Inane Murtaza

Title : Upon a Burning Throne : Part 2 Author : Ashok Banker Genre : Mythological Retelling Ashok Banker is one of those authors that I came across pretty recently when I had heard of Upon a Burning Throne which is a retelling of the epic saga Mahabharata. A bit of research across platforms, I was pretty much intrigued by his books and that was the time when I had picked up the first part of Upon a Burning Throne. Apparently for Indian audience, the book was divided into two parts for reasons unknown and since I had dedicated myself to the first part, I picked up this one to further prick my curiosity and here is my take on it. Blurb (From Amazon): He is poisoning the very heart of Hastinaga. And he must be stopped. The powerful demonlord Jarsun has declared war on the vast burnt empire. Wars, deceit and sorcery wreak havoc, practically shattering the realm. And he must be stopped. But how? the odds are unsurmountable. And then, on one dark night, everything changes. For the...

Title : Upon a Burning Throne - Part 1 Author : Ashok K Banker Genre : Mythological Fantasy Of the two major Indian Epics, Mahabharata has always fascinated me more. The epic consists of so many characters with different shades that one cannot rightly put them in black or white zones. The epic is so well written with characters etched deeply that one always looks for various narratives for the story and yet each narrative brings in more questions and surprises even more. So apparently, when I finally came across this retelling of Mahabharata, I had to get my hands on it and here is my take on the first book. The plot majorly revolves around Adri and Shvate who are in line to rule the vast Burnt Empire, yet on the day of their test for inheritance, they are challenged by another ruler whose daughter comes from the same bloodline and to everyone's surprise she passes the test too. When her claim to inheritance is denied by family elders Vrath and Jilana, the empire is thro...