The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

This is the second book in the trilogy and meets the expectations set up by the first book. The characters are developed further making us empathise with their thinking. The war against the Chandravanshis was won and triumphant Suryavanshis with Shiva entered the city of Ayodhya at the end of the first book. The city is so very different from the Meluha cities. There is colour everywhere and people are all loud and noisy. There is no subdued behaviour like those of the Meluhans. There is poverty and wealth spread among the people.

However, while they are different from the people of Meluha they are not evil as Shiva had been led to believe. He finds this very disturbing and feels regret at the killings caused by the war. There is more intrigue as there is internal squabble for the throne of Ayodhya. Shiva is sent on a tour of the Chandravanshi kingdom to gather people together, which would make reforms easier. There are a couple of attacks by Nagas. Shiva sees firsthand what the raiding party has done and vows to find and punish these people.

Meanwhile, a son is born to Shiva and Sati in Kashi. Sait’s father brings for the grandson a year’s worth of somras and reveals that there is another secret factory for manufacturing somras. Shiva is told that the small kingdom of Brangas may hold the secret to finding the Nagas. So will Shiva find them? This common need to find the Nagas has the soldiers from both sides working together. Sati is left behind as their son is very young still. She has her own set of adventures in trying to find out what the King of Kashi is hiding. When a nearby village is attacked by lions, Sati offers to save the village but will she succeed? What are the Nagas doing in this village?

Will Shiva and Sati find the Naga city and uncover the big secret there? It is a fantasy tale and one should not look to equate it with the religious myths. The tale of old days, when the civilisations were flourishing in different parts of India with different cultures and beliefs, hold the reader’s attention throughout. It shows clearly our fear of the unknown and believing different is evil. Something which is even true today! The things we do not understand we equate them with magic and of course it must be bad! The thought provoking that started in the first book Immortals of Meluha is continued in this book. Now to wait for the last of the trilogy in a couple of months.

Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

The other day my nephew Rohan told me to check out this book which is the first of a trilogy. It is a work of fiction where the author proposes that there could have been a great human being who lived an extraordinary life and was passed into the realms of legends and myths and down into history as a God.

The story in this first book begins with a small tribe in the Himalayas on Mount Kailash and the leader of this tribe Shiva. There is a lot of unrest and constant battling with neighbouring tribes and when a foreign delegation came bearing invitation to live in their kingdom it seems a good opportunity to escape. The new life in the kingdom of Meluha, the home of Suryavanshis, should surely be much better. The descriptions of the places and the culture of the people are well written. The people live long lives and are honest and productive. All very constrained and behaviour restrained as per the years old traditions and principle of life handed down from Lord Ram who was a principled king and set up this ideal society. They were waiting for a saviour who was supposed to come from a foreign land who would help them to overcome the evil people, the Chandravanshis, of the neighbouring kingdom.

Is Shiva the man they are looking for? If he accepts this challenge, is he going to be able to fulfil the prophecy? What can he do about his attraction to the princess? He can see how the culture and society it helps create is near perfect. However, the flaws he can see are things he feels should change to improve the lives of the people. The king and his ministers persuade Shiva to accept his destiny and help to destroy the evil that is the neighbouring kingdom. During this time there are a few terrorist attacks made in Meluha which are attributed to the enemies who it appears have been allying themselves with yet another clan of evil beings, the Nagas.

There is also a love story woven in here as eventually Shiva manages to win the princess and marry her. The final straw that decides Shiva to follow his destiny is the battle with a small group of terrorists who destroy a temple and kill all the priests there. Then we get a look at the modest Shiva’s intellect as he plans the battle strategy in detail. So will this planning help in winning the battle with the Chandravanshis? What will the people and their culture be like as they are thought to be evil? How will Shiva handle this huge challenge and will he be able to fulfil the prophecy?

It is a good piece of fiction and written in a fairly fluid manner. There are hooks in the story that keep you gripped. It is fascinating to see the use of today’s language in a story set in many thousands of years ago. Is it too fantastic? If so why? Just because we think that those times were backward? It also compels you to think about the fundamental issues of good, evil, freedom, interdependence in society, honest, trust and so on. I am eager to read the continuation in the next part of the trilogy.

The Babylonian Codex by C S Graham

This is the second book in the series with Tobie and Jax as the central characters. Tobie has the ability to carry out remote viewing and is helping the Arts Crime team in searching for the antiquities stolen from Iraq. Jax is the CIA agent who she turns to for help when her life is in danger.

