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Space Rug
Senthil Lambda had a nose for failures. He was a seer who foretold bankruptcy. He could see other passengers’ eyes brimming with hope, their nose smelling growth opportunities, and their mouth salivating as they looked down on the barren planet from their zit of a window. He nodded despairingly, 90% of them won’t make it… Read more
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Contagion
Embalmed. That’s what they told her. Her offspring would be primped up like a fat criglet in full display on this ugly planet in front of its debased population. It wasn’t enough for her to die in their 4-wheeled death contraption, she had to have a state mourning. A gaudy spectacle of what should have… Read more
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Pigeons VS Dragon
“It’s insane,” the aviation authority puffed up. A fat, little pigeon who could hardly do 50 km/hour – he prided himself for a colorful plume around his neck, and that’s exactly why he was their leader. “You chose us to be the sacrificial flock. Our strategy would work, she would not come after you,” said… Read more
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Redefining Superheroism: Doga’s Epic Saga in ‘Curfew’ (Doga #1)
“Curfew (Doga #1)” introduces us to Doga, Raj Comics’ vigilante/anti-hero who fights crime with sheer brawn and a traumatic backstory. The origin story delves into Doga’s early life and his mission to combat social evils in Mumbai. The comic sets the stage for an exciting and intriguing series, leaving readers anticipating more. Read more
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Book review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Merlin Sheldrake’s ‘Entangled Lives’ & the ‘Avatar’ movies came in handy while reading ‘Annihilation’ by Jeff VanderMeer. Obfuscating prose & a tendency to not resolve plot points aside, this book carries some of the most vivid imagination I have ever seen in science fiction. An interconnected world, a self-regulating ecosystem, where parts work for the… Read more
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Book review: ‘Paul of Dune’ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
2 Stars They proclaim on the cover that this book is an ‘epic sequel’ to Dune, yet the first thing that they do when they get their hands on Fremen is to put them in a swimming pool. Talk about being subtle. To all those who have been lured in to read this book, considering… Read more
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Book review: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
3 Stars I read ‘Carrie’ when I was in 11th grade. My first Stephen King novel, and I was blown away. I am twice the age now – and I have read numerous King novels and short stories. I haven’t added all his books that I have read, on Goodreads, because at that point in… Read more
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Book Review: Who says Elephants can’t dance by Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
I read this book with a lot of tech background help from ChatGPT. Should I call it irony or a follow-through where IBM wasn’t as successful as rest of the players in the AI race? That – it’s left behind, once again… Whatever said, it is a good, insightful business book. Hard execution, a customer-backed… Read more
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Book Review: Disney War by James B. Stewart
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Michael Eisner was a control freak, manipulative, didn’t care about anyone else other than himself, created his own kind of reality distortion field – he considered himself as the heir to Walt Disney’s legacy. He also was the CEO and Chairman for 20 years of Disney, one of… Read more
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Book review: Desert Star by Michael Connelly
This was going to be 3 stars for me, but for the end – it is 3.5. Got to see the real Bosch at the very end. It is an okaish book – while the plot kept me hooked, the fire was missing. Because it is Ballard and Bosch – we have two cases being… Read more
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Book review: House Atreides by Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson
A mysterious woman in a veil, coyly and grudgingly revealing her secrets – withholding more than she gives out. This is how Frank Herbert writes his Dune books or at least the first two that I read. I was forced to read passages again, tried hard in gleaning the meaning from the text – so… Read more
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BOOK REVIEW: ‘RAJARAJA CHOLA’ BY KAMINI DANDAPANI
For a long time, at least since I read Rebel Sultans by Manu S. Pillai, I wanted to read a book that explores at least one of the Southern dynasties in greater detail. I picked up Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki, expecting it to shed some light on the Chola dynasty, but it turned out to… Read more
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My unblemished self
Upon entering the world, one carries a presumed purity, unaffected by external influences. However, as life progresses, one becomes marked by various experiences, shaping one’s personality and physical appearance. Scars and imperfections become symbolic of a life lived, making each individual unique. Vismay reflects on the marks that life has left on his unblemished self,… Read more
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My day at bangalore literature festival
Continuing the annual tradition, yesterday I attended the 12th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival #blrlitfest. Scouring the website before going to Lalit Ashok, I found that while there weren’t many celebrities (apart from the usual suspects of mainstream authors and Huma Qureshi), there were a lot many sessions being conducted – in fact the… Read more
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Book review: The Glory of Patan by KM Munshi
I had read ‘Krishnavatar’ by K.M. Munshi long back, had fun reading those books. It was one of the first mythological fiction series in India, published way back in 1962, much before the Meluhas of the world. I always wanted to read his historical fiction ‘Patan’ trilogy, but could never get around it. Recently, I… Read more
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BOOK REVIEw: The night fire by michael connelly
3 STARS The book definitely kept me hooked and engaged. But some situations were contrived as the torch was getting passed over from Bosch to Ballard – Connelly is delicately trying to prime his audience, Bosch is already 70 years old. But he doesn’t want the loyal fanbase and readership to fall once Bosch is… Read more
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Book review: ‘man’s search for meaning’
Viktor Frankl’s ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ was my father’s oft-quoted book when I was growing up. He would narrate how the author mentally survived the harrowing Nazi concentration camps and found meaning in his suffering which made his life worthwhile even though his life was hardly certain or fair. I recently got a chance to… Read more
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Book review: shoe dog
