Book Blast: Faith Of The Nine by Sachin Dev

About the Book:

The Third Yuga is slowly drawing to a close. Nam – the greatest Empire on Janani – is going to face some fierce winds of change. Seers foresee omens of death and destruction in the return of the Banished One – A God who will claim the ashes of this world as revenge. While out in the streets, rumours abound - of older forgotten powers stirring.


Caught in this maelstrom of a power struggle between Gods are three ordinary lives: General Fateh, the most celebrated soldier in Nam who starts to question his faith, Ishan – a gifted orphan who struggles to comprehend his destiny and Abhaya – a young monk in search of truths about this world. Their choices and actions will shape the destiny of this scarred world that becomes the playground for vindictive Gods.


In a world where Rakshasas arise out of left-over traces of Maaya and twilight forms the portal to countless worlds around us for Daityas and Yakshis to dance through, a God is only as powerful as those who believe.And when Gods rise, faith of men will be tested…And broken.


Buy Links:

Paperback: Flipkart * LandmarkOntheNet * Infibeam * Pustak Mandi

eBook: Newshunt * Google Play

Fantasy for Adults

When you usually ask around for
recommendations for Fantasy for adults, you end with Game of Thrones at the top
of the list. Followed perhaps by scores of Shannara books. (Which by the way
are still coming out! Terry Brooks is a phenomenal author!)

Because for most of us ( especially more so
in a country like India) we are wary of being found reading a book whose cover
looks like Chandrakanta the old Doordarshan series we used to watch as kids. So
we still get by with the Harry Potter series and sometimes don’t think much
beyond.

So I’ve been reading only fantasy (or
broadly speculative fiction that counts Fantasy as one of the main streams –
Sci-fi & Horror being the other mainstay besides countless sub-genres) for
the last fifteen years now. Ever since I picked up LOTR & Dune ( by Frank
Herbert. Masterpiece! ) in college. I’ve suffered looks of disdain by
colleagues/ fellow travellers as I was nose-deep in some fantasy western (Namely
– Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. Yes. He writes stuff outside of horror
too!) But I cared less than the backside of a rodent for such. I was living in
a different world and I was loving it.

So this, is an attempt to list down some
fantastic gems I discovered during this journey of mine and to let the broader
world be aware that Fantasy has come a long way from the tales of a young farm
boy setting out to find his destiny (which involved throwing a beautiful ring
into the volcanic fires of Mordor!) I will also try and slot them into
different sub genres as I know them. Makes it easier for recommending, right?

Epic
fantasy.  Magic
that will leave you spell bound. Political manoeuvrings. Tricky backstabbing. Adventure.
Kingdoms or worlds at stake. All this and more!

Mistborn
Trilogy & the on-going Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. The on-going series is a massive ten part magnum opus and it
reflects all things great and fun about the genre. Cannot recommend enough of
this guy. He is prolific when it comes to writing. Churning out at least 1-2
books every year. Year after year.

Promise
of Blood ( Powder Mage trilogy # 1) by Brian McClellan. Sometimes called Flintlock fantasy This guy is setting the fire to
the keg with this explosive debut novel in this series that deserves to be read
more.

Gentlemen
Bastards series by Scott Lynch – Chronicling the
life and adventures of a thief and petty crook, Lock Lamora and his friends,
this is also one stunning piece of work that any lover of mayhem and adventure
should definitely be getting his hands on. Lies
of Lock Lamora sets up the rollicking pace of this series and it’s on
book-3 now – with the rest of the books eagerly awaited. You should jump onto
this ship. 

Grim
Dark Fantasy. This is modern fantasy with a lot of
writers jumping into bandwagon. Brutal, gritty, splashed with blood and gore –
and darker themes explored.

Malazan
Book of the Fallen – 10 book series that is
COMPLETE and mind blowing by Steven
Eriksen.

Any book by Joe Abercrombie. This guy is truly the emperor of this sub-genre
with his brilliant books setting out to explore darker spaces within a man’s
mind.

Broken
Empire by Mark Lawrence. Be warned, this books may
be a bit too intense but are shining example of what a writer can do to twist
the readers into his dark worlds. It features a 11-year old sociopath who sets
out to conquer the world.

