REVIEW: Dance of Shadows by Gourav Mohanty
Epic fantasy fans, rejoice! Gourav Mohanty marches back to the world of Aryavrat in Dance of Shadows, the second book in his impressive debut series, The Raag of Rta. If you haven’t read Sons of Darkness yet, I highly recommend it. The series is uniquely based on the Mahabharata, an Indian Vedic epic poem, and this book pulls even more from the deep, deep well of Indian history. It builds on the first book’s strengths, shores up weaknesses, and stretches into new territory, too.
Instead of a sequel, Dance of Shadows is a parallel story to Sons of Darkness, taking place in the months between the bloody massacre at Princess Draupadi’s Swayamyar and Krishna’s defeat at the battle of Mathura. I was skeptical, but now I see its necessity. The world, plot, and characters were stretched thin at the end of the first book. This book put more meat on their bones, and introduced characters and background information integral to setting up the final conflict. Now there’s even more momentum going into the series finale, and I ended up enjoying this book even more than the first.
I love the vivid, nuanced voices in this series. From the jump, I hear them like they’re sitting across from me, sharing a drink, or pressing a knife to my throat. Mati, Karna, and Nala return (luckily my favorites from book one), and the new cast of characters are again strongly characterized: Dantavakra, the rakish younger brother of Shishupel; Marzana, a cunning priestess; and Vahura, a booksmart princess sleuthing out forbidden knowledge to save her sister (and the realm).
The characters are mostly on the move, which kept a refreshing pace, and between the plots in the Rakshasan Tree City, Magadh, Marzana’s temple, and Nala’s bloody journey with Parshuram, Dance of Shadows illuminated some big questions: what’s the deal with the Unni Ethral death priests? Why did Kalyavan and Bhagadatt betray the emperor to attack Krishna? Who really is the Son of Darkness? By the end, my investment in the first book was totally worth it, with plenty answered and more to chew on.
The first half of Dance of Shadows is more densely plotted than Sons of Darkness—lore drops, desperate choices, and plot twists galore. There were a few narrative deserts in the first book while the different factions plotted, talked, and plotted. This book is more of a jungle, exploring the lush, dangerous world behind all the spider webs spun in the first book. There’s less politics and more worldbuilding, action, and smaller, intimate storylines while characters machete their way through impossible choices. The stakes are still high, and I lost sleep on many “one more chapter” nights.
The back half of the book has several extended plot sequences. Mohanty sometimes departed from his bread-and-butter political web spinning and dipped his toe into horror, heist and adventure writing. I overall enjoyed the rollicking mix of genres. A new author, testing his range, and relishing the joy of exploration is a big thumbs-up from me, although they weren’t the strongest sections and spread the character development a bit thin. They may fall flat for other readers, but I was here for it.
A theme in Dance of Shadows is characters being blackmailed, backed into corners, and forced into impossible decisions. Do they follow their heart? Or sacrifice others to protect themselves? The most compelling tensions, heartbreaks and explosive scenes came when characters chose one or the other, often in surprising–or gruesome–moments of character development. I especially enjoyed Marzana’s story. She’s brilliant, streetsmart, conflicted, and the language in her chapters was often achingly moving. Her and Karna’s perilous romance added a lovely, treacherous flavor. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a romance isn’t believable, and I bought into theirs right away.
One disappointment is a compliment mixed with a critique. The characters are distinct, complicated and entertaining. Mohanty creates exciting foundations for potential character arcs, with textured expositions for the new characters, and then… what’s the literary equivalent of feeling like you’re about to sneeze? They’re all really good characters, but I kept feeling they were just verging on great. Karna’s new Incredible Hulk-esque dual nature, Nala and Masha’s burgeoning romance, and Dantavakra’s maturation were a few arcs that got lost in the plot and were missed opportunities to me.
Dance of Shadows isn’t drowning in blood, but it is violent–when it is, you better not be squeamish. Mohanty’s talent for visceral, gut-wrenching imagery (which I wish he used more consistently for immersive descriptions of setting) made my face contort into new, exciting expressions of horrified awe. However, for my storytelling tastes, the jarring Mortal Kombat-style fatalities, one which was truly, truly gruesome, obliterated the emotional resonance that makes character deaths powerful plot devices for me. In this book, horror trumped heartbreak. Regardless, these scenes will make even our grimmest grimdark readers grimace.
I’m most curious about the female character arcs going forward. By the end of Dance of Shadows, the remaining female characters are primarily motivated by revenge. On one hand, I worry this will reduce their characters to one-dimensional arrows flying towards the hearts of their enemies. On the other hand, the story could complicate the notion of revenge and the characters’ relationship to their vengeance. For example, Nala has a fascinating tension. She must unlock her chakras to unleash their power to take revenge, but in order to unlock them she needs to find acceptance and release her anger—what then will happen to her motivation for revenge? Hopefully the third book capitalizes on these nuanced story opportunities.
Overall, Dance of Shadows was another win for me. Not a masterpiece, but a solid entry into the annals of epic fantasy, and I suspect this young author may write some masterpieces down the line. But Gourav… please give me more chakra magic in the third book. I’m begging you. Go crazy. I’ve been so patient.
Shoutout to Micaela Alcaino for the cover art!
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