Phil Knight is a true entrepreneur and ‘Shoe Dog’ is the journey of Nike coasting from one insurmountable challenge to another, as it became larger and larger. Who knew, back in the day, that the perennially illiquid, short-stocked, frequently unbanked and involved in a major legal brawl ‘Blue Ribbon’ would one day become a multi-billion-dollar… Read more
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Book review: the Ink black Heart
This is Robert Galbriath’s ‘Order of Phoenix’ – though I loved that one a lot more. A bulky tome set at a meandering pace, with a decent mystery at its core and an engaging voice of a master storyteller, this book exudes the confidence of a middle-aged man unabashedly, unashamed of his large paunch. J.K.… Read more
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Book REVIEW: CHILDREN OF TIME BY Adrian Tchaikovsky
Don’t tell them that I haven’t warned you about spoilers! Ineffectual human protagonist and unlikeable characters galore (though the arachnids were great), this book is the best I have read this year so far. Definitely up there with Asimov’s & Herbert’s books – the ideas presented were so amazing that it actually made me giddy.… Read more
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Book review: ‘Lost light’ by michael connelly
Michael Connelly is a well-oiled machine turning our tightly-wound thrillers, running on the twin engines of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. There are other booster engines, but these two carry the author into the stratosphere. ‘Lost Light’ is an amazing Bosch thriller. Not a single page wasted, not a single pay-off denied to the reader.… Read more
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The Last Sigh of Emperor Moonpie : Chapter 2: Bankrupt
Sriman Vats twirled his moustache in worry. There were bags under his eyes, his shoulders were slack – as if he were carrying the burden on the entire world, which he was. But this Atlas was in no position to shrug. “Can they do this?” Princess Nony asked. That was the first question she asked… Read more
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The Last sigh of emperor moonpie :Prologue
The apple of the planet, the brightest jewel of all, 7th in line from Tigriz the Terrible, and the blood descendant of the Olard family, Emperor Sweet-cheeks Moonpie Survinder Sahni had it enough. He didn’t bat an eye when thousands of his subjects were slaughtered in the carnage at the Lal Qila L2, he didn’t… Read more
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Book Review: Space Handbook: Astronautics and Its Applications
Ratings: 4 Stars In a time when Russia had just sent a couple of dogs in space, when speculative science-fiction reigned, when USA had not sent man to the moon – there was a Space Handbook by the RAND Corporation which tried to assess the feasibility of sending satellites in space, the rocket design and… Read more
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Book Review: Wuthering Heights
Ratings: 3 Stars This ain’t a love story, not by a far shot! It is selfish, convenient, greedy and the kind that destroys everything in its path. And when that “love story” ended with their lives, peace and normalcy were restored! I would say to Heathcliff and Catherine, good bye and good riddance! The girl… Read more
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Book Review: Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance
Ratings: 3 Stars You cannot easily disregard the conclusions drawn from this book. There is no such thing as a responsible superpower, irrespective of the ideology. While the British empire was more conspicuous and unshackled by the need to be politically correct, USA has engaged in doublespeak while carrying out its noble agenda of spreading… Read more
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Book Review: The Name of the Wind
Ratings: 4 Stars There are books which are passionately written. This is one of them. I have always been a sucker for (super)heroes, and the thing about passionate books is that – they really crank up the heroic scenes. I was jumping with joy in quite a few of them – you really, really root… Read more
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Book Review: Circe
Ratings: 4 Stars Mythology has always been an integral part of my life. Having read many, many reinterpretations of Ramayana and Mahabharata – I somehow have never been tired of reading one more take on it! Percy Jackson introduced me to the Greek Mythology, and since then I have always wondered on the similarity in… Read more
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Book Review: Once Upon a Time in India: The Marvellous Adventures of Captain Corcoran
Ratings: 1 Star Sam Miller shouldn’t have bothered translating this book in English. It was better if it were left untranslated in some dingy French bookstore not bothering anyone. But the deed was done. All I can glean from this book is that Europeans are brave and Indians are treacherous chickens. It actually wouldn’t have… Read more
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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Ratings: 3 Stars The zombies induced me to pick up this book. But my felicity was short-lived as I read with great dismay that these undead men and women of refined taste, who were in constant habit of mistaking cauliflowers for brains – were thus relegated to mere furniture in the plot of this esteemed… Read more
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Book Review: Oryx and Crake
Ratings: 5 Stars This book took me more than a year to finish. It was the damn monologue. I can’t seem to stand monologues and descriptions and references that I don’t understand unless I read the latter part of the story. At a stretch I could only read a couple of chapters before putting it… Read more
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Book Review: Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji
Ratings: 1 Star ‘Rebel Sultans’ reads like a cricket commentary, voluble but without any depth. A rat-tat-tat of facts thrown your way, a jumbled assortment of characters moving in and out of picture without leaving any mark – Pillai manages to turn an interesting epoch of history into mindless drivel. The principle problem is of… Read more
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Book review: Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America
Ratings: 5 Stars Easily, one of the best and the most important books that I have read this year. It isn’t just a biography, over its mammoth width – this book is a fine work of investigative journalism. Lobbying, Oil, Labor relations, derivatives-trading, Fracking, Capitalism – more than these ideas, it is a journey of… Read more
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Book review: This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race
Ratings: 4 Stars I have often glossed over news headlines like, ‘Apple releases security updates to patch two new zero-days…’ First, because I hardly understood what it meant or what its implications were given my chemical engineering and sales background. Second, it represented a world far, far away and themes far more outlandish – Russia… Read more
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The contract
Rahul Chanchalini had gone on a perilous expedition, one that would make him either extraordinarily rich or a juicy peace offering. He had to make a deal with blood-sucking aliens, would he succeed? Read more
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James Bond chalisa: who does it better – me or chatgpt?