Prince
of Nothing trilogy by R Scott Bakker. If you like
your fantasy philosophical, dark and heavy this is your one stop. His second
trilogy is incomplete and eagerly awaited.

Military
fantasy.  Yes,
there is something like this. And Myke
Cole’s first trilogy starting off with Control Point is a wonderfully
accessible entry point into such worlds. Combining the best of military fiction
with fantasy worlds.

Silk
Road Fantasy. Again a recent phenomenon of readers
getting bored of medieval European settings for their fantasy tales. Notable
books are Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay,
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin
Ahmed, The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu.

There are multiple other books that are
genre-benders mashing up the good things in one genre with another. It’s a gold
mine out there and I would urge all readers who ultimately like a good story to
keep exploring beyond the walls and gates of Hogwarts. 

  

About the Author:

Sachin discovered Tolkien in his teens, alternative rock as a new adult and digital marketing in pretty much his late twenties. These still form a large wedge in his circle of life. Travel, radio and theatre have also figured in that ever-expanding and diminishing circle.


On perhaps a more prosaic note, he is an engineer from BITS Pilani and holds an MBA from Indian School of Business. Attribute the love for numbers and pie-charts to this. He is currently based in Bangalore and happily married to Harini. He spends an inordinately large amount of time chasing after his two dogs (who love the free life a bit too much) when he is not busy dreaming up fantasy worlds full of monsters. And beautiful Yakshis, of course.


He can usually be found ranting on twitter under the handle @xenosach, devouring books and talking about them on his blog. You can always stalk him online at his official website

November Read-along

Hellooo people of the book world!
As you guys already know, we'll be reading only ONE book in November because, exams.
We asked you guys  to vote for the book you'd like to read with us and after a week of voting, the result was a TIE between Me Before You and Ready Player One.

Since Goodreads was acting weird and wasn't letting us create a new poll, we ended up having a tie-breaker-face-off-poll for 24 hours on Instagram and it's time for the result,
Behold, this November we are going to read
*drum rolls*

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. 
The fictional Fortress is taking a detour to the future and you're are very much invited.

FicFort Notes:
1. Make sure to tag your progress, comments anything related to this read on social medias with #ficfortressreads.

2. Some accounts will be featured on our IG through the month. Only criteria, use the tag.

3. Keep a look-out for the pre-discussion thread on Goodreads, cause that thread is gonna come in handy to: find a buddy for buddy reading, *if* there are any book deals, you'll be informed. Also, if we find e-books, those will be given away.

4. Spread the word!

Happy Ready Soldiers!

Are you joining us for the November Read-along?

November Read-along: Book Nominees

Hello Readers!

It's time to vote for the book you'd like to snuggle up with next month.
This November we will be reading one book instead of two, because exam season. You get to pick, so, choose wisely, here are the four contenders:

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling:

For all our readers who wanted us to add non-fiction to the read-along, we present to you this
hilarious memoir.

Read the blurb, here.

Shonazee's Pick

2. Me Before You, Jojo Moyes:

Most people who've read this book complain of a hangover. So, if you're looking for a tear-jerker, you have come to the right stop. Also, this book is being turned into a movie that may come out sometime next year.

Read the blurb, here.

Somdyuti's Pick

3. A Thousand Nights, E.K.Johnston:

A YA Fantasy retelling of One Thousand And One Nights. This book is full of folklore, legends, fairytales and magic! Also it's a new release, this book came out on October 6th 2015.

Read the Blurb, here.

Varsha's Pick

4) Ready Player One, Ernest Cline:
Sci-Fi. Futuristic setting (read: 2044). Video-gamers.
If any of these words interest you, pick this book up already! (Not already. November, pick it up in November. Meanwhile, vote. okay?okay.)

Read the blurb, here.

Niv's Pick

Vote here:

November Book Of The Month Poll

It's time to cast your vote again. Hurry up, go go go!

May the odds be in your favour.

Me Before You
A Thousand Nights
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Ready Player One

Results will be declared on 25th October'15.

Until then, stay rad, keep reading!

