INKREDIA Luwan of Brida by Sarang Mahajan | Book Reviews

Recently we are approached by Sarang Mahajan, informing about his book INKREDIA: Luwan of Brida.
The cover page of the book is impressive and his offer of book against unbiased reviews perfect suit the way we review the books. So, we gladly accepted the offer.

Fortunately, from our team, I got a chance to read the book, and I am really delighted for the same.

In India, the trend of writing mythology is not new. However, we can say, with the rise of Amish Tripathi as an author who retold mythology in his unique way through his book Immortals Of Meluha, a new segment is open in the book market. The commercial success of the book and critical acclaim it received was phenomenal. It is still one of the best selling books, and even international versions of the book are getting released periodically. Of course, it is available in regional languages in India. The book then followed two other books in the Shiva Trilogy series, and there are also 2 books by the same author in Ram Chandra series are published; and he is nothing then a literary superstar in India.

Of course, the authors like Ashwin Sanghi, Christopher Doyle, Dr. Vineet Aggrawal, Anand Neelakantan and many others set their own mark in this zoner. There are a few though, who came with a pure fiction having the touch of mythology. But, for sure, there has been market (or at least its own segment) opened for such books.

Luwan Of Brida is a fictional tale which is setup in INKREDIA, a fictional place. And, it is a kind of mythology fiction in terms of many aspects.

When I dig to get more information about this book, I found that the first edition of the book was printed in the year 2012. It was then printed as “Luwan of Brida”. Now the author and his team has re-formatted the book as a better packed and added “INKREDIA” in the title. Below given is the cover page of the book.

As you can see, the cover page is attractive. Whatever we say philosophically, but, at the end of the day, a cover pages is responsible for making the first impression of the book. And thus, it leaves an influence on the purchase decisions of the the “possible reader”. The cover page of this book succeed in making a positive impression of the book. Whenever the cheerful colors are used for book cover design, they doesn’t fail in making an impressive cover, of course if the good content is there.

Book Plot:

It starts with two people, a master and one of his confidante are living the life of a hell in a prison made with intelligent walls! Yes, you read it right. A kind of Artificial Intelligence is there in the wall, or shall we say some mythical stuff lives within the walls to make it intelligent. But, anyway, whatever it is, it makes the life difficult for the prisoners. When someone tries to escape it, of course, with the mythical powers, the wall rebounds with its forces, and then each unsuccessful attempt to break it, lead the prisoner(s) to live(!) through even tougher times.

In the fantasy land of Inkredia, there is a small town around a hill, named Brida. The king of the land is living somewhere in his capital, far away from Brida. And, thus Brida’s administration falls under one of his count (kind of). When the land is far from the capital, it is obvious that the immediate rulers of the land have their own say, and way, in ruling people. When such authorities have lust for power and wealthy; the life for the citizen gets tougher.

The situation of people living in Brida and other near by towns and villages was nothing different than “living for the sake of it”.

The rulers keep adding taxes on the people, and if someone dare oppose them, then he/she is silenced (by setting his/her appointment with the death!).

A young boy named Luwan is living in Brida with his sister Meg. He is short tempered, or better we say, he don’t approve the torture of the rulers. And, when you oppose the authorities, you invite trouble. So, rather than living in the town, Luwan shifted his base to the small hut at the hilltop.

In a rainy situation, he met with something very special, a kind of supernatural gift, a book, left for him by his late father. Before he can make much of it, he was intruded by his sister Meg, and was made aware with the situation in the village. As you can guess, the authorities are looking for rebel Luwan and the job is given to two cunning and strong people. Najro, Luwan and Meg makes a plan to leave the place at the earliest.

The things however move much faster then they’ve expected. And, the presence of the team who is sent to capture him is felt to them. So, Luwan had to make the perfect plan in a hustle, and had to keep his sister safe too. So, they need to run away from there by over-witting the opponents who are in visible distance!

Will they be able to run away from there? Well, you can guess the answer, but how? And, what they experience in their journey from this point forward is explored in a thrilling way through the rest of the story where we came to meet Lady Emara, Hederth, Mirina, Kiliarnn (one of the most important characters, especially in the second half of the book), two fantastic horses including Blaze, fictional creatures named as Ghork and its riders, Gruwak, Grishwan, General Rominnan and others.

