Book Review ~ ‘The Pyre’ by David Hair.
The Pyre by David Hair.
The Return of Ravana #1
Genres: Fantasy.
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books.
SYNOPSIS
Mandore, Rajasthan, 769 AD: Ravindra-Raj, the evil sorcerer-king, devises a deadly secret ritual, where he and his seven queens will burn on his pyre, and he will rise again with the powers of Ravana, demon-king of the epic Ramayana. But things go wrong when one queen, the beautiful, spirited Darya, escapes with the help of Aram Dhoop, the court poet.
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 2010: At the site of ancient Mandore, teenagers Vikram, Amanjit, Deepika and Rasita meet and realize that the deathless king and his ghostly brides are hunting them down. As vicious forces from the past come alive, they need to unlock truths that have been hidden for centuries, and fight an ancient battle . . . one more time.
Book Review ~ ‘The Pyre’ by David Hair ~ 5 Stars!
#3WordReview ~ “Thrilling, Mythical, Magical!”
What I always love in Fantasy is when the use of legends and mythologies of our world are brought to life. There is nothing more exciting for me as a reader than to enter a fantasy story where I can recall the myths mentioned and really *believe* in the fantastical elements.
David Hair did an amazing job at recreating the ‘Ravana’ legend, and with the real-life settings of Jodhpur and the trials that the characters face in their everyday life as well as in their adventures, made the characters and the setting so much more believable.
The switching from the present-day story of Vikram, Amanjit, Deepika and Rasita and the relationships they forge with each other because of, and despite of their past lives was so great to witness. To see them struggling with the feelings for each other based on their beliefs of the past was brilliant, and made for some great tension and character development. Parvati’s influence on their present also gave me chills, and I loved finding out how all their stories interconnected.
The past-life scenes were brilliantly written, and I was drawn into Darya and Aram Dhoop’s story due to the beautiful prose, and perfectly timed pacing which had me on tenterhooks throughout.
This was a fantastically written novel which will appeal to readers outside the fantasy genre too.
A 5 star read!
*Review copy was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
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