Blog – Page 11 – Anna Bushi

Unveiling my book title

I am excited to share the title of Book 1 in the Prophesied Prince series: Child of the River.

A year ago, a ship arrived on the shores of Magadha. In a declaration of war, the men Magadha had sent as emissaries to Kashgar returned as corpses on that vessel. King Jay sends Prince Atul to route out the rebels and seat Aggabodhi on the throne. Atul is prepared to wage war against men. What he encounters is curses and spells. How does Atul defeat what he does not understand? Especially when he hears voices urging him to protect a girl he has never met. A girl named Sugandha.

Excerpt of the Prologue:

On that dreary day, the sea was choppy and gray. Powerful waves crashed against the rocks, spraying water in a mist. The tall and steep cliffs at the ocean’s edge loomed large and dark. All day, her grandfather had seemed weary and distracted. Sugandha had wondered what troubled him. When he cautioned her to stay home and left hurriedly, Sugandha followed her grandfather to the beach and now stood partially hidden behind a sandstone boulder. She wriggled her toes, wishing she could be home, eating her meal. Her fingers grazed the rough edge of the rock. She shifted to one side to view the bumps on the surface and found a carving of a boat. It had weathered in time, but the image remained clear. With the sails fluttering in the wind, she could almost imagine the raft afloat. Did the sculptor use his imagination, or did a real craft loom in front of him like the one before her eyes? A large ship tossed on the waves, and she could see people moving on its deck. The howling wind sounded like a cry for help from the ship’s passengers.

Continue reading the prologue.

Book Review: Anxious People

(Mis)quoting Hermoine, if anyone thinks all men have the emotional range of a teaspoon, they have not read a book by Fredrik Backman.

Anxious people took me on a fantastic journey of human emotions. Like a lunatic, I laughed and cried over imaginary characters, never feeling better.

How does this author tug our hearts with simple words?

Some of my favorites without revealing any spoilers:

We never got past the first flush of infatuation
my heart broke into a dance at reading this line

The dialogue ending with “But she was your mom.”
encapsulates the wonderful family ties.

Jack and Jim, the two police officers: every scene between them was brilliant.

I wrote about two characters who plan to take their own lives in the War of the Three Kings. One does jump off a balcony, and the other doesn’t. Both their actions create ripples that touch all who have come in contact with them. Writing about suicide is hard, and Fredrik does it with a gentle touch while not shying away from digging deep into how it affects the living.

Go read this book. Fall in love with these characters. Let them break your heart and put it back together. All within the same paragraph.

Book Review: SciFi novel by a desi author

I finished reading Unearthing Idyll, debut SciFi novel by Dhara Parekh, and my first question is, when is book two coming out? I cannot wait to read what happens next.

I met the author at a local book event. After hearing about her book, I purchased a signed copy, excited to read a SciFi novel by a fellow desi author.

The story unfolds in the future. About 7,000 human beings live on an asteroid orbiting Earth. One of them, Lyra, wants to escape her home, where she feels caged in the small society.

Aryabh, a man born on Earth who finds no future on the planet, thwarts her efforts to travel there. The author serves a gourmet meal, one that should be savored slowly.

I loved Kenai and Sagan, able sidekicks to our main protagonists. The way Aryabh’s email to Lyra is spread throughout the chapters is a nice touch. Don’t miss the Earthler news sprinkled under the chapter heading.

The author explores what it means to be part of a community and how it shapes us. Most importantly, she has created a fantastic world and realistic characters. Looking forward to spending more time in her world.

Book Review: The Song of the Marked

This is the first book I am reading by S. M. Gaither, and I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy novel.

Protagonist Cas survived fading sickness, an illness that killed nearly everyone else. The reason for her survival is a mystery, though the disease leaves its mark on her with her colorless hair and eyes.

She and her outlaw friends are returning from a mission when she meets Elander. Sparks fly between them.

Elander is the king’s captain and captures her in another encounter and seems intent on protecting her from the king. Cas, who is plenty capable of protecting herself, agrees to help the king find a way to cure fading sickness.

I loved all the world-building and the magic system. Powerful and mysterious God and Goddess are always a draw, and the author paints a dark and intricate picture of this empire.

The author peels the layer of mystery one by one, leaving the readers wanting more. The ending was a nice twist.

I enjoyed this book and looking forward to reading the other four books in the Shadows and Crown series.

Book review: Such a Fun Age

Kudos to the author for tackling the hard subject of race. Her light-hearted novel appears to be the perfect vehicle for introspection.

Emira is a black nanny for a white family. The story starts with an urgent call from her employer. The wife, Alix, wants Emira to babysit Briar late at night. Emira leaves the party she is at to take the toddler to a grocery store. At the store, a security guard detains Emira, concerned for the child. While Emira explains her side, Kelley, a white guy, films the encounter.

After setting the stage with this brilliant start, the book explores Emira and Alix’s story through the lens of race and class differences. I appreciate that there are several women of color in this tale, all with distinct characteristics.

Emira is content to babysit Bri, whom she adores. Bri, likewise, is attached to Emira. But Emira is fast approaching the age where she will lose health insurance through her parents, so she is worried about finding another job. However, Emira is not doing much beyond worrying. Tamra, a black superwoman with perfect children, is a perfect foil for our laid-back protagonist.

