Ajitabh Pandey's Soul & Syntax

Exploring systems, souls, and stories – one post at a time

Tag: fiction

  • Book Review: The Gotland Deception by James Rosone and Miranda Watson

    James Rosone and Miranda Watson’s The Gotland Deception arrives with the promise of a gripping military technothriller, setting the stage for a new global conflict in the 2030s. The book’s premise seems very compelling.

    I found that roughly 85% of the book is devoted to comprehensive world-building. This includes deep dives into family life, military exercises, spy infiltration plots, and incredibly detailed descriptions of autonomous systems and advanced equipment. While some foundational work is crucial in launching a new series, this extensive setup significantly slows the narrative pace.

    It’s clear the authors are meticulously establishing the stakes and the technology of this near-future world. They detail the “frontlines to a proxy war” across locations like Angola, Svalbard, and Taiwan, painting a plausible, if chilling, picture of how a new World War III could quietly begin.

    The good news? The meticulous setup pays off—eventually.

    The real, explosive action only kicks in during the final chapters. When it does, the pace accelerates dramatically, delivering the kind of fast-paced, engaging military action fans of Rosone’s The Monroe Doctrine series expect. That late surge of adrenaline and thrilling potential is what truly saves the book.

    I’m rating The Gotland Deception three stars, largely on the strength of that ending. It’s an undeniable hint that the sequels, built on the solid, albeit dense, foundation of this first installment, could very well deliver a continuous, gripping thriller experience. It’s a slow burn that promises much for the series to come. Readers with patience will be rewarded by a thrilling finale and an exciting glimpse into a potential future military conflict.

  • Book Review: Antarctica Storm by F.X. Holden

    F.X. Holden’s Antarctica Storm is a thrilling, high-stakes entry into the Aggressor series that plunges the reader immediately into a covert new arms race. This book is set in a world recovering from a devastating Pacific War and poses a serious question to the reader of the entire series: are America’s adversaries truly beaten, or are they secretly preparing to rise again?

    The plot centres around the elite Aggressor Inc. team of private security contractors who are drawn into a deadly race to protect a groundbreaking weapon based on antimatter technology. This power source is supposedly so potent that a mere 0.1 ounces could flatten Manhattan. The US research program developing it has been hidden beneath the ice at Antarctica’s remote Concordia Station.

    The team includes Captain Karen ‘Bunny’ O’Hare and Captain Rory O’Donoghue, both from the previous series. This team oversees a critical test of this new technology, the geopolitical tension explodes. The situation is complicated by the presence of an unidentified spy deep inside the program. To increase the pulse, the Russian operatives launch a covert sabotage operation which threatened not only the mission but global stability.

    Holden masterfully uses the icy, isolated setting of Antarctica to heighten the sense of claustrophobia and danger. The story weaves together the scientific brilliance of a physicist with the sharp instincts of the Aggressor Inc. team. Together they detect the first mysterious radiation spike that signals a very cold war is about to turn hot. The introduction of Chinese and Russian research teams in the desolate landscape cleverly plants the seeds of international conspiracy and conflict.

    This book is a page-burning thriller that captures the paranoia and high-tech stakes of the next arms race.

  • पुस्तक समीक्षा: उफ़्फ़ कोलकाता – सत्य व्यास द्वारा

    यह कहानी कोलकाता के बाहरी इलाके के एक विश्वविद्यालय हॉस्टल में रहने वाले युवाओं के इर्द-गिर्द घूमती है, जिनकी ज़िंदगी अचानक डरावनी और रहस्यमयी घटनाओं से भर जाती है।

    कहानी की शुरुआत एक हॉस्टल और एक अभिशप्त आत्मा से होती है, जो मुख्य किरदारों की गलती के कारण वहां आ जाती है। यह आत्मा बच्चों को परेशान तो करती है, पर मारती नहीं। डर और बचने के इंतज़ामों से उपजा यही हास्य इस उपन्यास का मूल है।

    सत्य व्यास ने डरावनी घटनाओं को हास्य के तड़के के साथ इस तरह पेश किया है कि पाठक एक साथ डरता भी है और हँसता भी है। यह एक जोखिम भरा मेल था, जिसे लेखक ने बखूबी निभाया है।

