I cannot think of an appropriate opening for this entry. I want to express a lot.
Why hadn’t I read an Ashwin Sanghi book before? Of course, I have read two non-fiction books written by the author but his fictions… was it because the copies I have are low-quality? I ordered them from Amazon but they never felt like the original products. So, I procrastinated.
I also thought whether I would like the author or not. I like the kind of stories that talk of conspiracy theories, the reality behind mythology and connection of the mythical tales with actual present day science.
So, finally I got the latest book – keepers of the kalachakra by Ashwin Sanghi, thanks to Westland publications for the wonderful set of books they sent me some time back.
Without giving much thought on what’s written on the back cover, I started reading.
The book is a unique combination of science fiction, historical fiction and mythological fiction, all put together to form a racy thriller.
If you’re looking for an Indian science fiction, this book is definitely the one.
The book draws several references from Indian mythology and also, talks of several events in the history of several religions and countries. There are too many references to remember. But that doesn’t make it confusing. That makes it fun.
The science part sometimes goes out of control, but I took it as cues to slow down, re-read and try to buy the whole theory.
There are murders happening. Some very powerful and well protected individuals are dying and nobody knows how. And when you do find out how, you’re totally amused.
It’s such an entangled mess of science, mythology, history, religion and politics. There are secret societies, dangerous weapons, unthinkable research programs, international investigation agencies, terrorists, people even more dangerous than terrorists, politicians, spies, scientists, and religious beings – so many characters that it sometimes gets hard to remember all of them. But flip a few more pages, and things get clearer as you go on.
The confusing scientific theories get clearer. The plot becomes more sorted. The end becomes evident. However, I do feel disappointed over the ‘right’ ending of the book. Don’t get me wrong. The book ends perfectly. There couldn’t have been more right ending. But the devil in me would have loved to see the author try the more challenging way – to give an ending that wasn’t diplomatic and to convince the reader about such an ending. Alas! It didn’t happen. I will keep looking for authors who would take such risks.
Meanwhile, I am totally happy to read this about 400 page book, flip the pages in a hurry, because I wanted to know what happens next. Keepers of the kalachakra is a really good science fiction written by an Indian author – mixes several different elements – mythology, history, terrorism, politics, religion, & science and makes it an entertaining read.
My ratings 4/5 stars
