The Man who Never was

East of West, Vol. 1: The Promise by Jonathan Hickman My rating: 4 of 5 stars As far as media based on alternate history goes, I’d think that East of West, by Jonathan Hickman has one of the more unique points of divergence. Rather than reusing the tired troupe of ‘What if X faction won the world war/ cold war’, the story this time around starts much earlier; during the American civil war. A prolonged civil war, followed by a comet fall in the middle of the continent, resulted in an Armistice, with each faction carving out their own portion of the land for themselves. This new entity is called the seven nations of america. Over a century and half has passed, and the impasse continues. Technology has progressed, new armies have risen, and the factions remain baring their teeth at one another, barely held back by the accord of the Armistice. Away from all this, arise the four horsemen of the apocalypse, sans one, who have through subsequent iteratio...

China's Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy by Peter Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Apologies for the unstructured stream of thought that you’re about to read. Hope you get something useful out of it It is important to really focus on the title of the book before you start reading it. The title of this book is ‘china’s civilian army: Making of the wolf warrior diplomacy’. Making of . Here I was, starting to read all excited thinking I’ll get a breakdown to the current belligerent attitude of diplomacy which the ccp mouthpieces have been prone to. You do get that; sort of. But the actual phenomenon of ultranationalistic wolf warrior diplomacy, which found fertile ground after Emperor Xi took to the throne, is mentioned tangentially. It’s not the focus. Rather, through several well researched, clearly written, and engaging chapters, we’re given a brief rundown, as to how the international diplomacy of a communist regime like th...

ഗുരുസാഗരം | Gurusagaram by O.V. Vijayan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Synopsis: The story follows the lonely life of a retired soldier Kunjunni, currently working as a newspaper reporter. The last scion of a family of a distinguished family, now marred by decline, there are very few things which prompts Kunjunni to continue loving. Chief among them, is the love for his daughter Kalyani, living in Calcutta with his ex-wife Shivani. Another, is the friendship of his former colleague and best friend Balakrishnan. Balan, as he is affectionately called, suffered a great personal tragedy, losing both his wife and child. In his final years, he found solace in meeting his spiritual guru, who then consecrated him to be an ascetic, rechristening him as ‘Nirmalananda’. He now spends his time in meditation and peace, in his farmlands. Kunjunni visits him from time to time, partly to seek his counsel, but mostly for companionship. Other than his friend, the only co...

Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time by James Gurney My rating: 4 of 5 stars It must've been when I was maybe 10. Back in those days when globalization was still in its infancy, copyright regulations were, not really a thing. So, you would often find content creators for regional publications outright lifting popular books, titles and media from western publications. Then using them to pad their pages and subscription count. In one such local children's publication, I came across excerpts from this story about a world where humans and dinosaurs coexisted. A more poignant version of the Flintstones. The concept was intriguing, and the art was stellar, breathtaking. Unfortunately, outside of the brief synopsis of the story, there was nothing much to go on. And very few avenues for a 10 year old to go about purchasing the book. How time flows, close to 20 years had passed before I came across the title again. This time, thanks to the beauty of the ...

Warden of the Blade by David Annandale My rating: 4 of 5 stars Grey Knights are not the most beloved of the factions among the 40K fandom. One can understand why; being the super-secret special errand boys of the inquisition that are veritable Gary sues. But, seeing as how they’re the imperium’s preeminent daemon hunters, there are some perks when it comes to following their exploits. Not to mention the sheer level of brutality and casualties put on display during your typical grey knights' missions. Just take this into consideration. At any given time, the imperium is waging war, against half a dozen major enemy factions, over battlefields in hundreds of thousands of worlds. The imperial guard regiments who fight the majority of these wars, are legion, and constantly cycle from one battlefront to the next, if they don’t get annihilated. Having said that, the IG are quite good at their job and manage to win wars in most of their engagements. Usua...

my Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattanaik My rating: 4 of 5 stars Hanuman Chalisa, as written by Saint Tulsidas, is a text which is near and dear to my soul for a long time. It is one of the earliest texts I read, back when I was 10-11 years old, and I got this as a present for participating in Gita Recitation. That very same book, wonderfully illustrated and printed, is still in my possession, some two decades or something past. Not as new, and with a lot of pages taped in, but it does the job. Even back in the day, the valorous tales of Hanuman, Sri Rama’s loyal companion were enough to enthrall the sensibilities of an overeager child. Perhaps tied to this were also the brilliantly rendered Ramayana series by Mr. Ramanand Sagar which aired regularly on channels such as doordarshan. The reason they stuck with the child in me, were the simple yet personable language and tone in which it was written. They were like stories being recited in temples and...

