2035th BLOG POST
29th Book of 2022
Long time since I have
been away from books and wanted to get back to reading as I am still around 7
books behind my yearly target and a week has already passed for the last month
of the year. I needed a book which could generate interest within me not only
to finish but enjoy it too. Knowing that I love books based on mythology, epic
and ancient history, I picked Pranay Bhalerao’s latest release named “The
Protectors of Kavaach” which is also the first book in Kavaach trilogy. The
book is published by the author himself in around 309 pages which seems to be a
lengthy book but once you’ll start reading it, the surprise elements and the thrilling
aspect keeps you glued. You’ll be able to finish it before the estimated time
for sure.
The book speaks of
three different timelines- 600 BCE, 570 BCE and the present times. The
characters from the 600-570 BCE are the same whereas the ones in the present
day are another set of people trying to understand the super-natural activities
happening with and around them. While reading the ancient history, you will get
the references of Mahabharat and you’ll love relating those parts with the epic
characters. The present-day section has characters which makes you relate them
to the ones you read in the ancient history section and this fight keeps the reader
within you excited and curious. It’s mainly about safeguarding Kavaach which is
being secured by someone in every generation and the ritual should continue.
Talking about the
writing style, Pranay’s command over the language is impressive. The way he has
been able to explain the action scenes between the characters – mostly the
fighting scene of Kaal in the jungle is something which tells about his
calibre. Similarly, as he is a technology professional, the implementation of
cyborgs in the present-day story gives an amazing thrilling angle. His choice
of separating the ancient story in two different parallel sections of 600 BCE
and 570 BCE has been such a perfect implementation that more than present day,
I wanted to just keep reading about these two sections and know why the
relationship dynamics have changed between the same characters within the time
span of 30 years. The way Pranay defines the whole aesthetics of mine, kavaach,
coals, Trishula tells us about his creative and imaginative prowess. His
creativity is embedded in almost every segment.
The characters are
treated beautifully. The emphasis given on Aryana and Kaal is commendable. The
way their camaraderie and growing maturity of their relationship is portrayed
makes you imagine the whole segment as the one we saw in the recent RRR movie. Similarly,
the present-day section makes you relate many scenes with the Brahmashtra movie.
Saharshee’s character and the whole ambience of ashram is again done justice
with. His views towards Kaal and the kind of treatment given to Kaal by him is
an interesting section to read. It reminds us of Dronacharya-Eklavya scene or
the whole Karna section in Mahabharat. Similarly, Rudra and all the characters
along with him are given an emotional touch which makes you cheer for them
whenever they are involved in a fighting or action scene. Rudra’s relationship
with his grandfather is applaudable. I just feel that more coverage could have been
given to the team of Shaurya, Teena and Shaksheet too. They sound like an
isolated gang in the story. Haha!
Initially, the book
might be a slow-read as you are trying to understand the three different
timelines plus the multiple characters where each of them are being given
certain importance in the story. But the moment you start understanding the
characters and their persona, the story starts getting on you. The blend of
fiction, fantasy, mythology, religion, history, science and super-natural
elements make this book an outstanding attempt of making the reader visualize
everything in their brain. Author has been successful enough in making you see
the world he has created. I was very skeptic in the pre-climax section of the
book as things were being narrated very slowly so I thought if there would be an
amazing set-up with which the book will be ended - Thankfully, the climax has
been such an astounding experience that I just can’t wondering how the story
would proceed in the second book of this series.
Talking about the
drawbacks, I must say that the book could have been edited well – atleast by
making it shorter by 30-40 pages. I felt that the story had lots of scope of
adding philosophical element which has been missed out by the author. Adding
that would have given many great insights about human minds and life in
general. As I mentioned above, I found few characters little ignored – giving equal
weightage to them could have made it more actionable. The whole section where a
story is written in the italic form which a character reads sounded quite
underwhelming as it didn’t have a very strong bond with the current plot. Lastly,
I felt that the author wrote the book from pitching it to movie-makers for
adaptation hence many scenes sound more like reading a movie screenplay than book.
Overall, this is an
interesting read and one of the fresh stories I have read this year from this
genre. I would give this attempt 4.25* out of 5. Looking out to read the 2nd
part of the story soon. Hope Pranay releases it by 2023.
Thanks!
WRITING BUDDHA
0 CoMMenTs !!! - U CaN aLSo CoMMenT !!!:
Post a Comment