Book Review - Kashi: The Secret of the Black Temple by Vineet Bajpai

I have always been partial to books on mythology. Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse are all up my street. But Indian mythology will always have a special place in my heart, possibly because I've grown up listening to so many bed time tales of Rama and Krishna. I am also fascinated by Indian history and it has been one of those subjects I loved reading about. So when I heard about a contemporary novel series by an Indian author which was a perfect blend of history, mythology and bit of fiction, I was pretty excited to start reading it. The first two books in the series were quite dragged out and I was a bit exasperated. But patience was indeed a virtue I lacked. After the thrilling events of the second book, I eagerly started to flip the pages of Kashi: The Secret of the Black Temple, impatient to find out what the future held in store for the heroes. Though this book also employed the same narrative style, this time I was in awe of the way the story unfolded. A perfect blend of fiction and science, it was action packed with strategic moments of suspense. This book is definitely a page turner. I don't to want to go much into the story but if you know a little bit about the history of the Indus valley civilization, mediaeval history of Europe, the Illuminati and the Dashavatar, you will definitely be pleasantly surprised by the authors references and creativity. Set in Banaras in 2017 as well as many other timelines, the story shifts between the lives of the last devta on Earth, Vidyut Shastri, his ancestors Visvasan Pujari and Satyavrata Manu. It is the ultimate battle between good and evil and nobody is backing down. Baying for blood, the warriors from both side await the savior of mankind to descend upon Prithvi. Only time will tell whether He emerges victorious. But all that glitters is not gold. The fourth part of this series is not out yet and I can't express my agony because I need to wait around another six months for it. Nevertheless, this series has been extremely exciting and I loved every bit of it.