The Secrets of the Dark – A Book Review

The Secrets of the Dark by Arka Chakrabarti

This is the first book in a planned Fantasy series by author Arka Chakrabarti and this is his debut novel.

This book is set in the mythical land of Gaya. It is a tale of wise kings and evil guardians, brave warriors and devious renegades fractured by a prophecy foretelling of doom. Involving elements of both Western and Eastern Fantasy and myths, the author vividly creates a new world of wild adventure.

My Review:

For a debut novel, this is a pretty strong offering. It’s a good, if not very original tale of adventure and fantasy. The hero is Agni – a boy who grows up in a foster family with no knowledge of his parents or destiny. After an attack on his foster family, he and his friends go on a mission to find the evil doers and extract revenge.

On the way he learns a bit more about his heritage, and the prophecy that seems to refer to him.

I liked this book very much, but didn’t quite love it as much as I expected it to.

Here are some reasons why:

Pacing issues: The book starts off fast, and then starts to slow down in places. Towards the end, it picks up and becomes really exciting, but the middle of the book was very slow.
Stereotypical plot and characters: Probably later books will develop the main characters a bit more – now they seem like stock fantasy characters…you know, warrior princess, boy with super-natural powers, the chosen one, etc.
In some places, the plot also seems a little contrived. There are references to a wall that is built to keep the demons of the North away, references to the Seven (all these reminded me much too much of George R R Martin’s plot constructs), and I hope that future books in the series will take the plot through less well-known paths.

Once I got over the plodding parts, the book starts to flow freely. I loved the second half of the book where our hero and his friends actually embark on their quest. All the fight sequences are very well-written, and there is a certain suspense to the proceedings that brought me to the edge of the seat.

The plot then moves into a really thrilling finale, and I admit makes up for all the flaws in the beginning and middle sections.

Last Words:

This is a promising debut. It will be interesting to see what is in store in future books in this series.

Oh and btw, you guys know how much I love maps in Fantasy books, so here’s one drawn in the author’s own hand. I loved reading about the places in the story and then going back to the map to see where it is…it’s one of the best things about Fantasy books according to me . Do you get all excited like that?

A Map of Gaya

Thanks to Srishti Publications for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

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Still Obsessed with A Song of Ice and Fire

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Knowing my love for all things ASOIAF (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R.Martin, I just had to share this infographic on my blog. This is an awesome recap of Robert Baratheon’s rebellion. Since it’s not covered in real-time in the actual book series, it’s great to see it here in pictorial format. Enjoy

Can’t wait for the next book in the series. The Winds of Winter is supposedly due out sometime mid-2014.

Piglet’s Ridiculous Sleep Routine

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Piglet is probably the most contrary baby I know…scratch that second-most contrary. Snubnose wins the contrary award hands down.

Anyway, when piglet was a newborn, he never had a problem sleeping, he would nurse and then turn around and sleep without any issues. All that changed after a couple of months when he would need songs or light rocking to get him to sleep.

He never though needed to be carried or held. He was always happiest on the bed, even if I wanted to take him, he would yell until he was back on the bed, and all I needed to do was pat him and sing lullabies.

Fast forward one year later…

Now that piglet no longer fits on my lap…well, being the contrary ~~baby~~ toddler that he is…that’s exactly what he wants. He desperately tries to fit into my lap, which he doesn’t, making it the most uncomfortable experience for the both of us. Soaring temperatures and humidity add further to the discomfort.

The routine now is as follows:

Use my left leg as pillow for his head
Use my right leg as pillow for his feet
With my left hand, I massage his head
With my right hand, I pat his bottom
All the while singing his favorite lullaby

The first 10-15 minutes are pleasant and sweet, but once it goes past 30 mins to sometimes as much as an hour, before piglet finally falls asleep it becomes agony, literally. My legs get cramped, my voice goes steadily hoarse, and piglet keeps tossing and turning uncomfortably…because it is a pretty darn uncomfortable way to sleep.

Just see the way he is sleeping on my lap and the floor!

It literally makes me want to cry when I consider how lovingly I revamped snubnose’s old crib for piglet and that he hasn’t slept even one single night on it . It ended up getting used as a playpen while piglet continues to co-sleep on the big bed.

