Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
Drumila, four-armed king of the daityas, seeks to take them above ground to escape their enemy the naagas, giant flame-breathing serpents.  Meanwhile, Krishna (the highest-ranking god) sends his daughter, Nandini, to Earth in human form to weaken Drumila and keep him from crossing the barrier from Earth into the higher plains.  Unfortunately, Nandini ends up liking Drumila a bit more than they bargained for.

Review:
I was excited to have a fantasy based in a non-European mythology submitted to me, and wow is this different from the typical European-based fantasy.  In a good way.  This is a dense, different fantasy with a strong learning curve unless the reader is already very familiar with Hinduism.

The basic story reads just like mythology.  This has pros and cons.  On the plus side, it feels quite fantastical.  On the minus side, some of the plot points can be cringe-worthy (such as an unwanted kiss that could have turned into a rape if the female character hadn’t suddenly 180ed from zero interest to desire) and the characters can be a bit two-dimensional.  This will bother some readers, but those who enjoy mythology, in spite of its shortcomings, will appreciate this read.  Personally, I generally prefer if authors update and modernize their mythological rewritings a bit more, but not all readers feel that way.

The author is well-aware that Hindu mythology won’t be familiar to many Western readers, so he offers an extensive footnotes that are well hyperlinked in the ebook that explain both definitions of words and various aspects of Hindu mythology.  This means that the reader learns a lot but it does also slow down the reading of the book and breaks up the immersion in the world.  The footnotes are a good idea but perhaps if some of the words and concepts were better incorporated and explained within the writing itself then there could be fewer footnotes that offered greater explanations of more value.

The ending is a bit abrupt.  It’s clear this is intended to be the first book in a series, but an extremely abrupt ending like this one makes it difficult to feel like the reader got a full book out of the deal.  It feels more like the pilot of a tv show than the first book in a series.

I would give this book a more full review, but it has been pulled from publication since the review copy was sent to me.  I really wish when authors and/or publishers choose to do this that they would notify those of us with review copies.  While I enjoyed the read enough to not regret reading it, it feels rather silly for me to bother reviewing a book no one else can get their hands on anymore.

Overall, this is a fantasy book set firmly in the tradition of Hindu mythology that will best appeal to readers who enjoy the traditional features of mythology and don’t mind an abrupt ending.

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3 out of 5 stars

Length: 252 pages – average but on the shorter side

Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review

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