Alix, missing her life in NY as a self-help guru, decides to help Emira, though Emira never asks for it. Their dynamics is a great read.

Kelley befriends Emira and becomes her boyfriend. Nothing black and white about his motivations.

All the little moments in this story paint a vivid portrait of life in America.

The story is about our hidden prejudices and biases. Though we all have them, the biases of people in power affect us the most. I would definitely recommend this debut novel by Kiley Reid.

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With the eyes of their sculpted ancestors following their moves from pillars around the palace, the Malla siblings fight to protect their empire—uncovering treason—battling deadly enemies—guarding secrets—without losing their heart.

This omnibus edition includes all three books in the trilogy: Heir to Malla, War of the Three Kings and Burden of the Crown.

Listen

Heir to Malla is the first book in the epic Land of Magadha trilogy.

In medieval Magadha, a young princess stands alone between the throne and an enemy horde.

Raised in ancient Indian tradition, Princess Meera neither wields a sword nor wears the crown. She is content to let her father and brother manage the affairs of the court. She performs her duties and knows her place.

When her brother disappears in enemy territory, her kingdom is left without an heir. As princes vie for her hand to capture the throne, her only use seems to lie in her ability to give birth to a son to wear the crown.

Afraid for her people’s future and her brother’s life, Meera can no longer accept her traditional role. As she fights to guard her heart and keep her kingdom safe, she struggles to navigate the royal game of chess without becoming a pawn.

Can she save what she holds most dear, or is her brother’s disappearance a harbinger of worse to come?

This royal Indian saga blazes with adventure and love.

Book Review – Fool’s Fate

Fool’s Fate concludes the Tawny Man series, drawing in threads from the Farseer and Liveship Traders trilogy. I loved the book for the emotional roller coaster and the very satisfying end to Fitz’s story.

The best character out of this series is the Fool. From his riddles to his love for Fitz, the author draws him in such bright colors. He jumped out of the pages into my heart. I loved the poem he penned.

In that last dance of chances I shall partner you no more.
Fool

Chade, another character from the Farseer Trilogy, plays a prominent role in this series. The ease with which Fitz fits into his life at Buckkeep after a decade of absence is mainly due to his old mentor. I loved all the scenes between the master and the student, though their roles were reversed at times.

To quote Fitz: It pleased me that the author accorded Lady Patience the storytime she deserved.

The magic, while well thought out, does allow the author to get her characters out of tough situations without paying for their foolishness. In that one way, this series differs from the Farseer Trilogy. In that earlier series, folks paid a steep price for their mistakes. This series is all about second chances.

I loved the Keppet easter egg.

Robin Hobb is a master storyteller, and she did not disappoint me.

Book Review – Golden Fool

Golden Fool is better than Book 1 of the Tawny Man trilogy. I felt like a skill user drawn into the skill current, forgetting food and sleep. Only in my case, Robin Hobb’s magical storytelling pulled me into the book, and I could not rest till I finished it.

So far, Nettle has only appeared in Fitz’s dreams, and yet, the author paints her in beautiful colors in each scene.

Fitz and the Fool – their relationship is portrayed beautifully. The author squeezed my heart with this line:

I set no boundaries on my love.
Fool

And this line at the end broke me:

Beloved, I have missed your company.
Fitz

Dutiful and Fitz – The boy’s longing for a father and Fitz’s yearning to tell him the truth is sheer poetry. This line is a perfect illustration of that:

he spoke as a prince speaks to a servant, not as a boy would address his father.
Fitz

Robin Hobb is a master in character-driven fantasy. I cannot wait to read the conclusion to this trilogy.

Book Review: Fool’s Errand

After two years, I returned to the magic world crafted by Robin Hobb. You can read my reviews of the Liveships Traders here. She is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and I read Fool’s Errand, no I gobbled this book in less than a week. Once I started reading, I could not stop wanting to know what happened to Fitz, Fool, and other beloved characters.

The story starts a decade or so after the Farseer Trilogy. Fitz leads a life of isolation, but not for long. Beloved characters from that trilogy, Chade, Starling, and Fool, appear in consecutive chapters to help us readers reorient with the story and offer a glimpse of what is to come.

Before long, Fitz is back in the action, looking for Prince Dutiful, and what an adventure it is. I loved how real all the magic feels. Best of all is the characters and how they leaped out of the pages into my heart.

Robin is a master at her craft. And I could happily live in the world of her imagination. I am off to read book two.

Book Review: Talk to Me

The greatest thing a writer can do is to make you care deeply for fictional characters appearing on the page. Author John Kenney achieves that from page one. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew Ted, Claire, and Fran. I could feel their emotions and pain.

Ted, a TV news anchor, has a bad day. His marriage was falling apart. He has no relationship with his daughter. A young immigrant faces the brunt of his anger, and she did nothing to deserve it. Unfortunately for Ted, his verbal abuse is caught on camera.

How we use social media to communicate forms the backdrop for this novel. When our faults are captured for eternity and displayed for the world to consume and comment—anonymously, then there is no room for heroes in the real world. Because who among us is perfect every moment in our lives?

That is why we seek heroes in our books and movies. Legends shaped by our imagination and untouched by reality become our escape.

This is a very human story about marriage and parenthood and how sometimes we lose sight of what is precious.