The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath My rating: 5 of 5 stars The first thing that jumps out at you when you start reading the story, is how, despite literally being older than the dinosaurs, these two, nigh immortal, masters in their own fields, bicker like children on a playground. They want a shiny toy, and are willing to throw hands and insults to get it. The other is how after spending millenia bickering, they start sounding like an old married couple. Don’t believe me, just read the following ‘You have seen this, I suppose,’ Trazyn said with a drop of acid. ‘In your…’ He wobbled his head, made nonsensical symbols with his fingers.‘Meditations.’ Does that, or does that not sound like someone who’s been having the same fight over and over and over. Complete with freaking Xenos air quotes; I can’t even. Things get so bad when the two are in the same room, even the other necrons, unfeeling, uncaring automatons, get annoyed out of their wit...

Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder My rating: 4 of 5 stars There is this popular fan theory about Batman, saying that he's in fact a resident in a mental asylum. With all of his supervillains being doctors and other patients and staff that torment him in various ways. I like that Scott Snyder's Last knight takes that premise and uses it as a red herring to set up the prologue of the story. The premise of this story is similar to that of Wonder Woman: Dead Earth , where instead of Diana, a suspiciously young Bruce wakes up into the irradiated post-apocalyptic ruins of earth. Then setting out to uncover the mystery of how things got the way it is. Picking up along the way, the Joker, minus his body, like a rambling jack lantern in a glass case. Although only three chapters long, we see Bruce traverse the ruins of a land, where several titanic events seem to have occurred which scarred the world in irreversible and often terrible ways...

Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola My rating: 5 of 5 stars The problem with reading a source novel, after watching a good live action adaptation of it, is that you keep comparing the two. Which is the case with Hellboy, Seed of Destruction. Guillermo del Toro and his team took a good concept and just ran with it. The 2004 Hellboy movie featuring Ron Perlman drew the viewers into the rich and mysterious lore and world of Hellboy. With a dark, oftentimes ironic twist to familiar tropes of fantasy and folklore. The graphic novel, first published a decade prior, sets up many of the lore, themes and characters which would then be fleshed out in the pages and in the movies. Compared to the movie, I felt the story to be more disconnected. Del toro, with consultation with Mike Mignola I assume, were able to turn the disjointed parts into a more cohesive story. Particularly the aspects in regard to Hell boy's origin, as well as his relat...

