Review: Kingdom Above the Cloud by Maggie Platt

What if the nine Fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Deadly Sins were locked in a battle for control? 

Abandoned as infants, Tovi and her twin brother were raised by an eclectic tribe of warm, kind people in a treehouse village in the valley. After her brother’s sudden disappearance Tovi questions her life and her faith in an invisible King. Ignoring her best friend Silas’ advice, she decides to search for her brother in the kingdom on top of the mountain. 

Above the cloud, the Council of Masters receive their orders. Tovi and her brother are the objectives. King Damien has a plan and Tovi is the key. The Council of Masters want her, but will she remain unscathed? Amidst the glamour of the kingdom above the cloud Tovi is torn between her own dark desires and unanswered questions.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Allegory 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review: Kingdom above the cloud is categorized as a Christian fiction story but I did not feel it to have any influence on my reading experience. Perhaps the story has some references to old tales from the Bible but as a non-christian reader, I read this book as a fantasy fiction and I enjoyed it. 

The story starts with King Damien, ruling the kingdom from above the clouds (Mount Damien), trying to avoid a prophecy of his downfall be seeking a person from the world below the cloud (Adia) . His intention is to find his mentor turned enemy Adwin who is worshipped as a God in Adia and in the lower ring of Mount Damien too. There are old legends, stories, and rumors about Adwin but no one seems to know the true person or reasons for his disappearance from Mount Damien. There are places where you can draw the parallels between Adwin & God(s) you believe in, irrespective of your religion. This flexibility to interpret the story and to be able to like it was one of the unique things about this book.

The story pushes forward as we follow a lost young woman Tovi who has felt a lot of unhappiness in life and with no one to lean on, she has a lot of resentment towards Adwin. It does not help that in her stubbornness and naivety, she does not recognize the love and care she had received in Adia after being abandoned by her parents along with her twin brother. When she falls for the trap set by King Damien's council of masters and leaves Adia for seeking answers from Mount Damien, she will have to learn on her own whether to fall for the stories & lessons imparted to her by Damien or to seek strength from the stories taught to her by her adoptive parents and best friend. 

As pieces start falling in place for the prophecy to come true and King Damien trying to change it , we see changes in people's loyalty and how it is reflected in their appearance and thoughts. 

The world-building , the writing, the characters, and the various mysteries are all done beautifully in the book. I was able to finish the book in less than a day as the story was too intriguing from the beginning. I could relate to the thoughts on faith, pain & suffering and in unconditional love as it aligns with my personal beliefs but it is not too hard to ignore that and read it as a normal fiction. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting Tovi & Adwin again in next book.  

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The Land of the Wilted Rose

THE LAND OF THE WILTED ROSE
AUTHOR: Anand Ranganathan
Genre: Novel / Fiction
ISBN-13: 9788129119216 
NO. OF PAGES: 154
PRICE: Rs. 195 (I got this from Blogadda)

image courtesy: amazon

EXCERPT: (on the death of the previous Maharaja and the description of his death) " ...even smothering becomes pleasant when the tool is a goose-down pillow enclosed in the finest Tutticorin silk " 

SWARNALI SPEAKS: One question that comes to my mind after reading this book is what made the author write this or for that matter the other 3 in the series. I suppose the author was trying to create a parallel situation with role reversals, with the Indian Raj ruling over the world and the British being imprisoned and turned to slaves. The whole point in doing so was maybe to make everyone realize how painful being imprisoned in our own land by foreigners is. Sadly, I could not empathize with the condition of the British anywhere in the book. It is not that I think it serves them right but its that I couldn't feel their pain through the book. The author has missed in evoking a sense of loss that the subjugated feel.

I had a really hard time finishing the book. The 156 pg size of the book can be deceptive as it demands a lot of time to comprehend and re-read certain portions. The narrative in the beginning makes no effort to catch the reader’s attention and begins with a painfully slow pace which continues throughout the book. I personally felt that the author has gone a bit too much trying to describe the situation and the conditions of the people living in Britain. 

The use of Hinglish makes matters even worse as it took me a very long time to comprehend certain terms or sentences which were Hindi written in the Roman script. Take an example- “Hooo-hoo-which-baa-wa-wa-wa-hoooaa-throom-hooaah?” It took me 5 readings to understand that it meant, “To which bathroom?”. Apart from it the repetitive use of Anglicized Hindi curse words like “ban-cho” and “caukrow” to replace the usual English curse words made it very troublesome to read. Also, the author paid a lot of attention that every object of daily use is mentioned in its Indian name, like “jooti” , “sherwani” , “kamarbandh” , “baint” , “jaatiwaad” among others. This I found to be a bit unnecessary as their English names could have been easily used. But if the author had intended to giving everything an Indian name, I wonder why the official ranks were excused from their Indian rankings. Why were then they called “Viceroy”, “Colonel” and “Admiral” instead of “Senapati” or “Zameendaar”? 

The first part of the book was dragged beyond need trying to explain everything in detail, every single building, vehicle and object. It is only toward the end of part 1 and in part 2 that the book gains some pace.

The book cover says it is a black comedy and its very evident that this is a very satiric work. The name suggests a Gandhian figure, Jack Riley trying to free his country from the clutches of the rulers i.e. Indians. The whole idea of a 17 year old Maharaja (who thinks he is aging!!) is a banter on the social system. The book reminds me of Mulk Raj Anand’s Coolie  in its description of the suffering English but it lacks Anand’s empathy and sensitivity as I find it turning bitter at certain points. The book could have been made more interesting and far better had the narrative and choice of words been handled better.

MY RATING: 2 / 5

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