Dangerous Women .. By (Multiple Authors)

Dangerous Women is a combination of short-stories which was published in 2013 and edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardener Dozois. It is called a cross-genre anthology, that includes science-fiction, horror, romance, mystery, and fantasy combined.

The first volume contains a novella, "The Princess and the Queen", which reveals the origins of the civil war in Westeros, known as the Dance of the Dragons, pitting Targaryen against Targaryens and dragons against dragons, 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Other short stories include:

"Raisa Stepanova" by Carrie Vaughn

"I Know How to Pick 'Em" by Lawrence Block

"Neighbors" by Megan Lindholm

"Wrestling Jesus" by Joe R. Lansdale

"My Heart is Either Broken" by Megan Abbott

"Nora's Song" by Cecelia Holland

I am not sure what to say more about this book than saying that it was completely foolish of me to read it even after the bad reviews given by my friends. It was a complete trash and I suggest you all, not to fall for the author's name alone like I did.

The title itself is meaningless and is another misguided attempt to capture interest because there were plenty of men in it too and women, well, were not that dangerous at all. The only story worth reading was "I Know How to Pick 'Em", which has a charm and dark sense of humor that captivated my attention till the end and the best part was, the story was a perfect length. I am sure to add Lawrence Block's other books on my reading list. 

But, I honestly didn't like other authors work in this book, especially R.R. Martin's. It felt like a total drag of unwanted history of the seven kingdoms, that you are surely gonna give up reading way before the ending. 

I am glad I didn't spend money on this book and just got it out from a library. A seriously disappointing read!

Please check out this Blog Space for more reviews!!

The Immortals of Meluha .. By Amish (Shiva Trilogy # 1)

On India's 70th independence celebration, I would like to start the review of this fantastic series which is soulfully connected to India's one of the oldest mythologies.

This is one of the most intriguing books about the stories of deities I read so far. Can't really say if it could be compared to Shiva Puran, which I haven't read, but would rather categorize it under pure imagination or fantasy for that matter.

Meluha is a perfect empire created by Lord Ram many centuries ago. However, as the time goes by the Suryavashis of this empire face a major crisis in the form of their slowly dying holy river Saraswati and continuous assaults from Chandravanshis, who have joined forces with the Nagas, a cursed race with physical deformities. 

The present king of Meluha, Daksha, sends his emissaries to Tibet, to invite the tribes that live there to Meluha. Thier brave warrior chief, Shiva who accepts the proposal and travels with his tribe to the mighty land, finds that they are all subjected to somras, the elixir of life, on the way to Meluha. When the Meluhans discover that Shiva's throat turned blue after drinking the somras, they announce him as Neelkanth, their fabled savior.

What follows is a captivating adventure of Shiva's epic deeds, Sati's enchanting endurance, and the mystery that the tale covertly possesses and promises to grip us till the end.

I enjoyed this book immensely and was pleasantly surprised by how the author used the legend in an interesting form of storytelling.

Amish explains the caste system established by Lord Rama based on people's merits and not based on their inheritance was enlightening. I especially liked the way he narrated the story not based on fictitious renditions, but rather in a scientific manifestation of the fabulous miracles we encounter while reading the book.

I would like to conclude the review by saying that it is a "must-read" category series of novels with an admirable writing of an awesome story that is guaranteed to keep you engaged till you finish the trilogy itself.

Happy Reading!!!

The Silkworm ... (Cormoran Strike Series # 2) By Robert Galbraith a.k.a.. J.K. Rowling

Cormoran Strike's second adventure novel was released in 2014 after the success of Cuckoo's Calling. It's a crime novel created by none other than J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith.

When missing novelist Owen Quine's wife contacts Strike, he thinks there isn't much mystery to this search. But once he starts digging into potential whereabouts of the author, he discovers a highly controversial unpublished work written by the author, that turned out to be a dark and mysterious bashing of his co-workers, which might have led to his disappearance or possible murder.

Strike and his talented assistant Robin, find themselves solving yet another conundrum and tries against all odds to save the author's wife from being proven guilty for a crime she didn't commit.

This book met with a lot of critical acclaims, but after J.K. Rowling's identity behind this work was revealed in 2013, the sale of the book increased tenfold.

To be honest, I myself started reading both the books when I came to know it is Rowling's invention. Nevertheless, she did a fantastic job with the series. Even though it started out with a slow pace, the book gained momentum and purpose extremely quickly and hooked me till the end.

Many readers might not like this series as much as I liked it because the style of mystery writing is quite different from the general perception, which interested me a lot. Especially the way each character was portrayed and the illusion that it created of each of their murderous sides made it impossible to guess the miscreant till the end.

I would recommend this book to all readers and invite you all to share your thoughts on this and its previous novel, Cuckoo's Calling.

Happy Reading!!!