Book Review: The GODS of Time

Book: The Gods of Time

Author: Aarthy Sundaram

Genre: Puranic Fiction

Novel in a nutshell: 

Three levels of Existence. Twin brothers. One destiny.
The story revolves around the descendants of prominent Indian mythological figures, who continue the legacy of their ancestors, mastering various art forms of warfare in the lands where both devaputras and asuras coexist. A phenomenal shock in one of the Sangams, disrupts the peace of the entire kingdom as Brahmastra one of the nine celestial weapons is invoked. Who is Aryaman? How does he have such powers?

Aditya, one of the main characters in the story, is found in an injured state in Devaloka and is rescued by Anjana, the agniputri. Later he befriends Anjana’s soul brother Deepak and their circle of friends who help him understand the working of the three lokas and it inhabitants.

Among the freshly induced creativity in mythology, three of them were my personal favourites. #1 Ksheer, the sweet dish which makes everyone’s mouth water even while reading it in the novel. Suryodh, one of Anjana’s friends easily gulps in 10 bowls of Ksheer and even craves for more.  #2 Nilayas, the triangular shaped shelter for the residents of the three lokas. These are analogous to the portable camping tents. #3 Karaks , the army of shape changing creatures created by the asura, Vivakh.

Coming back to the plot, Aditya the curious learner, quickly masters the art of archery with his bow Vijaya (that had belonged to Karna from the epic of Mahabharat) and recieves training in one of the elite gurukuls- the Kasyapa Gurukul. Why is Aditya a subject of discussion among the Gods? What makes him so special? Is he the only Suryaputra left after all?

Only one person knows why Aditya’s life is endangered. Will he be able to protect him OR save himself from the clutches of vile Mahodara?

Why you should read the book:

• A well spun mythological tale for fiction lovers
• Clear narration and appropriate description
• Elements of imagination go perfectly in sync with the human elements mentioned
• Even if you don’t have any prior knowledge of mythology, the story is very much understandable
• After self-publishing a book at the age of twelve, this debut novel is giant leap for this young author
• You can expect a SEQUEL!!!

What could have been better:

• The sense of time
• A map showing all the places mentioned in the novel
• The description was good overall, but some more details would have done a better job

USP of the Book: The ending!!!

Specialty of the book cover:

The book cover as you see, is an apt description to the story contained within it. It is handcrafted by a women Self-Help Group who use golden print and cotton thread embroidery (similar to those on cotton sarees) on the book cover, giving it a traditional midas touch.

The intricate work done manually

 

You can read an excerpt of the book from here

You can get the books from: Amazon

Find out some more details about Aarthy’s book at the Writer’s Workshop and find this also on Goodreads from here.

P.S.  Aarthy Sundaram is an #Engineer #Potterhead and is currently doing the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University.