മാര്‍ത്താണ്ഡവര്‍മ്മ | Marthandavarma by C.V. Raman Pillai My rating: 3 of 5 stars മാർത്താണ്ഡവർമ്മ എന്ന ഈ പുസ്തകം, അതു മലയാള ചരിത്രസാഹിത്യത്തിലെ ഒരു അഗ്രഗാമിയായ കൃതിയാണ്. സുപ്രധാനമായ ഒരു കൃതി ആയിരുന്നാലും, ഇത് വായിക്കാൻ ഞാൻ നന്നെ പാടുപെട്ടു. ഒരു നൂറ്റാണ്ട് മുമ്പ് എഴുതിയും പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച ഈ കഥയിൽ, ഉപയോഗിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന മലയാള ഭാഷ, ഇന്നത്തെതിൽ നിന്നും അത്യധികം വ്യത്യസ്തമാണ്. പലപ്പോഴും, പല ഭാഗങ്ങളിലും, വാക്കുകളുടെ അർത്ഥവും ശൈലിയും പഠിച്ചു മനസ്സിലാക്കേണ്ടി വന്നു, കഥാപാത്രങ്ങൾ പറയുന്നത് എന്തെന്ന് മനസിലാക്കാൻ. അതു പോലെ തന്നെ, ആ സമയത്ത് അനുഷ്ടിച്ചിരുന്ന സമ്പ്രദായങ്ങളുടെയും വ്യവഹാരങ്ങളുടെയും പരാമർശങ്ങൾ, ഇന്നത്തെ കാലത്ത് ഉള്ളവർക്ക് അന്യമായവയാണ്. ഇതും, പിന്നെ പല പൗരാണിക സംസാരിക കൃതികളുടെ പരാമർശവും കഥയെ കുറച്ചധികം ദുർഘടമാക്കി. പിന്നെ, നോവലിന്റെ ഇതിവൃത്തം, അതു തിരുവിതാംകൂർ മഹാരാജാവായിരുന്ന മാർത്താണ്ഡവർമ്മ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ, കിരീടധാരണത്തിന് ഇതിവൃത്തമായ സംഭവങ്ങളുടെ ഒരു കല്പനികമായ പുനരാഘ്യാനമാണ്. ആ സമയത്തെ ജീവിതരീതികളും, നാട്ടാചാരങ്ങളും, സംഭവങ്ങളും, രാഷ്ട്രീയവുമെല്ലാം കഥയ...

The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Notes & Key Learning You don’t need to travel the whole world to have inner peace, happiness or some brilliant insight. As Blaise Pascal put it, you just need to find a quiet corner and be alone with yourself. Modern technology and the deluge of information, makes it difficult for you to just detach your mind and let it just wander. E.g. It takes you 20+ minutes to refocus, after being distracted by your phone. Writers such as Thomas Merton & Annie Dillard have given their suggestions on writing and creative processes. Which can be summarized as spending time addressing a challenge or problem, until your mind formulates a solution to it, or one appears. Like Frankl said, let it ensue, rather than pursue it. Dillard in particular, sits with a story, like with a dying friend, until the words manifest in an organic way. It is advisable, to set up times of ...

The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China by Kerry Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars Warning: The following review contains some harshly worded criticisms aimed towards the chinese communist Party, and to an extent the current state of chinese society. While I stand by these words, it is also understandable that there might be those who feel offended by the sheer vitriol in these words. Acknowledged a certain amount of personal bias, I nonetheless present to you my thoughts, unfiltered. Read at your own discretion. One of the best combinations in this world is PB&J on a piece of bread. One of the worst combinations, apparently, is an entitled, spoiled, rich kid of a ccp official, driving an expensive car bought with corrupt money. Which often ends up getting crashed in a drunken fit, killing some innocent unfortunate soul just minding their own business. I suppose the second part could be said about any entitled, spoiled, drunk rich brat, ...

The Emperor's Finest by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first, and most obvious criticism I can foresee from those who’ve finished the story, is despite how we finally get the story where Cain works alongside a space marine chapter (an event that has been alluded to multiple times in previous books; in fact, mentioned whenever Cain encounters a genestealer cult), it is largely underwhelming. Despite best efforts, from the good commissar, the Astartes simply don’t have enough of a personality to make them engaging. Part of that might be due to the particular proclivities of their chapter. The reclaimers, as the name indicates, are quite obsessed with reclaiming Archeotec from the voids of space. In that sense they’re quite similar to how your average admech acolyte works. But whatever that spark is, which sets them apart as humanity’s finest warriors is missing. I would’ve imagined a character arc, where they view the good commissar w...

Cain's Last Stand by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 5 of 5 stars In Cain’s Last Stand, everyone’s favorite Commissar takes on Space Hitler, mixed with the mule from Asimov’s Foundation series. Having spent the better part of a century taking the good fight to the Emperor’s numerous enemies, the hero of Imperium finds himself spending the last light of the 42nd Millenium back in Perlia. For those unaware, Perlia was the planet where previously our hero had led a ragtag group of resistance fighters to drive out the numerically superior Ork invasion force. Thus, earning him the moniker of ‘The great Liberator’. Detailed in one of stronger of the Caiphas Cain Novels #4 ‘ Death or Glory Death or Glory’. At the ripe old age of 200, Cain & his faithful aide Jurgen, have been assigned to the Schola Progenium founded on the planet, to train a new generation of Commissarial Cadres. (Yes, you heard that right; In the world of 40k if you’re someone of wor...

Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader by John French My rating: 4 of 5 stars After completing ‘Sigismund-Eternal Crusader’ by John French, I was left with more ambiguity than when I had first started reading. Before going into the story, the only things I knew about the character was for being the Emperor’s Champion, as well as the first High Marshall of the newly formed Black Templar chapter. Now, if you know anything about the Black Templar, if there is a word which defines the entire purpose of the chapter, it would be ‘zealous’; or you know ‘Crusading’ of the eternal kind. These guys are the 40k equivalent of the Knights Templar in real history, devoted to the Emperor to an almost pathological degree, and willing to scour entire civilizations should they happen to run counter to the emperor’s light. As such, they maintain something called the eternal crusade, forever committed to wage war in the name of the Emperor in whichever battlefield needs them....

The Smallest Detail by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars A short story, focusing on a day in the life of Ferik Jurgen, the loyal, resourceful and supremely battle capable aide to Commissar Cain. In the main stories, we often see Jurgen stand his ground against Xenos, Chaos, and everything vile in between that the universe has to throw at them. More often than not, he is more than up to the challenge. So, when we see him facing off against a group of gang bangers from a local planet they're stationed in, the difference in combat capabilities and experience becomes apparent. Jurgen has survived long in the field, partly due to him being a blank, but mostly because of his instincts and skills which keep him well out the way of whatever is trying to end him; and filling said thing with copious amounts of firepower. This side story showcases how, even though he is oft described as taciturn and impersonable, that doesn't diminish his capabilit...

A Mug of Recaff by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Trooper Ferik Jurgen, is the shadow of the hero Commissar Caiphas Cain. Intensely loyal to the Emperor & the Commissar, resourceful, single minded in devotion, and quite handy with a melta. The malodorous Watson to Cain's Holmes, he might not be most personable of soldiers, nor does he understand the complexities of life. But point at something you want gone, and he will make sure that it's gone. And, in the thick of battle, when the metaphorical shit hits the fan, there is no one else you rather have watching your back; something which Cain would attest to with gusto. Jurgen as a character, with his arc intertwined with our protagonist, is a crucial pillar, which serves to make the story so entertaining. Looking forwards to reading more oneshots like this. View all my reviews

Duty Calls by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Canonically set several years after the Book 4, but immediately picking after the events set up during that story, ‘Duty Calls’, sees Commissar Cain, his trusted aide gunner Jurgen, as well as the capable 597th Valhallan regiment deployed to the planet of Periremunda, which is, as usual, on the verge of a seditious insurgency. This is after all the Imperium of Mankind, where, at the best of times, you can say you’re alive and not being tortured as an indentured slave. The standards for living are pretty low. Like many of the previous planets we’ve seen in the series, the unique geography of Periremunda is manifested in the fact that it is made up entirely of plateaus. The rest of the planet, its ground level at least, is covered by oceans of magma and desolate landscape which pretty much ensures survival is impossible. This provides a unique logistical nightmare, as each of the plateaus, ranging in...

Death or Glory by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 5 of 5 stars Synopsis Set during the early years of Cain’s service as a commissar. Before taking charge of the 597th Valhallan Regiment, Commissar Cain was assigned to the Valhallan Artillery Regiment, surreptitiously placed at the rear of any army formation pointed towards the enemy and moral danger. Something which he secretly was grateful for. And thanks to the never tiring support of his loyal and hard working aide, the phlegmatic Jurgen, Cain is able to delegate most paperwork, sit back and relax. That is, until the troop transport ship he was on board fell victim to psychic warp shenanigans, perpetuated by the ork weirdboyz, en route to their engagement of the green menace at the next contested imperial planet. Cain, surviving the encounter by a hair’s breadth, managed to board an escape shuttle, accompanied only by the steadfast Jurgen, and ended up crash-landed on the planet, far behind enemy l...