Rise of The Grey Prince – Arka Chakrabarti – Book Review

Goodreads blurb: That cursed night at Nisarga had revealed the true reason behind his father’s sacrifice and his own dark past. Each revelation now draws Agni into the sublime world of secrets. With Vrish and Guru Sidak by his side, fighting the daggers from the past and winning over the opponents of the present, somewhere deep down, he knows that his journey has just begun.

The other scarred prince walks the ashes of his reality. Haunted by the glimpses of truth the same night, Yani had but one choice to survive. His unknowing steps, trapped in cruel games of ancient powers had led him to a truth, a truth which shall mould a good man in the clay of misfortune, hate and lust. Such is the world of Gaya and thus shall be the Rise of the Grey Prince the one torn between the darkness of evil and a lone ray of hope. 

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Taking off from where The Secrets of the Dark leaves us, Rise of the Grey Prince almost immediately picks up action with Agni, Vrish and Guru Sidak making their way out of Nisarga and trying to get across the sea to the Land of the Setting Sun, Agni’s homeland. Their journey is fraught with danger and they are relentlessly being pursued by the Nimit, a mysterious group which is tasked to ensure that Agni doesn’t succeed in his quest.

In parallel, Agni’s old friend, Prince Yani of Nisarga also begins to take charge of his own life after having lived under his father King Adhiratha’s shadow all his life so far. In fact some of the decisions and consequent steps he takes are nothing short of revolutionary and game changing in every sense of the term. This character comes into his own in this book and makes for a wonderful addition to the already stellar cast in the series so far. In fact, the ‘double gambit’ sequence (which I will not reveal any more of as it would end up being a spoiler) is wonderful testimony to the fact that Yani well and truly makes a mark for himself as far as the proceedings are concerned.

The only gripe I have with this book is that the proceedings in the Land of the Setting Sun are short-changed to a very large extent and the stories of Princess Lysandra and the Kingdom of Leu are barely even mentioned. Yes, while I understand that the action picked up a lot of steam and pace in the Land of the Rising Sun with Agni’s journey and Yani getting well and truly embroiled in the thick of the action, but the author could have probably kept the action moving on the other side as well, even at the cost of making the book a little bigger than it is. In fact, at the end of the book, one is left wondering what exactly is happening in the Land of the Setting Sun while all of this action is happening in the East.

The story itself is quite well structured and it is obvious that Arka Chakrabarti has done his homework quite well in terms of how he wanted to present this wonderful yarn of Gaya, its origins, and its current state of affairs. Wonderful usage of sleights of hand, palace intrigues, political skullduggery and good old fashioned chivalry and bravery ensure that the somewhat complicated plot doesn’t quite feel heavy for regular readers. For sure I will pick up the third and subsequent books in this series as this is something that cannot be left halfway through, the Saga of Agni has to continue and be read in its entirety.

Click here to purchase the book from Flipkart [Link] or Amazon [Link].

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Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided to me as part of the Book Review Tour for the series of books conducted by b00k r3vi3ws, a book blogger whose work I immensely enjoy.

The Secrets Of The Dark – Arka Chakrabarti – Book Review

Goodreads blurb: Is one born with his destiny or does he forge it?

In the mystical land of Gaya, two prophecies bind the fate of men and empires alike. The Destroyer born from the royal seed on the Land of the Setting Sun shall bring the empires down, or so has been foretold.

In between the Destroyer and the world stand the Seven Guardians of Gaya, guarding the realm of man. A king, a father, defies the Seven and fate itself to save the last drop of his blood and prince Agni grows in the Land of the Rising Sun, exiled from his own people, unaware of his past.

Losing the woman he loved most to the shadows in the dark, Agni is thrown into a whirlpool of events that he neither knows, nor understands. His quest for vengeance brings him to the doorstep of a secret that will shatter the very foundation of beliefs of a world.

Can Agni avert his destiny? Can he uncover the truth about the Seven and the prophecies, now hidden behind a veil of ignorance?

The secrets of the dark are sometimes so terrible that they are better left unsaid.

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In this first book of what promises to be a good series, The Saga of Agni, the author Arka Chakrabarti takes all the ingredients of a fantasy fiction novel, a prophecy (actually more than one, three in fact), a chosen one, warring kingdoms, brave princes and princesses, troubled kings, conniving politicians, a mythical land, magical creatures wielding awesome powers; puts them all together and brews a nice concoction called The Secrets of the Dark.

Agni, the main protagonist is quite happy with his life as the ward of Prince Yani of Himadri in the Land of the Rising Sun. He is content being the friend of Vrish and the sweetheart of Malini when his life is turned upside down by the explosion that kills Vrish and Malini’s father and more so when it is discovered that the explosion was not accidental but was intentional. This sets in motion a chain of events where Agni and Vrish set off on a journey to avenge the death of the people they loved the most.

What Agni and Vrish don’t know is that this journey serves a bigger purpose; that of fulfilling Agni’s eventual destiny which even he himself is not made aware of yet.

On the other side of Gaya, in the Land of the Setting Sun, the Kingdom of Leu is attacked by marauders and the army of the guardians who had earlier sent an ultimatum to King Crixus asking him to abdicate the throne in their favor. Princess Lysandra leads an army towards the port city of Alexandria which has been overrun by the invaders. What happens of her exploits on the battlefield forms another portion of the narrative.

What I particularly liked about the book was the scale on which the events were dealt with; large. The author clearly doesn’t believe in half measures and has gone all out to create a world with multiple kingdoms, the relations between all of them, major and minor cities and maps even. He tackles multiple threads of the narrative with ease while ensuring that all of them keep moving at a brisk pace without slacking up even a little bit. Even the small portions involving the Guardians of Gaya are dealt with using a good amount of caution and mystery so that the over-arching plot of the series is not revealed in great detail, while revealing just enough to keep the readers interested in the overall series. For a first book, this is truly a lovely attempt and for sure, will keep readers interested in how the rest of the Saga of Agni eventually pans out.

Click here to purchase the book from Flipkart [Link] or Amazon [Link].

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Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided to me as part of the Book Review Tour for the series of books conducted by b00k r3vi3ws, a book blogger whose work I immensely enjoy.