The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret review

I had received The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander by Christopher C. Doyle, as part of Blogadda’s review program but was unable to review at that time, and being forgetful (by nature) forgot about it till now. Anyway, being a firm believer in the ‘better late than never’ philosophy, here’s the review as promised! (My most sincere apologies to the Blogadda team for the extreme lateness in posting this review!)

Just to add, this is the second part of a series, after The Mahabharata Secret, and even if one hasn’t read the first part, it’s easy to start on this book directly without missing much, as the plot of the sequel has little to no dependency on its prequel. 

So, to begin with here’s the book cover summary:

334 B.C.

Image Courtesy: Christopher C Doyle

Alexander the Great begins his conquest of the Persian Empire. But his plans for everlasting glory do not end there and the young king marches towards the Ends of the Earth - the lands of the Indus - on a secret quest. It will lead him to an ancient secret concealed in the myths of the Mahabharata; a secret that is powerful enough to transform him into a god.
Present Day
In Greece, the ancient tomb of a queen is discovered, a tomb that has been an enigma for over 2000 years.In New Delhi, the Intelligence Bureau discovers unexplained corpses in a hidden lab. Vijay Singh and his friends, now members of an elite task force, are sucked into a struggle with a powerful and ruthless enemy. In a deadly race against time, they will need to solve a riddle from antiquity that will lead them to encounter shocking secrets from the past; secrets that will reveal mystifying links between ancient history, the Mahabharata and the ancient enemy with diabolical plans for a future that will hold the world to ransom.
The Quest has just begun.

Millennium Trilogy Review

With the latest addition to the Millennium series recently launched, I believe it’s about time I reviewed the original trilogy, at least till the time I get my hands on ‘The Girl in the Spider's Web’ by David Lagercrantz!

The book summary for the original Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, as published is below for a quick acquaintance with the series.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, recently sidelined by a libel conviction  with bleak prospects  until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared without a trace more than forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to try to discover what happened to her and hires Blomkvist to investigate. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius, and pierced and tattooed computer prodigy with a cache of authority issues. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption on their way to discovering the truth of Harriet Vanger’s fate.

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Mikael Blomkvist, now a crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the murders. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.


The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. On her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and against the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

As one can imagine, the series is mostly about politics, with crime drama and a little of other ‘drama’, with the two main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander at the helm. Though by the end of the trilogy, the plot was more focused on Salander with her life story carrying the series through.

Shoes of the Dead Book Review

Before I started this book, I checked up a little about the author, Kota Neelima and her previous works. Amongst articles and abstract paintings done by her, she also has 2 books published under her name. Death of a Moneylender and Riverstones. Both these books have one thing in common, the sense of true and unabridged reality.

Before I start my review, as always, here’s the book cover summary to give you a better idea of what this particular book is all about.

Crushed by successive crop failures and the burden of debt, Sudhakar Bhadra kills himself. The powerful district committee of Mityala routinely dismisses the suicide and refuses compensation to his widow. Gangiri, his brother, makes it his life’s mission to bring justice to the dead by influencing the committee to validate similar farmer suicides.

Keyur Kashinath of the Democratic Party - first-time Member of Parliament from Mityala, and son of Vaishnav Kashinath, the party’s general secretary - is the heir to his father’s power in Delhi politics. He faces his first crisis every suicide in his constituency certified by the committee as debt-related is a blot on the party’s image, and his competence.

The brilliant farmer battles his inheritance of despair, the arrogant politician fights for the power he has received as legacy. Their two worlds collide in a conflict that pushes both to the limits of morality from where there is no turning back. At stake is the truth about ‘inherited’ democratic power. And at the end, there can only be one winner.

 Passionate and startlingly insightful, Shoes of the Dead is a chilling parable of modern-day India.

Tantra Book Review

Before I got the mail from Bloagadda about tantra being the book up for review, all I knew about it was that there was quite the buzz being created around it. For a newbie writer and his first book, a little promotion is crucial but even then, an animated version of the story is going a little over the top, don’t you think?

I know judging a book by its cover (literally) isn’t right, but sometimes one just gets the feeling of how a certain book will turn out to be and that’s what I feel happened here. My expectations from this book were really low, which as it turns out was a Good thing.

The Krishna Key : A Review

As part of the initiative of Blogadda.com Book Review Program, I have become the proud owner of the book, The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi. The rule after receiving the book is to write a review about it within a week of acceptance. So, needless to say, I started reading it as soon as I got it out of the delivery packaging.

To start with I’ll post the book cover summary. I mean, what’s better to give you an idea about the book than the original summary which was published for this purpose only, right?

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age—the Kaliyug.

In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar.

Only, he is a serial killer.

In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret—Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind.

Historian Ravi Mohan Saini must breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice.

Fifty Shades of Erotica?

Recently the trilogy Fifty Shades, by the British author E. L. James, topped the New York Times Bestseller’s List. It set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time, surpassing the Harry Potter series.

The books tell the tale of a dominant-submissive affair between a manipulative millionaire Christian Grey and a college graduate, Anastasia Steele. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes which include elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM).  

At first, when I heard about it, I got curious about all the attention it was receiving. It’s not like there aren’t any “erotic” or sex scenes in other books! Take Jeffrey Archer for instance, I think in each one of his books you’ll find a pretty steamy passage.

The Fountainhead: A modern classic by Ayn Rand

So for today’s blog entry I have decided to write about my favorite book. It’s a book that I have read at least 6 times since I first read in eleventh. Every time I read it, something new comes forward, about me, about the people around me, about the society that we live in.

A friend had suggested this book to me, and I am really, really glad that she did. If there has been book that makes you think, really think, then this is it.

Well, firstly I want to post the book cover summary. What better to give you an idea about the book than the original summary which was published for this purpose only, right?

This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him.

The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s controversial novel, tell the story of the desperate battle wages by architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite … of 

Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy … of the fantastic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator.

Its theme is one of the most challenging ideas ever presented in a work of fiction – that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress.
It contains Ayn Rand’s daringly original literary vision with the seeds of her groundbreaking philosophy, objectivism.