The Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare

  Magic and secrets, hidden pasts and complicated futures, love and treachery, family and foes. The ultimate combination to spin an excellent and enthralling tale.

  The Infernal Devices Trilogy consists of three books - The Clockwork Angel, The Clockwork Prince, and The Clockwork Princess. It is the second series by Cassandra Clare, set in the Shadowhunters universe. The first one - The Mortal Instruments - which introduced us to the world of Nephilim (Shadowhunters to you mundanes out there), was set in the modern world, thaumaturgy amongst texting and technology. It was about a girl who discovered herself to be a Shadowhunter through a series of unfortunate events, and unraveled the mysteries of her past and her abilities, using them to fight a psychopathic and murderous villain.  

In the Clockwork Angel, Tessa (Theresa Gray) discovers her ability to shape shift, after a period of imprisonment, harassment, pain and anguish caused by the Dark Sisters, all for the sake of her brother who is supposedly held hostage by “The Magister”. She is rescued by Will Herondale - the blue-eyed sarcastic hero, and introduced to the world of Shadowhunters, where she meets Jem (James) Carstairs - the fragile and gentle lover. The rest of the book follows up with the rescue of Tessa’s brother, deceit and death, and unveiling the identity of “The Magister”. The Clockwork Prince is focused on Will and his curse, Tessa’s brother and his loyalties, the Clave (which is something like a Shadowhunter Law Council), and the automatons made by the Magister. Jem and Tessa fall in love, with Will at the apex of the triangle, in love with Tessa who suppresses her emotions for him, in lieu of her promise to Jem. The intense brotherly love between Jem and Will also plays a further role in this complicated love triangle, where each one loves the other two. The third book, i.e. The Clockwork Princess concludes the series, with the defeat of the Magister in an action filled, stupendous climax scene, and resolution of the love triangle in the most unexpected, intensely emotional way.

  

The series is set in Victorian London, giving way to some amusing incidences, such as when Tessa is astonished by the fact that ladies can wear trousers, in a time when corsets and hoop skirts were all the rage in women fashion. Being a good girl in the Victorian Age, she has been taught to be docile and gentle, and is thus alarmed at the mere thought of women fighting, let alone the idea of her learning to use weapons, as is the Nephilim norm. Blending in fancy vocabulary and formal acknowledgments - a characteristic of older English - along with informal tones and the affectionate language of Nephilim, as well as Will’s quotations of various poems, the dialogues in the Infernal Devices seem enriching and sophisticated to read.

  The contrast between the Mortal Instruments Series and the Infernal Devices Trilogy is not just the plot, which is marvelously designed in both cases, but also the characters. While the former focused on the futures of the characters and prophesies associated, the latter is more about the unravelling of pasts and how each character’s history ties in with the present storyline. With Jem and Will’s secrets being revealed, their love triangle with Tessa, amongst deceit by multiple characters due to misplaced amour, and with angels and demons tied in together, the story has an incredible pace, fast yet not speedy, unveiling the true nature of Tessa at the very end.

  Creating an entire alternate fantasy - with fictional languages, concepts, traditions and rituals – could not possibly be an easy task. Heaven knows how possibly impossible it was to write a mere 500 words story back in school. Yet, Cassandra Clare has managed to invent this phenomenal concept of Shadowhunters and built upon it wonderfully. With her first series being adapted into a movie, followed by a Netflix Show, she has amassed a massive fan following akin to that of Rick Riordan and Veronica Roth. So, for lovers of warlocks, vampires and werewolves (especially if you’ve been disappointed by Twilight); magic, love and deceit, Cassandra Clare is here to enchant you.

P.S.: Be sure to read the filler series, starring Magnus Bane, an eccentric kind warlock who played a major role in both the series, and his absolutely hilarious adventures being an immortal with magic.

The Scion Of Ishvaku - By Amish Tripathi

  The first book in the Ram Chandra Series, The Scion of Ishvaku is a retelling of the Indian epic - Ramayana - by Amish Tripathi. An alumnus of St. Xavier’s, Mumbai and IIM-C, Amish began his career in finance, working his way up through a multitude of top-notch banks, for over 15 years, before he chose writing as a career. The success of his books can be alluded not only to his impeccably well researched and framed stories, but also to phrenic, adroit and ingenious marketing schemes (characterizing the pedagogy of his alma mater), which helped him publicize each book, ensuring its success. Amish Tripathi is the recipient of numerous revered awards, such as the Raymond Crossword Popular Fiction Award for this very book, the Dainik Bhaskar Readers choice award.

  The story begins with King Dasharatha, invincible till his defeat at the hands of Raavan. On the same day, Ram is born, thus casting upon his the grim shadow of misfortune. It follows with Ram and his brothers’ childhood and tutelage, surrounded by politics, him overcoming the dark shadow upon him, and his accession to the throne. Ultimately, the book concludes with Ram’s fourteen year exile and the kidnapping of Sita.

