Tarikshir: The Awakening - Book Review

Tarikshir: The Awakening is the first novel by author Khayaal Patel.This is being reviewed as a part of the book review program by Writer's Melon.All opinions are mine.

Let us move on to the review....

• Title - Tarikshir: The Awakening
• Author - Khayaal Patel
• Pages -335
• Publishers - Westland Publications Ltd
• ISBN - 9789387578500
• Format - Print [Also available as Ebook]
• Genre - Fiction
• Price - INR 399/-

A small princely state in Rajasthan is the last bastion of resistance against the might of the British Empire. While unrest surrounding the sudden death of the king of Devangarh grows, young prince Rudra Pratap Chauhan prepares to ascend the throne.

But the kingdom is in turmoil. The Devangarh army is outnumbered and the British forces are closing in. To make matters worse, Rudra discovers the king’s death may not have been accidental after all. The strange appearance and disappearance of a mysterious hooded stranger and a series of ritualistic murders in which the bodies have been drained of blood, spread panic across the realm.

As Rudra struggles to manage his new responsibilities and investigate his father’s death, he may uncover some secrets that will disrupt life as he knows it.

The list of characters is long but here are some of the important people who keep the story running...

• Valikesh whom we  encounter in the prologue which forms the important part of the story.
• Raja Ravindra -The King of Devangarh
• Bikram Bir Singh- Raja Ravindra's hefty bodygaurd
• The Rani
• Prince Rudra
• Nawab Mir Abdul Ghazi -The vizier in the Raja's court
• Shamsheer - Raja Ravindra's self exiled brother and the leader of a militant group who lives with his gang in the Red Tiger fortress.
• Duryadutta - The Royal Physician and legendary warrior.
• Lord Richard Walken - The diplomat in Her Royal Majesty's service
• Shen Zhou- Rudra's Chinese Martial arts teacher
• Nafisa
• Loads of zombies, an evil witch ,traitors and loyals,Wind Asuras.
• Last but not the least - Tarikshir  and Tamingila.

The prologue looks like the story has something to do with Mythology! The war between Ram and Ravan has just ended and the monkey warriors are busy enjoying the spoils of the war and Valikesh, one of the money warrior is murdered by an unknown creature while he is looking for riches to take back home.

Then starts the actual story in the court of the Raja Ravindra of Devangarh.The British are taking over each kingdom by force or by making an alliance and Lord Walkin come with his troupe to seek audience with the Raja. When the negotiations fail, he returns back and the Rajput King gets ready to face him in a war.

Things go terribly wrong and there is an ambush! Read the rest of the review on my other blog ...Click here...