Sudhir Kumar deserves the words of appreciation for the attractive cover page. Vinitha Ramchandani’s editing is quite good. Layout and Typesetting by Nikhil Raut is moderately good. However, for any book, the story is the main aspect, and it has to be gripping. For this book, we can say that the author succeeds in making the fictional world and its exploration quite interesting. The content of the book will remind you of many internationally popular books, especially the way the thing are setup. The book, in that way, seems written for the international readers, more than the local readers.

The character names are quite interesting yet they require time in getting registered in the reader’s conscious. The book represents a thrilling tale which moves ahead in a way that we see regular twists and turns till the end. And yes, at the end of the book also, we witness an interesting truth revealed about one of the prime characters.

The author has put remarkable efforts in making the characters strong. And, he goes ahead without any gender bias. Be it Meg or the lady living in the tree, the female characters are there, just not for the sake of it, but they play a strong role in the tale.

One more thing about the book I would like to appreciate about this book is the way the author has avoided cuss words and adultery. We see that many author, including those who had given bestsellers, are tempted to write steamy scenes. Sarang, did a nice job by avoiding it.

The author seems to be a nature lover. Be it in the scenes where he explores the surrounding of a scene, or a part of a journey, or describing a place, he is in full form. He writes such setups in quite convincing and detailed manner. It is possible only if you love nature. And by nature we simply doesn’t the jungles and trees, it includes, rivers, mountains, rains, valleys, falls and many other natural beauties.

The book will make you witness various bridges which has their own importance.

The intelligent horses in this book are not less than the prime characters and it shows, the author’s love for the animals also. We are introduced to some fictional species also.

The author seems to be impressed with Indian mythology and though it is not visible directly in any of the scenes in the book, it is quite evident when we see a connection between the bow and Luwan.

The book contains some good punchlines which adds to the literary attributes of the book. Here are some of them:

No weapon – no matter how potent – can help those who do not pick it up and fight.

Of course, how can one see a hunter until he reveals himself.

One must overcome perils to reach the pinnacle.

A thriller requires its dose of humour too. So you can find some sarcasm and dark humour in the book:

I know you won’t give me what I want, Ghork Rider, but for my love of humour, I will ask for it anyway.

Girl, put your head down, unless you want arrows in it for decoration.

One must do their best when in danger, like you did just now. When the enemy is more powerful, hiding is the the best thing to do…. Rabbits do it all the time.

A seated discussion leads to an agreeable solution, my friends. Sit. You’ll not be delayed.

I like the following lines about courage in the book:

Fear is good, said the voice. Courage cannot exist without fear…. Fear is there to make you strong, not weak.

Courage comes in all form, Luwan. Sometimes it’s in picking up a weapon and charning upon your foe… but sometimes it’s in waiting patiently, even when death itself stands before you. … Only the bravest of all can steady themselves and wait for the right time to act.

Let me share an example of how interestingly some scenes in the book are written.

But before the arrow found its target, the door of a broken window came whirling from a gap between two houses. It caught the arrow in its centre and continued on its course to crash into a house.

Don’t you find it interesting? It has literary qualities and at the same time it will make you visualise the scene in front of you, right?

The book has some lines, full of wisdom and philosophy, like:

“The worth of some things is not measured in silver or gold, Luwan of Brida”, said Kiliarn, quiety. “It is measured by the ability of the one who keeps it. A sisel is worthless if it is not in the hands of a sculptor….”

So, by now you should have an idea of the writing quality you can expect from the book. The freshness of the content (despite it is based on various non-Indian mythologies, and some popular books) will amaze you.

The book requires reader’s attention, and is not meant for the light reading. The book has its own dose of actions, so some scenes are meant for mature audience only. The story moves mostly in the dark times, so the writing is a little heavier through most part of the book.

A detailed glossary of terms could have made the book better.

For the thriller lovers, it is definitely a good choice.

Summary:

An interesting thriller which explores dark times. Not for light reading. There is a dose of actions leading to violence. If you are an adult who enjoy such thrillers, than this book is a good choice for you.

Around 7 to 7.5 out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle EBook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle Ebook
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback (2011 edition)
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback (2012 edition)
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback (2012 edition)

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