  The salient feature of Amish’s books is that his elucidation sets the epic in an ancient yet surprisingly modern world. All the magic and mystique we’ve known as kids is adduced as science and technology. Case in point is Raavan’s legendary Pushpak Vimaan that is his flying chariot, by which Sita is kidnapped. We imagine it to be a horse carriage, driven by flying horses (often ones with wings, like pegasi), as per our Grandma’s tales. However, Tripathi’s version depicts it as a helicopter, simplifying the picture with logic. Similarly, the famed Brahmastra, an egregious weapon that devastates the target land and its surroundings for seven generations, is basically a nuclear weapon. Our beloved Lord Ganesha, bestowed by Shiva with the head of an elephant, and the talking vulture Jatayu, who lost his life attempting to rescue Sita, are both Nagas, who are people born with genetic mutations and possess cancerous outgrowths, making normal humans look like a mix of animal and man.

  The book makes us realize that all of our latest inventions and discoveries, largely by foreign scientists and researchers, have been an integral part of ancient Indian history. In a sense, it is a lost science, akin to Ayurveda, lost beneath the folds of language and time, setting back the work by millennia.

  It is time for all Indians to jump onto the bandwagon that is Amish’s books, forged in a furnace of knowledge, faith and logic. They’re a reminder of what we have been and where we could be, inspiring us to develop and reach India’s true potential.

The Da Vinci Code - By Dan Brown

  Reading a Dan Brown novel for the first time is a lot for solving one of those ten thousand piece jigsaw puzzles. So you try to solve the case-in-hand and almost finish the puzzle, only to realize that some of the pieces aren’t in the right spots, even if the edges fit in. However, when you correct yourself, the entire picture clears up.

  Almost every ardent reader will have read “The Da Vinci Code”. With historical fiction and Christianity at its core, this novel launches you into an arena of puzzles and riddles versus art and history, ultimately elucidating you about the hidden facets of this world.  Starring the virtuous and brilliant Robert Langdon (created by Dan Brown as an fictional alter ego of himself, of what he wishes to be and inspired by two real people – John Langdon and Joseph Campbell), this book jumps into the brutal murder of the curator of Louvre Museum, France, Jacques Saunière.  You are introduced to his granddaughter Sophie Neveu - an astute cryptologist, Captain Bezu Fache of the French Judicial Police, Sir Leigh Teabing – A British knight living in France, Silas and Bishop Aringarosa amongst other characters, over the course of the tale.

  With such diverse roles in play, Dan Brown’s signature style of switching perspectives follows, often mid- scene. Action sequences started by one character end through another’s eyes, sudden crossovers to another player’s affairs occurring concurrently. To some, these ubiquitous changes in vista may seem distracting, but for more accustomed readers willing to fabricate the story in their minds, these jumps keep you tied to the book. They ensure that the wheels in your brain spin and that your “mind-engine” attempts to iron out the mystery alongside the primary protagonists.

  You learn of the Priory of Sion (no Mumbaikars, not the station), a secret society, founded to hide cryptic documents to be revealed on a particular date, which would bring Christianity onto its knees. Its members include renowned scientists like Sir Issac Newton (note the sir, indicating his Knighthood status). You learn of curious concepts like PHI – The Golden Ratio - existing in every aspect of nature, the Fibonacci Sequence, various religious symbols, their meanings, etymologies and histories and the stories behind famous paintings and other artwork, majorly by Da Vinci, who is the one of the most subtle but loud advocates of the ‘secret’, and has imbibed science and mathematics into his art, hiding conspiracies beyond layers. An impeccable example of this is the depiction of Jesus and his followers in ‘The Last Supper’ (unravelling the meaning behind the deviance of this depiction from that of the Bible is a scintillating experience). Chiefly, you learn of the Holy Grail, its meaning, and an alternate derivation of this term, conferring it a wholly different eminence in the framework of Christianity. All in all, you learn a lot and by the end of the book, your minds are left reeling with the plethora of information swarming in them and your faiths and beliefs vanquished.

  Ensuring that he stands uncontested, by means of thorough research, Dan Brown weaves a controversial, yet intriguing tale, mashing fact with fiction, boiling down the broth to a tantalizing climax, with all the essential spices – action, a dramatic reveal, brilliant puzzle decryption, family reunion, a tad bit of romance and of course, a kiss. He ensures that you, the readers are gripping the edges of your seats, fervently flipping pages, panting and yearning for more.

  For mystery addicts and crime-solving bibliophiles, this is a perfect choice. And for anyone wishing to try out murder mysteries and historical fiction for the first time, I assure you, this book is your route down that genre. So go on, read it already!! And those of you who’ve already read it, you know it’s worth devouring again!!!