    कहानी में भूत-प्रेत और रहस्यमयी घटनाएँ हैं, लेकिन पात्रों की नोकझोंक, उनका बनारसी अंदाज़ (जो सत्य व्यास की कहानियों की पहचान है) और व्यंग्यात्मक संवाद आपको पूरे समय बाँधे रखते हैं। यह आपको हॉरर के तनाव से बचाता है और मनोरंजन को प्राथमिकता देता है। उपन्यास की भाषा सहज, संवाद चुटीले और कहानी तेज़ रफ़्तार है। यह गति सुनिश्चित करती है कि पाठक कहीं भी बोर न हो। कहानी ख़त्म होते-होते एक ऐसा हतप्रभ कर देने वाला मोड़ लेती है, जिसके लिए सत्य व्यास जाने जाते हैं। यह क्लाइमेक्स पूरे सफर को यादगार बना देता है।

    अगर आप एक हल्की-फुल्की, तेज़-तर्रार और अनोखे विषय पर आधारित हिंदी किताब ढूँढ रहे हैं, तो ‘उफ़्फ़ कोलकाता’ निश्चित रूप से आपकी पठन सूची में होनी चाहिए।

  • Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish Tripathi

    Scion of Ikshvaku Book coverAnother historical book by Amish Tripathi. This time he has chosen the story of Ramayan (around 3400 BCE). Its re-telling of the standard Ram-Sita life-story as mentioned in various versions of Ramayan’s by various authors over a period of time. Mostly it seems it has been taken from Valmiki Ramayan as I could not find a trace of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas in it.

    The way characters are presented in this book, seems more practical to me and there is no God / Goddess like behaviour being exhibited by Ram and Sita. Their character is purely human, albeit with more mature and practical thoughts. Once again Amish has used the concept of “Nagas” (people born with deformities) to explain Hanuman, Kumbhakaran and Jatayu, which sounds more practical, rather than animals able to talk like humans. This characters of this book must not be treated like religious characters rather it will be best to imagine they just have the same names as of the Ramayan characters and then people will be able to accept this book as interesting thriller.

    Even though we all know the story, yet every page turn was worth it and the presentation wanted me to finish and see what’s in store next.

    Strong Dislikes –

    Having a rape case sounding similar to the Delhi Rape case and then pages and pages of lectures by Ram on the Law and how an underage can not be punished because there is no provision for death penalty in law for underage criminals is something which seriously could have been avoided. Were you trying to throw your ideas about the whole “Nirbhaya” issue Amish, if so, I disagree with your thoughts.

    Verdict –

    Overall, I will be waiting for the next book in the series.

    About the Author

    Amish Tripathi is an IIM graduate banker turned full time author. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy. “Siva Trilogy” was his first series which got immensely popular.

  • Chandrakanta by Devakinandan Khatri

    Chandrakanta Book CoverChandrakanta is a hindi novel written in 1888. This is fantasy fiction something similar to the “Harry Potter” series, which the younger generation of today is so fan of. It is important to note that during the time when this book was written, Urdu was the language in use in the country and Farsi being the official language of Mughal courts. Therefore, this work is considered to be the first work of prose in the modern Hindi language. There were people from different generations who learn hindi script (devanagari) in order to just read this series of books. This story has a big hand in making Hindi popular among masses.

    Chandrakanta is a simple love story between a prince Virendra Singh of Naugarh and princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh. The lust of Krur Singh, who was a member in the court of Vijaygarh is the main reason of twists and turns in this story and brings in the concept of Aiyyar and Tilasm. An aiyyar is usually employed by royal houses. They are expert spies and are well versed in the act of disguise, medicines and fighting. As usual with many love stories, this story too ends with both the lovers meeting together and getting married.

    Overall the story line is quite captive inspite of being a very simple plot. There is no break in the story and the interest of the reader remains till the end, where a lot of secrets are disclosed.

    The book is in Devanagari script (Hindi script), but uses a lot of Urdu words, as Urdu was very popular language at those times.

    Followed by Chandrakanta, the author also wrote a series – “Chandrakanta Santati”, meaning “The Sons of Chandrakanta”. I am looking forward to reading that series too.

    About the Author

    Babu Devakinandan Khatri was born in 1861 in Samastipur in Bihar (India). He was an employee of the “Raja of Banaras” and also established a printing press called “Lahari Press”, which interestingly is still in existence near the city of Varanasi. The author has written several Hindi fiction / fantasy novels and has quite a big hand in making Hindi a popular language. Interestingly he never wrote any of his works at one go. He used to write individual chapters, called “Bayans” – an urdu word meaning “Statement” and publish them. People used to wait for those individual chapters in order to know what happened next in the story. Devakinandan Khatri passed away in 1913.