We have now finally given up on the crib and converted it into a toddler-bed/children’s sofa.

At least, it gets good use this way. And considering how contrary piglet is, he might actually want to sleep in it now!

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – The Movie

Songs we are Singing Around the House These Days

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Snubnose and I have traditionally gone through mad singing phases where we both latch on to a song, and it becomes our song for the next few weeks or months. I have mentioned some previous songs in some posts here, here, here, and here.

This summer, it’s the turn of the King of Pop himself – Elvis the Pelvis and his famous hit – Love me Tender.

It’s kinda funny that the snubnose loves this song so much considering he died almost fifty years? before she was born. But, she’s too young to be hipster/cool, and it’s a pleasure to hear her warble this song along with him.

I have even written out the lyrics for her in her notebook, and she’s ended up learning the complete song itself .

Another song that we sing around the house these days is much more modern. While talking recently with a friend about Western popular music I realized that I have absolutely no clue about what’s happening in Western music these days. My tastes seem to have gotten stuck around the grungeish phase of the early 90s.

Anyway, what’s youtube for if not to discover unfamiliar artists/music? And I stumbled upon this one by Demi Lovato – Skyscraper. I”ll be honest and say the song doesn’t do too much for me, but it’s easy to sing, the lyrics are simple, and the message is nice. So, snubnose is learning this song as well this summer.

Nothing like her childish, very off-tune voice to bring a smile to my face

New Experiences for Snubnose and Piglet

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Last week we went on a short holiday to Chennai to spend some quality time with my mom and grandmom.

Chennai at this time of the year is always boiling hot (it’s Agni nakshatram meaning fiery star referring to the hottest time of the year), and we must have been absolutely nuts to try this trip. However, snubnose was getting restless at home during the summer holidays and since I couldn’t take time off from work to go for a longish trip…a long weekend in Chennai it had to be.

Surprisingly though, it was pretty good fun, and chock-full of new experiences for both the snubnose and piglet.

Very quickly we realized that outdoor activities were pretty much impossible. After a miserable trip to Birla Planetarium where piglet all but melted while we waited in queues in almost 40 degrees temperature, we retreated to the comfort of malls where there was enough fun activities for the kids while at the same time maintaining our cool.

Funcity (a chain of games arcades present in a lot of malls in India) is one of the absolute best places for kids to hang out. Tons of rides, games, and rather useless prizes to be won. Since this was already a favorite with the snubnose, we decided it was a safe if slightly predictable option for her.

Snubnose for the first time in her life worked up the courage to go on a lot of rides all alone. Usually, I accompany her on most everything she does, but this time I was occupied with piglet and so she had to try the rides on her own.

I was worried for her, but she did absolutely fine going on the Drop Zone, Columbus, and Bumping Cars without getting hassled or worked up. She’s growing up so fast all of a sudden. During this trip, I could really make out just how much she has matured in the past two years…she was an absolute trooper, a very mature and helpful young girl while still being her fun-loving giggly self.

Here is a rather blurry shot of her driving the Bumpy Car:

As for piglet, his travel experiences were primarily of the culinary kind. During this trip, he sampled most anything that was on offer and it was great to discover his likes and dislikes.

Piglet does not have a sweet tooth for sure. He tried ice creams for the first time during this trip, and he didn’t like them too much, neither the vanilla nor the chocolate flavors could entice him for more than a few sample licks.

He does gravitate towards the carbs though. He happily wolfed down however much he could of the chilli cheese toast (with chilli flakes!), garlic bread, and even was tempted by the bruschetta although he did look askance at the tomatoes on the bread. He even loved the nachos and potato chips. Salt and carb overload!!! Just like mom

Piglet also made his first trip to the beach. We went to the beautiful Taj Vivanta near Kovalam beach, and enjoyed a wonderful non-crowded beach experience. Snubnose and I escorted Piglet into the water…the expressions on his face when the water hit him were priceless…shock and awe is the phrase that slips into my mind.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take too many photos of our trip. Piglet is super-frisky these days and it was impossible to photograph anything. Most of the photos I took during our trip were at home chilling out at my mom’s place, or shots taken one-handed while trying to hold on to Piglet and stop him from grabbing the iPhone.

Oh well, at least we had a great time