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Sons of Darkness

By: Gourav Mohanty
Narrated by: Homer Todiwala
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Summary

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON MEETS SUCCESSION IN AN EPIC REIMAGINING OF THE MAHABHARATA

SOME BALLADS ARE INKED IN BLOOD

Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Satyabhama have put their plans in motion, both within and beyond the Republic’s blood-soaked borders, to protect it from total annihilation.

But they are soon to discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever – and that they are not the only players on the board.

Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways and become a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores.

Brooding and beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past, but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to granting second chances.

Hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through a path of daggers. Meanwhile, his foes and woes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.

Their lives are about to become yet more difficult, as a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise . . . even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.

©2023 Gourav Mohanty (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Critic reviews

'An unforgettable wild journey set in re-imagined Vedic India' SF Book Review

'Like Game of Thrones in an Indian alternative universe... exhilarating... heralds the arrival of a special new talent' Dan Jones

'The sprawling scope of the epics with all the brutal and bleak nature of your favorite grimdarks. Complex geopolitical drama, strife, and military battles to rival the greats of the genre and will have you sitting by the seat of your pants. You're going to want to read this dark South Asian fantasy infused to the brim with Mahabharata and Malazan's DNA' R.R. Virdi

What listeners say about Sons of Darkness

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Epic fantasy meets Mahabharata

Back when I started Sons of Darkness I did not know what to expect exactly. The marketing was interesting. The book's beautiful cover art and title drew me in as well.

Both the prologue as well as part one of the book are absolutely brilliant. Some chapters can also be considered 'grimdark'.

Mohanty then sets out to introduce an interesting cast of characters among which Krishna.

At the background is the clash between the Magadhan Empire and Krishna's Mathuran Republic.

From part two onwards new points of view are introduced. The old POVs are left behind and the main storyline slows down in order to elaborate on some of the other events taking place simultanously (with these new POVs).

These chapters, though probably making sense from an author's point of view, to me felt very much like a lengthy aside. They did not feel very essential to the main story line to me.

Also, sometimes references to GoT and The First Law trilogy were obvious and un-original.

Eventually, Krishna and the others are re-introduced and the main storyline continues on.

Near the end the story features an epic battle.

The narration is well done.

I think the book could have used some more editing to smoothen out the rough parts, but is definitely interesting.

All together, I would like to rate this novel 3.5 stars, but will settle for four as Audible only allows either three of four stars.

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