the very beginning, he has been a fond reader of good literary books. He took to writing at an early stage of his life with writing for the wall magazines and annual magazines in school and college. Now, as a writer, he has earned the renown of being dedicated to the daily life problems of the underprivileged class. His stories have been previously published in local English and Bangla magazines and pamphlets. His critical essays have also been provided space in some academic books.

Sourish Roy (right) receiving award for Best Short Story Collection Prize

Follow him on Instagram: @sourishjal

Twitter Handle: @sourishjal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sourishjal and @sourishjal.TalesFromBengal

REVIEW

Narration

Tales from Bengal is a compilation of nine short stories depicting the serious transformation in the lives of villagers of Bengal in the last few decades of the twentieth century. Some of these short stories are narrated in first person point of view and some in third person point of view. This is the work of fine literature and Sourish Roy has put life in this book. Author narrates these significant stories using profound language and creative writing style. Each and every line says something, holds a meaning. One of the major trait of this book is, the voice which keeps you curious throughout the entire book.

Location and Setting

All stories are set in different lands of Indian state West Bengal. As I mentioned above, these stories take place in the most transformative decades of the twentieth century. Everything was changing in the sense of science, technology, entertainment and politically also. Sourish Roy has portrayed this picture in context of Bengal. All stories have major influence of Bengal and its culture and anything you could imagine. Author has tried to include as many topics as possible and made this book nothing less than a carnival of a sort.

Theme

While these stories are all distinct, they really seemed to me somewhat related but actually, they are not. The first story ‘Absolution’ is about accepting one’s limitations. ‘Anomaly’ is about the flaws come with evolution. ‘Iron irony’ depicts the story of a blacksmith going through the sudden development of marketing strategies. ‘Ratan’s Maa’ shows how, healthcare was made available to a commoner, which once they were deprived of. ‘The abstainer’ sketches the picture of a young, an incompetent descent to the family heritage. ‘The Handyman' tells a story, where a man was robbed of everything because of government’s empty pocket. ‘The Magician’s Plight’ is a story of a magician (a migrant from another country), who discovers the light after a huge loss. ‘The Mail-bearer’ is indeed a story of a mail-bearer and story which serves the message of ‘Perseverance never goes unpaid.’ And the last ‘The Quack’ is the story of a doctor who was denied the dream he had given his all away for, not once but twice.

My Views

If I have to retitle these stories with an adjective, it would be shattering, devastating and what not. While urbanization brought massive transformation, it wasn’t good for everyone. As the author says, these villagers are still waiting for elevation in their wretched living, which would probably take more time and until then would undergo numerous changes as depicted in the book. I really loved each story and devoured them again and again to re-ingest those feelings of pain and acceptance. It also made me reminisce the stories my grandma used to tell and this book had similar vibes, Sourish Roy made each story unforgettable by his literary skills.

Happy Reading!

========================

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Book Review: Diary of a Twenty-Something: A collection of Teenage Musings by Siya

Book Review

Diary of a Twenty-Something by Siya

Diary of a Twenty-Something by Siya

Author: Siya Singhania

ISBN: 978-1646506699

Genre: Poetry

Length: 170 Pages

Publisher: NotionPress (14 August 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2mQHaAV

About the author: 

Siya is a fictional character whose eyes the author uses as a mirror to reflect the teenage world. It is also the pen-name of said author, Anjali Roongta. Anjali is a twenty-something student living in Pune, India, who has published another book before this. An avid reader, she loves fan-fiction and her stories are a mix of real-life experiences, stories heard from others, and those developed through her own imagination—courtesy of a lot of reading. In this book, she presents a set of poetry that Siya feels are issues and thoughts that cross the minds of teenagers and young adults.

Follow her on Instagram: @siyaa20_official

Twitter Handle: @anjali_roongta
Website: https://roongtaanjali.wordpress.com/

REVIEW

Diary of a Twenty-Something is a collection of poetry from the perspective of a teenager who is a fictional character. Poetries are narrated by this fictional character in a very simple yet poetic way. These teenage musings are kind of smooth and fluid, one would keep reciting without taking a break. What I mean by simple is, the writing style and language are very simple that you would know the meaning while reading as you go but that makes it inadequate. Besides, it serves a good trait of being not at all time-consuming.

Musings are quite relatable that reminds you of how silly you used to be in your teenage years and what you have gone through in those years, those first and bitter experiences. Subjects addressed were anxiety, validation, disorders, pain, love and a lot of questions that teenagers seek answers to. There are many topics that break stereotypes but at other hand, there are also few clichés included in this book. That is when it goes a little stupid just as teenage lives and sometimes makes offensive remarks. Which obviously not everyone would like.

