Book Review: Shadows Of The Northlands





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Title: Shadows of the Northlands
Author: Vishwesh Desai
Genre: Fantasy, Historical
Pages: 512
Publisher: Estrade Publishers

Rating: 4/5

Shadows of the Northlands is a historical fantasy by Vishwesh Desai. The author is a 14 year old, yes you read that right! I cannot begin to tell you how surprised I was when I read the book and connected the effort to that of a 14 year old. It is just truly exceptional! More on my thoughts later. First, let's get to the summary.

 Salisar is a mighty empire, attacks on which have been ceased centuries ago. But recent events of destruction tell a different story. Merin, a bounty hunter and Rikkard, the courtier mage, are given the responsibility to find the root cause of it all. Together they travel the empire and encounter shocking mysteries, not to mention the secret Merin discovers, related to his past. They also have to unravel the mystery of the dark forces that threaten the empire. I am not revealing much here as usual, I need you to maintain your excitement, after all. All in all, the story is a fantastic rendition of magic, humor and suspense.

Time for my thoughts on the book. The author has created an entire fictional empire, complete with its history and eventualities intact. The first thing that caught my attention was the language used in the book. It is delightfully sophisticated. The manner with which the dialog shifts between characters is neat and smooth. The narrative flows oh-so-smoothly and the reader is simply sucked into the plot and its unraveling mysteries. 

 The book begins with an interesting foreword by Ashok K. Banker, the famous author and that sets the stage for the story to unveil. Now a little something about the author. Shadows of the Northlands is a good read, no doubt, but what makes it interesting is the fact that the plot, character sketch which are all so intense and deep, are actually penned by a 14 year old! What talent! You've got to read the book to understand what I am talking about. The writing is at par with the other good authors we have today. Way to go, Vishwesh!

 A must read for historical fantasy lovers, but even otherwise if you love reading a book with good language skills, then you shouldn't miss this one.
*** I won a review copy from Chevus'Read. Follow Chevus'Read blog http://chevusread.blogspot.com or their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fewgoodreads for more updates.***

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