Book Blitz: First Brush On The Canvas edited by Priyanka Roy Banerjee

About the Book:

Graham, Daniel, their friendship, life and death.

Vampires, guardians' adventures at night. Coffee, love and a new couple. Imli and her mother in a complex web of darkness. A small town girl confused about virginity. Michael Jaikishen and his writing endeavours. Child adoption by a gay couple. Mahabharat - a modern tale in an epic form. The spine-chilling tale of Tina and Uncle Joe. A juicy love story by our guest author Sujata Parashar. These and many other unputdownable stories in this book.


First Brush on the Canvas is an anthology comprising selected stories from Melonade (2014), a nationwide writing marathon organized by Writersmelon.com.


Goodreads * Amazon

Melonade Authors’ Intro:

Uttiya Roy – Nourished with Bangla literature, he aspires to change the world someday writing in English. His days pass blending Life Science textbooks with poetry. 

Upasana Bhattacharjee – We catch ‘em as young as they get! Our youngest writer is still a student, but that doesn’t reflect in the matured story she’s written dealing with inconclusive logics and paradoxes. 

Stuti Chandra – She writes because she’s alive. This lovely lady is from Patna and has dipped her nose in English Literature at Delhi. 

Shaily Bhargava – A photographer, a logophile and an Equity Technical Analyst – all in one. She reads and writes in Noida, accompanied by beautiful clicks through her lens and lots of Coffee. 

Arunav Chowdhury – Have you met this Proletariat Axomiya before? He’s a movie buff and a news junkie rolled into one, who writes wonderful modern takes on the age old Mahabharat. 

Rafaa Dalvi – A Mumbaikar, an engineer, a blogger and a prolific writer. He’s already made his presence in three anthologies and likes to experiment with different genre. 

Diptee Raut – A quilter, a blogger, a quirky mom, an amazing writer and our co-winner of Melonade’4. She’s one bundle of positive energy who can spin stories and weave quilts simultaneously. 

Abhishek Mukherjee – Have you read his blog posts yet? Though he likes to believe he’s only a Cricket Historian, you have to read his humorous takes on Mythology to believe he’s the best. 

Anwesha Ray – An amazingly sensitive writer, she lives and works in Bangalore with her family. 

Avishek Basu Mallick – He’s the winner of Melonade’4. If you wish to laud him for more, he’s an engineer and an MBA, working in Bangalore and a featured writer on Sportskeeda.

Arijit Ghose – Blend Carnatic music with exceptional satire and the result is Arijit Ghose. Cheeky, expressive and vocal – we hope he becomes a great writer someday. 

Amit Nangia – For those working in MNCs for years, he’s your inspiration. Amit’s first novel has just released after facing many rejections but that didn’t deter him from writing. Climbing the rocks, gliding in a parachute, bungee jumping or making cocktails; nothing could elevate his spirits as much as writing did.

Tnahsin Garg - Tnahsin often exercises his freedom by convincing other folks that ‘free will’ does not exist. His first novel ‘The Prophecy of Trivine’ is a science-fiction based in India.

Sujata Parashar – Author of the immensely popular ‘In Pursuit Of’ trilogy, and a wonderful poet. She contributes articles to various websites and magazines, and is a social activist. She’s a guest author in the book. 

BOOK REVIEW: BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY

   

Title : Between Shades of Gray

Author : Ruta Sepetys

Publisher : Philomel Books

Published on : 22nd March, 2011

SYNOPSIS

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

REVIEW

I'm sure everyone here knows about World War II, one of the darkest periods in our history. And what comes to your mind when someone mentions it? Hitler perhaps? Or the Axis and Allied powers? The Book Thief? Anne Frank? How many are familiar with the Baltic Invasion? I wasn't till I read this book.

Between Shades of Gray is different from other WWII books because it doesn't focus on an event widely known by the world, but the one that has been overlooked for quite sometime by history as trivial. 

The Baltic countries beside Russia, like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also suffered greatly. BSoG captures the hardships one of the Baltic countries had to go through. 

Lina finds her life as well as her family's abruptly spiraling out of control when the Soviets deport them to Siberia. Everyday becomes a struggle to survive. Starvation and illness become a constant companion and hope to make it out alive as a family is the only will to try and survive.