These are a few of the subjects I liked reading about: depression, body shaming, growing up and dream to be at peace. At once the author Siya talks about asexuality and I really appreciate that, because its real and no one talks about it so freely.

Another thing, the author Siya made it really easy like the way she explained complicated feelings with ease, for example, falling in love. Lacked that standard but it is okay. Poetries had these contemporary and modish vibes.

Personal views

My reading experience was quite content. I would really like to recite some of the poems/poetries out loud to friends and family. My favorites from this book are, Question to the Creator and Navigating Waters and there might be more but I can remember these two right now. I think this book definitely deserves a chance, grab your copy and read it.

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Bittersweet : A Debut Novel by Rajesh Konsam | Book Review

Book Review

Bittersweet: A Debut Novel by Rajesh Konsam

Bittersweet by Rajesh Konsam

Author: Rajesh Konsam

ISBN: 978-9388424622

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 200 Pages

Publisher: VishwakarmaPublications (19 August 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/30GvVce

About the author: 

Rajesh Konsam is a young software engineer and writer. A geek at heart, he loves programming and feel-good novels in equal measure. When not writing poems, he ticks travel destinations off his bucket list. Although Rajesh hails from Manipur, he works in Chennai after completing his B.E. in Coimbatore.

Rajesh Konsam

Bittersweet is Rajesh’s debut novel, and he is working on his next. Rajesh tweets as @RajeshKonsam, runs a feed on Instagram as @rajeshkonsam, and responds well to feedback at rajeshkonsam@live.com. More at rajeshkonsam.com

Follow him on Instagram: @rajeshkonsam

Twitter Handle: @RajeshKonsam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRajeshKonsam/

REVIEW

Narration

Bittersweet is a piece of art, an art of storytelling through stirring thoughts, authentic dialogues, songs and a creative plot. Apart from that, Bittersweet is a work of contemporary fiction following the protagonist Roshan, who is an artiste with excellent songwriting skills and limited vocal talent. Bittersweet is narrated in first-person point of view and is narrated by Roshan only. The book is divided into two parts preceded by epigraphs. The writing style is really dope and complements the genre and overall theme. The opening passage is awe-inspiring which makes you dive right into an artiste’s bittersweet life.

Location and Setting

Bittersweet sets in Mumbai, that means opportunities. As for any artist, it is not logical to holdback ideas and staying in comfort zone, author Rajesh Konsam has taken a risk, developing a different theme, setting which promotes English song composition in the country of Bollywood. But that is not the issue here because we all love listening to them and for your better experience there are songs written by Roshan tainted with sorrow, heartbreak, and some nourished by joy warmth and love. Each song holds a different story and meaning, understanding which would take some time and I tried citing them rhythmically until I got its meaning otherwise it made no sense to me.

Theme

The novel introduces you to such many characters who are striving for their choice of career. A vocalist, a painter, an actress, a composer and a songwriter. These artists are looking for opportunities to showcase their talent and hope to succeed. Any type of art needs a source of strength and confidence which come from love, appreciation, & acceptance and if these sources are crashed it gets just gloomy, it may still be considered as a craft but there remains no space for improvement thus these sources need to get refilled time and again. This happens to the protagonist, he is still bound in chains of heartbreak & anger from past five years and is not able to forgive or forget. And before he can do any of that, his love of life returns and that’s where story starts. Author Rajesh Konsam has titled each chapter very correctly for example this first one ‘Beautiful Disaster’.

Order your copy now!

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/30GvVce

Plot

Roshan thinks he is the odd one out in every aspect of life and why not? You’ll discover that in this novel. Besides he’s got this very cool family (Mom and Dad), a boss like a sister (Sheryl) and a best friend Sunny. Ragini (ex-girlfriend) is the reason for his devastating condition. And then comes this girl (Shanaya) into his life who unlike Ragini respects and appreciates his art and brings sunshine to Roshan’s life. Roshan also reunites with his old friend Alston and they get along really well despite their past disputes. The first half depicts how Shanaya helps Roshan emerging from the dark and cold phase. The second part was totally unexpected, where you ride the roller coaster and you don’t know where you will end up. There are all sorts of twists and turns which I would crave for in any contemporary fiction, it just created a magical reading experience. And finally, the story ends on good terms.

"You can't just get a free ticket to stardom. You have to earn it the hard way, sweat it out every single day, fall time and again, stand on your feet. dust the dirt off and keep moving until you succeed. You need to keep surviving, remind yourself every day that clinging on to hope is the only strategy because hope is all you have when everything else is lost."

