Flipkart - Search Bar

Monday, March 17, 2014

Book Review : 'The Temple of Avinasi: The Legend of Kalki' by Ayush Pathak



Okay, let’s start with the fun stuff, or should I say the funny stuff.  The hero of this book is named Angel and his father is called Mr Betterclouds and the heroine is called Ana Indraputri. 

‘The Temple of Avinasi: (Part One) The Legend of the Kalki’ is a book of fantasy fiction built on the tenth reincarnation of Vishnu. It is a book, which is not exactly mythology, but more fantasy. The characters are taken in part from the Hindu mythology. The Dev-Asur war with the humans being involved serves as the backdrop.

The story begins with Shri, (An immortal/ Dev/ Light-Seeker) who is in search of the Weapon inside the Asur palace and encounters Darin Fostermark, (also immortal, an Asur or Nishachar). Brihaspati is the leader of the Devs and was willing to do anything for the Weapon, but is encountered by his daughter much to his surprise.

That was the preamble, but the start is where Shri who has given up the magical world to take care of the boy, Angel in the Ganga Bari valley in the Himalayas. Angel is out on a picnic on the mountains, with his two best friends and meets with Nal who is a Yeti and here ‘his’ story begins.

Nal and Shri meet and rush the boy away to the land of the immortals and the temple of Avinasi, with the help of Ana through a teleporting door. Here, Angel meets more of the Devs. This is done, so Angel can escape the Dark Seekers (Nishachars). As the story moves ahead there comes a time when Angel must show himself as the tenth incarnation, Lord Kalki.

The adventures start over, as the Lord discovers his real parents, his true self, his love for Ana, the villains and his grandfather, who could be the real test.

Firstly, Angel's resemblance is there with 'Harry Potter', you cannot miss the Drak Void, the Centaurs, Thief written on people’s foreheads, and a Pegasus (a thestrsal) with Devdutt and also the resemblance between Brihaspti and Dumbledore and also between Shri, Agni and Veda, with James Potter, Lupin, Black Ashtadhwaj with Draco, Sam with Ron and finally the Dark Lord. (Could not give out the mystery) and many more. How he changes these into more of this story makes the book. And please do not miss Salakha, with her vanity bag for the funny-twisted way Pathak treats this bit.


So, do read Lord Kalki’s Harry Potterish twist. I liked the way in which, the author Ayush Pathak tries to blend the Greek mythologies, with the Indian. Overall, I liked it, but it could have done with more understandable twists. The names are pretty outlandish; you cannot come out with Ana Indraputri!!

The story has a lot of potential and it could keep you gripped. The language could be better, I did not miss the mistakes and the use of the word ‘ain’t’ seemed inappropriate. Another Leadstart author, Anand Neelakantan told me in an interview regarding ‘Ajaya’, that with series an author is faced with keeping the interest alive, he says, ‘To keep the interest of the reader is difficult in a series, but the author gets a second chance to correct the mistakes in the sequel.’

I thought Pathak could attempt this, and I wish him all the luck, but he could do with cutting the six-part series into a three part series. And, also cutting the Harry Potter resemblance.


Author: Ayush Pathak

Genre: Epic Fantasy 
Book Editor: Surojit Mohan Gupta
Cover Design: Mishta Roy
Publisher: Leadstart Publishing, an imprint of Frog Books
ISBN : 978-93-83562-38-1
Price: Rs 245 (India) $10 (US)




No comments: