Kevein Books and Reviews

Readers that enjoy excavating mythological fantasies like ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ & ‘The Lord of the Rings’ may enjoy reading the first part of the Shiva trilogy - The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi. The way is Indian and the story hails from a faraway Tibet around 3000 years ago; then it was all Hindukush; existed mythological boundaries only. Primarily, the book covers life events of Shiva - Guna (a kind of warrior) as how he takes duty, karma and life’s principals altogether. He allies with the empire of Meluha, Suryavanshis, to fight against Chandravanshis who have established association with sinister-type humans, called Nagas. The book featuring in the so ancient era that surprisingly also focuses a bit on untouchability through an interesting female character Sati. Except India, trilogy and series-based heavy fiction books are popular and trendy at international literature arena. However, Amish Tripathi has done it for India – through his much

Francisco Franco, a fascist oppressor, puts Spain into civil war in 1936. To help the nation come out of it, the International Brigades fights against the fascists. Bernie Piper, a communist, from Britain goes off missing from the battle of Jarama in 1937. People assume that he will never come back. But his lover Barbara Clare still holds a glimmer of hope. Next the time is 1940, when Spain is troubled by Germany from its neck and from the sea England is encouraging her to refrain from Germany. The WW-II is on. Harry Brett, shell-shocked and Dunkirk returned, is sent to spy on Sandy Forsyth, allegations are that he is involved with fascists to make money from the war-torn Spain. Harry is shocked to discover that Barbara is living with Sandy. However, he too falls in love with a poor girl Sofia. Harry, Sandy, and Bernie all are from public school. Their rivalry for superior being is not new, and Sandy was always objectionable to both guys. However, Bernie is missing and all

Contrary to the likely situations, David Morgan, an heir to Morgan fortune, wants to fly. However the way for his dream along with love is treacherous, full of fateful events. Eagle in the Sky by Wilbur Smith is, yet, another classic book. The book, like others, route through and towards the end lands back to the African soil to make it more captivating. During a cavalier escape, in Spain, David befriends with Debra Mordecai (then a struggling writer) and her brother Joe; and later on David falls in love with her. During the war between Palestine and Israel, David becomes a jet-fighter pilot and serves Israel. In the following tragic events, Debra loses her eyesight, Joe dies; and David in a terrible plane accident loses his beautiful face. Post the tragedy, the separation comes between them. But, as a true hero, David finds and takes her to Africa to take care of his family business. In Africa, the story becomes all the way more romantic and action packed. Debra upon fin

The imperialism of the late ninetieth century serves as a backdrop to Rudyard Kipling’s famous novel, Kim. It is a story of an orphan Irish boy, who has lost his parents when he was three. However, the documents related to his origin and family background are locked in a piece of cloth, which he wears around his neck all the time, in a sense it is a Masonic certificate that will liberate him from the clutches of wretched poverty status. Kim was born in Lahore, in the British-ruled India. Being an orphan, he is either indulged into futile vagrancy or seen practicing minuscule errands on others to feed himself in the sweeping poverty-ridden Indian landscape. To side with him, there is an old Indian lady who is heavily addicted to opium, and on the other side is Mahbub Ali, a horse trader, who runs a network of spies for the British secret services. One day Kim meets and befriends a Tibetan lama, who is in quest of the River of Arrow. To find that river they start their jo

‘An Evening in Lucknow’ is an anthology of short stories written by K. A. Abbas. He wasn’t only a writer of short stories; well he was also a director, producer, and screenplay writer of many Hindi films like Joker, Awara, Dharti Ke Lal etc. He is still celebrated for giving a break to legendary actor Amitabh Bachan in ‘Saat Hindustani’ film, way back in 1969. As well, K. A. Abbas is a maternal grandfather of Shahid Kapoor. ‘Sparrows’ is a famous short story written by him and it remained in the world’s best short stories’ column for many years, just like Mulk Raj Anand’s ‘The Lost Child’. Mulk Raj Anand and K.A. Abbas were ally and known to each other as they were the English writers of early India. In 1947 Mulk Raj Anand wrote a letter to Mr. Abbas praising his work regarding ‘Sparrows’ – a short story. K. A.   Abbas was an integral part of Bollywood; he directed and wrote many a movie. He worked with V. Shantaram too. Many of his short stories have been converted i

The Testament by John Grisham is an average kind of book. The only new aspect about this book is that it is a legal thriller with episodes of adventures in it. However, the biggest dilemma is to mark out the main protagonist of the book. At most times – it is nobody, except the dead Troy Phelan. As the story opens, Troy Phelan, a renowned business tycoon, jumps off his penthouse to his death leaving his eleven billion fortune to an illegitimate daughter Rachal Lane. The book gains fighting theme when his other six bereaved children from different wives, being eligible for his fortune, contest the will. The book routes through the USA, Brazil and Pantanal throwing events half-filled with adventure and half-filled with the past lives of other characters. Through Nate and his subject Rachal, light on spirituality and love has subtly been thrown. Over all, many roads, however, no destination! John Grisham is a good name in the book world; however, this book does not reach u