So I have been thinking: Will ChatGPT kill my moribund / non-existent writing career? How does it fare if I give it the same writing prompts that I had to work with? I have been tinkering with the prompts and ChatGPT’s responses, and have been getting some interesting results. First impressions though: ChatGPT seems to… Read more
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First Time
It shot through the sky. 4-tiny engines, pushing against its momentum, preparing it for a gentle handshake. Do you think I am fidgeting too much, breaking up the tenuous bonds of water molecules lying thinly on my surface? Well, I am new at this – don’t test me! I see it now – the fiery… Read more
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Beauty is NOT in the eye of the beholder!
Contempt. Zipping her lips, she forced air inside her barrel-like nostrils, to push down the bile rising at the back of her throat. Use ‘contempt’ in a sentence: Rabdi Zeek was feeling contemptuous of her body. Her cheeks felt like the moon – cratered and dry. Beautiful, only if you view from a million miles… Read more
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Book Review: Prithviraj Chauhan
‘Prithviraj Chauhan’ is by far, the best work of Anuja Chandramouli. Extensively researched, fast-paced, action-packed and full-bodied page turner which marries history and mythology, this helluva book chugs along at the speed of bullet train. Impersonal mythical retelling, no more! Show, not tell, right? While Anuja’s books have always been engaging and well-written, I always… Read more
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Book Review: ‘Kartikeya, the Destroyer’s son’
For one, ‘Kartikeya, the Destroyer’s son’ by Anuja Chandramouli is an incredibly engaging book, it took me under two days to finish it. The mystique of the eponymous character played its part in keeping me hooked as well as the fluid writing style that is so characteristic of Anuja. Sometimes she reminds me of C.… Read more
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Book Review: ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett
Review: 5 Stars In the end, it is all about conditioning. Right and wrong, it has a reference point. Apart from certain universal moral values, all sets of ideologies differentiate and draw a line. And because it is so deeply enmeshed within the skeleton of the so-called universal moral values, it feels inherently wrong when… Read more
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Book Review: ‘The Paper Menagerie & other stories’
Review: 4 stars Discovering a new book is like discovering a new joint to eat, only better. Because in the worst case, suffering from bad writing is better than an upset stomach. So even though desi Chinese sometimes upsets my stomach, I was eager to try out this collection of short stories in ‘The Paper… Read more
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Book Review: ‘Paper Towns’
Review: 5 stars I encountered my Margo Roth Spiegelman when I was in 9th standard. She was not only an image that I had created in my mind – she was also pretty much fictive. Ladies & gentlemen, I was head-over-heels in love with Hermione Granger, and if you had encountered me then, I would… Read more
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Book Review: ‘The Hunger Games’
Review: 4 stars Reading ‘The Hunger Games’ made me realize that there are actually two kinds of heroes in any story: Rebels and Survivors. Often, rebels are perceived to be better because they refuse to accept the status quo, have a greater sense of what’s right and wrong, and they just cannot stand the oppressive… Read more
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Book Review: ‘The day of the triffids’
Review: 2 stars The funny thing is, triffids most certainly do not have their day in ‘The day of the triffids’ by John Wyndham. They are most certainly afterthoughts in a novel that was meant to be specifically about them. The literal and nearly-complete blindness of humanity and the ways in which they deal with… Read more
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Book Review: ‘2001: A Space Odessey’
Review: 5 star The difference between Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clarke has always been that of the fantastic and the possible. And I must admit that I am mighty partial towards fantastic, though Asimov would be hurt by my assertion regarding his work. Clarke had always skirted closer to reality, whereas Asimov had pushed the… Read more
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