Author : Sandeep Sharma
Blurb : Two kingdoms, Chaturanga and Sarprakt, separated by a mystic mountain range are at war with each other since ages. Chaturanga, ruled by King Viratha, is soon bestowed with a dynamic heir, and the whole kingdom is drowned in rituals and festivity. On the other side, Sarprakt is executing a cruel conspiracy. King Viratha, crippled by the conspiracy, urges the mysterious man of the mountain to devise a method to recreate the conspiracy and that gave birth to 'The Game of Chess'. Serial killings shock the nation as the police are rendered clueless. The killer leaves behind a trail of chess pieces with a strange message. Random people are murdered. Connoisseurs of different fields - History, Chess and the Security forces - have united as the next intended victim is the most powerful person of the country. How is Chess involved in the whole scenario? How will they find a man who died 4000 years ago? Can a person defy the laws of nature? Does history really repeat itself? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Reader’s view :
‘Let the Game Begin’; the game the murderer plays or the game of the Chess? What actually author has in mind while picking this intriguing title and the interesting subject to write on. The subject is something which definitely catches many eyes. But, that’s the power of the external elements; let’s have a look how the inner factors worked in my case.
The combination of lined-up events happening in 2016 and the stretched-out history episodes brings a nice flavor to the story. What act as the backbone to this piece of literature is the design of the plot. Nowadays, history participating in the workings of today’s life is every next reader’s choice. At moment it feels like, everything is infront of the reader, and there’s no mystery attached to the story, as events of past runs ahead of present, and that’s why in the beginning the amount of suspense and interest author wants to stir doesn’t come up to the point. As it is already mentioned who the killer is and the motive behind the killing, the series of murders doesn’t bring fire in reader’s head to catch the culprit. But then, a question keeps on lingering in the reader’s mind- the identity of the murderer in this life and the Vyaapi’s presence brings altogether a new life to the story. The very question maintains the decorum to hold reader’s attention and the zeal to reach to the end and to walk with author’s mind.
Positives :
Writing Style : Simple and well-crafted. The reader could easily go through it without a dictionary by his/her side.
Theme : An intriguing theme. It’s something which would force reader to have a look what’s inside in the book.
External elements : Both the title and the cover design would force the reader to pick the book and atleast go through the blurb. Well-selected!
Downfall- Being one such story where so many characters are involved, keeping a count of all of them while tracing the journey is a task not easy to put impression on the reader’s mind. Talk about past or present; the number of character could act as a hitch in the journey as there are only a few I could relate to. I think character construction needs a lot of attention to bring life to the story.
Upshot : A good book to start with for novice who wants to switch from romantic love-tales to some more interesting and productive.
Rating : 4/5
Reviewer : Shweta Kesari
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