My Views

Let’s start from the beginning, as I mentioned above, an impressive opening is all you need to dive right into a book. It didn’t consume any time to get along with the narrative, also it is straight forward. Author Rajesh Konsam has made Bittersweet very relatable. Characters are really strong and dialogues on top of that help connecting us to them at such level that it brings you the same pain as them. I felt every bit of it. At first, I thought of it as an average read but the second part gave characters and the book itself a new life. There is not just the struggle one make as an artiste, they take almost life-changing decisions. And that’s what you learn from this book and for me, there is nothing of more value than these lessons. Roshan didn’t give up and Shanaya proved to be the best thing happened to his life. Not to forget, the music aspect of the book, it is the heart of Bittersweet. There are musical references from across the globe. There are experiences all related to music, there are failures, and there is romance! Character arcs of Roshan and Shanaya are way transformative, they grow together throughout the novel.

Closure! I loved how the book is filled with life and reality, especially the second part. Shanaya and Sheryl are my favorites from Bittersweet. The way they turn darkness into light every time they appear! The novel is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness of the same amount, no more no less!

Stay Tuned!! We'll be back with an Author Interview very soon!

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

Book Review: Kaalkoot The Lost Himalayan Secret by S. Venkatesh

Book Review

Kaalkoot The Lost Himalayan Secret by S. Venkatesh

Kaalkoot by S. Venkatesh

Author: S. Venkatesh

ISBN: 978-8193642450

Genre: Historical Fiction (Crime, Mystery & Thriller)

Length: 335 Pages

Publisher: TreeShade Books (7 December 2018)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2YU4AGK

About the author: 

Venkatesh wears many hats. In his roles as private equity investor, executive coach, business leader, entrepreneur and Board member, he has helped businesses thrive and grow. He has spent a significant part of his professional life in the stock markets with Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan and continues to be an avid investor. Venkatesh has been keenly interested in Eastern philosophy and mysticism right from his college days at IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta.

He has found his inspiration to write in rather curious settings - while crawling through war tunnels in Vietnam, coming face-to-face with a bear in the Nilgiris, chancing upon an Indus Valley ruin while on a road trip, listening to “Madhushala,” or just drinking cutting chai by the roadside. He is passionate about self-discovery and the power of stories to inspire and transform.

S. Venkatesh at Higginbotham's, Chennai

Follow him on Instagram: @authorsvenkatesh

Twitter Handle: @AuthorVenkatesh
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSVenkatesh/ 

REVIEW

Narration

Kaalkoot is a crime thriller with the backdrop of mystery, as the subtitle suggests─ The Lost Himalayan Secret. The story has many aspects like the history and the warfare. The book initiates from the time when Quit India Movement was launched. The story is narrated in the third person point of view. The voice is very clear and gives the exact information the reader would want. The narration doesn’t follow any character in particular, it narrates thoughts of every character being followed. The structure of the book is clever and evenly spaced out.

Location and Setting

Kaalkoot has covered many monumental places which includes Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa, Delhi and locations of Himalaya terrain. The novel takes place in June 2018. The story starts with a Prof. Bani living in Kolkata who is poring over some conspiracy theory he had come to know thirteen years back. Damini is an agent at underground Anti-Conspiracy Group (ACG) formed by Indian Government. The setting really complements the plot that absorbs the reader into the world full of agents, hackers and the danger imposing on them all.

Theme

Kaalkoot is a crime thriller with the adventure that comes along discovering the truth and revealing mysteries. In the prologue itself, the author mentions the destruction of the whole earth. Sameer Rajan is the protagonist for the novel and he is one of the strong and courageous characters. While searching for his missing girlfriend he comes to know about the looming threat to thousands of lives from bioweapon called Kaalkoot. These three characters cross their paths only for what fate has destined for them and that is keeping the evil from succeeding in their plans.  

Plot

The story is divided into five parts each focuses on the different task and revealing something new. The book is packed with action scenes and others are intriguing ones. The baseline being the conspiracy theory and the study of history, a history geek would love to reflect on past events. Along the story comes various characters of distinct background from across the country and some foreign. Mostly they are experts, mountaineer, agents and professors. The story doesn’t halt for a second, thus the characters are always in action making their lasting impression, e.g., and agents who don’t get the luxury of time to make a decision. Meanwhile, only three of them (Bani, Damini and Sameer) knows the forthcoming ruination. And they are being constantly followed by the minions of the antagonist. They have to make their choices wisely and quickly for saving those thousands of lives.

My Views

I completely loved Kaalkoot. This is one of the ever progressive novels I have read in my life. The book has many aspects covered from which I liked reading about the history and bioweapons. One of the interesting parts was warfare and international alliances. This might not seem different but it is very different in its own way. The Himalayan secret and the conspiracy theories are very fun to read about literally burying face into the book.

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