The story opens with the death of the American Vice President while on the World Economic Forum. There is a young journalist who has been trying to get to VP with warnings of danger which are ignored but he is seen in a photograph taken at the time of death. But was this a heart attack or part of an intricate plot leading to something much bigger. The FBI is interested in finding this man and make out that he was a threat and maybe even involved in the death somehow. Nordstrom, a personal assistant to an international financer appears to be directing this action. They also discuss the threat the remote viewer poses during the search for stolen Iraq treasures.

In the remote viewing Tobie describes some old parchments with Biblical illustrations which were not actually part of the targets provided for the viewing. She also sees a building on top of a hill and 2 men in conversation. The FBI agent who has been sent to watch what happens is taken aback by this and starts to kill off all the people there. Tobie manages to escape and run out of the building. A lengthy chase ensues and eventually gets her on to the main road and a lift. She ends up at Jax’s house and asks for help. What has the stolen antiquities got to do with what Tobie saw? Are the documents a part of stolen treasures which were kept secret? Is so how were the 2 men she saw connected to these treasures? And what is the meaning of ‘the event that will remake the world’? 

The story takes them across to Europe and looking for the journalist before the FBI manages to kill him off. How does the richest TV preacher fit into this story or shall I say another major conspiracy theory were the ultimate is to establish a new order of the world based on strict religious principles from an ancient Christian manuscript? Jax and Tobie are also now targets and trying to stay ahead and alive. They need to find that parchment and what understand what it says in order to figure out what the plan is. Like the first novel the plot is complex and all the threads are woven beautifully. This story also is fast paced and keeps you griped with suspense. Scary to think that something like this could possibly be true!

The Archangel Project by C S Graham

C.S. GRAHAM is the pseudonym of writing team Steven Harris and Candice Proctor. Steven Harris has worked in Intelligence and was involved with the remote viewing project. Candice Proctor has written mysteries under the name of C S Harris. (I have yet to read these Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series).

This novel’s central figure is a young lady who has the gift of remote viewing. I think that the plot is a wonderful and plausible conspiracy theory. A researcher working on remote viewing is using the young lady as a subject for his study. In order to gain funding to continue his research, he sends out a number of application letters with example of the subject’s ability. One such application sends an organisation into a panic. The drawing is that of an old World War II plane and the organisation is one of the largest companies with its fingers in vast number of industries, from construction to defence to oil. The CEO directs her underling to find out how many people were aware of this drawing and where it was supposed to be. Why is this drawing so important that within 48 hours the people who know about it might learn the secret? The drawing of the remote viewing makes them go after the researcher to find out who is the remote viewer. The lady in question, Tobie, is ex-military and undertaking a degree while earning a small amount being the research subject. She is also undergoing therapy for PTSD. She has been injured in Iraq as a consequence of her abilities and had been discharged from the military due to medical problems. The research is killed and his lab set on fire. The remote viewer is now running for her life as the men get to her house and attack her.

A small department of the CIA gets alerted and send an agent to investigate the death of the researcher, for at one time he had been doing this remote viewing research for the military. This agent eventually catches up with Tobie but he finds it hard to believe in remote viewing. To get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who is involved they need to work out what drawing of Tobie’s sparked this man hunt. The men who came after Tobie identified themselves as FBI but surely they would not be the killers. Anyone who is her friend is being observed. She is being tracked via her mobile phone and her car sightings on CCTV. Once they identify which organisation is out to kill her, they have to work out what is the mystery behind that WWII plane. Who all are involved? Is this conspiracy going right to the top? Will Tobie with help of Jax from CIA be able to remain alive and ahead of the assassins? Will they be able to thwart the plot that would have extensive political and economic implications?

A very well woven plot and the authors take time to explain the background of all the characters as they bring them together. It is frightening to think that something like this could exist or could it not? Am sure some of the theories of the conspiracy are much more farfetched than this! The pace is kept up and so it is hard to put the book down once started.

Footsteps in the Sand

 

The sand on the beach is clean

Not a footstep to break the pristine

The sun is rising slowly in the sky

Making the blue lighter in the sky

I walk slowly on the sand

Leaving footsteps in the sand

Gentle cool breeze on my face

Moisture and salty spray often on my face

The footsteps lead up the beach

Slowly there are more footsteps on the beach

Some pass by my footsteps

Others move with my footsteps

Every now and then footsteps part

As friends and companions depart

The swirling water from the waves

Fills in the footsteps with passing waves

My story told by my footsteps in the sand

Meeting and parting footsteps in the sand

As I move further down the beach of life

It shows the friends and family walking through my life

Memories are slowly fading in the sand

Just like the footsteps in the sand

The sun setting slowly

Sliding into the water gracefully

Soon my lone footsteps in the sand will fade

Washed away by the waves aid

The beach will be again clean

The sands of time pristine

For the next set of footprints

Another life being charted in the footprints

The cycle of life continues