This is not a pretty book. It shows the ugliest side of humanity but also it shows how resilient we are. But the author mainly focused on how unfair it is that history never remembered the pain of the Baltic countries during and after the war. And it is unfair. I truly didn't even know about labour camps, similar to concentration camps set up by the Nazis to execute Jews, were also set up by Russians to punish the people of the Baltic countries. 

To say I'm grateful that Ruta brought this story to life seems wrong, as all these unthinkable things actually happened to millions of people. But I am grateful because she gave the people of Lithuania a voice and it needs to be heard by everyone. So I urge you all to read this book

PS:

Between Shades of Gray is being turned into a movie titled Ashes In the Snow . Click the link to find out more :)

October Book Picks

Hello Everyone! 
October is here and we're back, as usual, with two books, one Indian and the other, a non-Indian book to enjoy this month. We hope you enjoyed our picks for last month. 
In the last post, we asked you to vote for your favourite book on Goodreads and after an overwhelming response, we've decided on our Indian and the non-Indian books for the month; 

1. THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE BY MANU JOSEPH.

                                          

Ousep Chacko, journalist and failed novelist, prides himself on being “the last of the real men.” This includes waking neighbors upon returning late from the pub. His wife Mariamma stretches their money, raises their two boys, and, in her spare time, gleefully fantasizes about Ousep dying. One day, their seemingly happy seventeen-year-old son Unni—an obsessed comic-book artist—falls from the balcony, leaving them to wonder whether it was an accident. Three years later, Ousep receives a package that sends him searching for the answer, hounding his son’s former friends, attending a cartoonists’ meeting, and even accosting a famous neurosurgeon. Meanwhile, younger son Thoma, missing his brother, falls head over heels for the much older girl who befriended them both. Haughty and beautiful, she has her own secrets. The Illicit Happiness of Other People—a smart, wry, and poignant novel—teases you with its mystery, philosophy, and unlikely love story.

ADD ON GOODREADS / BUY HERE

2. ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE BY ANTHONY DOERR

"WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. 

Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).

ADD ON GOODREADS

Hope you guys join us. Don't forget to use the tag #ficfortressreads on social medias while updating your progress regarding these books.

Happy Reading, Soldiers!

#CoverReveal: Shanti And The Magic Mandala by F.T.Camargo

Shanti and the Magic Mandala is an adventure in which fantasy and reality are mingled. The book tells the story of six teenagers, from different religious and cultural origins and different parts of the world, who are mystically recruited to form two groups - one in the Northern Hemisphere, and one in the Southern. They eventually gather in Peru, and through a single alliance, begin a frantic chase for the sacred object that can stop the black magician's final plan.

Amazon.com I Amazon.in I Amazon.co.uk I Barnes & Noble I Google Play 

Awards & Recognition for the Book

- Winner of 2014 London Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.

- 2014 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards: Bronze Medal at “Young Adult Fiction – Spirituality” category

- 2014 New England Book Festival in Boston:  Honorable Mention in the category “Young Adult”.

- Winner of 2015 Paris Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.

- Winner of 2015 International Book Awards in the category “Fiction / Young Adult”.

- Winner of 2015 New York Book Festival in the category “Young Adult”.

- 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival – Runner-up in the category “Young Adult”.

- 2015 San Francisco Book Festival – Runner-up in the category “Young Adult”.

- 2015 DIY Book Festival in Los Angeles: Honorable Mention in the category “Young Adult”.

About the Author

F. T. Camargo is an Italian-Brazilian living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An award-winning architect and author, he also studied Arts and Media and has a post-degree in Economics and MBA in e-commerce. He is a vegetarian because of his love for all animals and has been deeply involved in causes for their protection and freedom. He is a world traveler-adventurer, outdoor sports lover, speaks 4 languages and has published a travel book “Rio, Maravilha!”

For many years, he has been practicing yoga and meditation and studying the Kabbalah. His exploration of spiritual teachings motivated a commitment to self-development which in turn created a new path and goal in life. Shanti and the Magic Mandala was born from his inner journey.

Contact the Author

Website I Facebook I Twitter

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