The Aryabhata Clan by Sudipto Das Published by Niyogi Books on 05/12/2017
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Historical
Pages: 476
Format: Paperback
The delightedness of reading a book depends on very few factors. One of them is how the plot unfolds in front of the reader and his mind. Afterall, every story has some of it. Without a storyline, a book or a novel is spineless. Sudipto Das’ latest work, The Aryabhata Clan is a great example of why storyline matters.
The Aryabhata Clan is the second novel in the series after Ekkos clan. The genesis of the plot is coupled with some facts based on author’s research of ancient India, some 1500 years ago. The storyline starts in the present day New Delhi and takes its reader back in time as it advances. The plot is as follows:
The Islamic State has spread its tentacles in India, penetrating stealthily into the academia, media, and politics. The mastermind is Shamsur Ali, a physicist from Bangladesh. To destabilize India, he wants to create a sort of apocalypse, which the 21-year-old Kubha must prevent at any cost, come what may. Much of the plot involves Kubha. The book is murder mystery at the top and that brings the element of thrill on the table.
The interesting thing about the plot of this book is the amount of research author would have gone through. He has touched not only history, but linguistic, paleontology, and politics. There is a good amount of illustrations that explain the concepts involved in this novel.
The writing style is good, mostly involves third person narrative. The characterization in the novel does try hard to cope with loads of information and to advance the storyline at the same time. This does make few parts feel like a drag, but without these characters, this novel would not have been intriguing to read. The length of the book is around 470 pages and I think it is perfect.
I appreciate the effort author has put in creating a world of his own. This is what I want to see to in Indian Fiction and I am being outspoken about it for years. The thrill along with in-depth research sounds like pre-The Lost Symbol Dan Brown?). I do think the writer did try to satisfy most of his readers but with complex structures, you cannot and that is okay with me.
4 out of 5
Nice review