Vasu and the Matsya Temple by Rajeev Tanwar

Vasu, the son of an archeologist is kidnapped right after his birth because of a necklace that his father placed around his neck. Unbeknownst to him, he gets caught in the middle of the fight between good and evil. His fate is sealed as a baby and he grows up to slowly realise this. Can he bring together the symbols of Ashtamangala and bring back peace on this earth?


First things first, the author has created a wonderful new world in this series. There is a whole different world underwater. And Vasu’s journey takes us deep into this new world. And frankly speaking, I had absolutely no idea about Ashtamangala before I picked up this book. A little bit of research on google showed me the imagination power of the author. To create a whole plot based on something that has been in our culture for so long is just amazing.


The plot is not exactly what I expected it to be from the blurb. It did surprise me at the beginning but slowly, once I started grasping the fact of this fantasy world, it became a bit predictable. Also, the book has a slow start. The first few pages go on about setting the base to the world and giving us a bit of background knowledge. Being the first in a trilogy, I kind of expected that, but the pace picks up soon. I also loved the character of Vasu… his isn’t an easy life but he is not really bitter about it. It was easy to fall behind him and cheer for him as the novel progressed. There are various other characters in the book, but no one really stood out other than Vasu. I am expecting to see more of the antagonist in the coming installments of this series. I hope he makes an impact, but so far not much.


The language and the narration style of the author needs a bit polishing. But I guess he has done an admirable job for his debut novel and hope that he will only grow with time.

 

Okay! Enjoy!!