I really really wanted to like this book. As an Indian, I know how incredible the Mahabharata is. Unfortunately none of that epic scale, characters, story translates to Sons of Darkness.

The prose is flat and, at times, juvenile in an unintentional, bad way. It gives no sense of any urgency to the story, and often felt like I was reading someone's first draft.

The characters. Oh man the characters. In theory they sound really cool. In execution, the writing style tries so hard to make them cool that they're like cartoon caricatures of, I don't know, pick any famous fantasy character like Jon Snow or Jaime Lannister.

What works in grimdark fantasy books like ASOIAF, which the author is a fan of and seems like was trying to emulate, is that we care about the characters first. Here, every character we meet is incredibly one dimensional and I could not tell one from the other.

I'm just incredibly disappointed. There was no exploration worth its dime of caste, class, nobility, evil like there is in the actual Mahabharata. Very sad.

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

Sons of Darkness is a sprawling, ambitious epic fantasy with excellent characters and beautiful worldbuilding brought down by sparse and awkward prose in the style of a light novel.

I wanted to love *Sons of Darkness*, I really did. Mohanty, with his intentionally unfaithful reimagining of the Mahabharata, has created a rich and intriguing world and populated it with compelling characters. Every point of view we see is new and different, offering up a tangle of conflicting desires and emotions, with some truly interesting relationships between them.

Unfortunately, none of this was able to make up for prose that was flat, sparse, awkward, and frequently ungrammatical (particularly with regards to commas) to the point that it was genuinely confusing. Aside from the grammar, which a decent copy edit could have fixed, *Sons of Darkness* frequently left me floundering for grounding details, unable to determine where the action was taking place or to distinguish side characters from one another. It also uses a dialog style that I associate with light novels, full of transcribed “uhrm”s and “mm”s and frequent starting anachronisms, “affirmative action drive” being particularly memorable.

Every time I got caught up in the action and started to really enjoy myself, I only made it a few pages before hitting a sentence that seemed out of place or was so confusingly written I had to backtrack several paragraphs to puzzle it out. What made my inability to actually enjoy reading *Sons of Darkness* so frustrating was how much good stuff there is behind the prose. I really did want to know more about these characters, to find out how the pirate-princess would navigate her newfound love for a landlocked prince and to see the cowherd king play at leading a republic with his war mistress third wife.

I see why other people loved *Sons of Darkness*. I just couldn’t get past the prose.

Review copy received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but prior to that, I purchased the book and gave it a 5 star review.

As I mentioned previously, I learned about this book from Petrik Leo's YouTube channel.

The author describes the story as something he came up with after reading A Game of Thrones and looking for something similar written by or taking place in India. It's a fascinating, intense epic fantasy debut that is a grimdark retelling of the Mahabharata.

It's complex, wonderful and eye-opening for someone who has no experience with the story. I cannot recommend this more!

I actually don’t know how to start this review.

This book was so good, I’m slightly speechless.

However, this is a blog post. It cannot simply be a page with the words BUY THIS BOOK repeated ad infinitum. I shall therefore endeavour to describe why I loved this book so much.

If we start with genre, it’s historical fantasy using mythology as a basis for the magic contained within the novel. So let’s just say from the get-go, I had high hopes. This is my genre. This is what I write. I know both how challenging it is to showcase a mythology and make it entertaining for people who already love it, and make it understandable for those who have never heard of it.

I will say right now, I know almost nothing about the Mahabharata on which this novel is based. It doesn’t matter. It is one hell of a novel that stands on its own feet.

That comes down to the writing. The story weaves between myth, history, war, romance and magic. Nothing is ever too much. Nothing is ever too little.

Err – Gourav – how dare you be so good?

I was absolutely gripped by this story and I really think it will make waves in fantasy and mythology retelling circles when it is released in July.

Game of Thrones is an obvious influence, so is The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.

If anyone reading this is a fan of Joe Abercrombie, you will know that the duel in The Blade Itself makes for a thrilling set piece where almost every POV character comes together. Something similar happens in Sons of Darkness during a wedding swayamvar – where the hand of a princess can be won via a competition.

It’s quite a work of genius how this all plays out.

That of course is down to the characters.

We have Mati a mysterious pirate, who is not all she first seems. Krishna, a conqueror who finds his new kingdom at risk. Shishupal, a former prince who is sick of war. Nala, a young protegee at a temple who has many secrets. Masha, an oracle who has seen the future. And I cannot forget Karna, a low born man who is breaking through all social barriers – but at what cost? All so different. All utterly compelling in their own way.

I do not wish to spoil the plot, so I will leave it here. For those who want to sink their teeth into something complex, thought provoking and epic, this book is for you.

In short, this novel is amazing. How long is it until book 2 comes out?

Oh, and BUY THIS BOOK.

You can thank me later.

I’d like to start by thanking NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It has taken me quite a while to actually read this book, which is probably more my fault than the book’s. I should probably have reconsidered requesting an arc during my exam period, but I do not regret it, because this book was an absolute banger.

It was a little difficult to get into, mainly due to it’s length, slow pacing at the beginning and the amount of characters introduced. But when this story picked up its pacing, it really picked it up. I found myself unable to stop reading, hence why it’s past midnight now and I’ve just finished it. And it was worth staying up for, trust me. Now I just have to wait for the next book, which might be more painful than seeing some of my favorites die in this one.

I would write a bunch more, but my brain is a bit of a mess because of how good this was and I’m still trying to process it all. I will, however, say that I loved Mati. Why? Because I support women’s rights, but most importantly, I support women’s wrongs. Also, I have a weakness for women who refer to their partners (romantic or sexual, in this case the latter) as “lamb”.

I definitely recommend this book, but I also recommend looking up triggers before reading it, as there were quite a few.

Hace ya un tiempo que decidí abrir un poco más mis lecturas a autores no consolidados y aunque a veces me llevo chascos, también he de reconocer que en otras ocasiones la apuesta sale muy bien. Eso ha ocurrido por ejemplo con Sons of Darkness que me echaba un poco para atrás por su extensión, 800 páginas del ala, pero que se lee rapidísimamente y te tiene entretenida durante todos los capítulos.


Partiendo de la base de que la mitología en la que está inspirada me es ajena, no puedo juzgar si es fiel o no a la historia ya conocida. Y me da igual, porque he descubierto un libro entretenidísimo con intrigas políticas, batallas y duelos, sexo, amor y desamor e incluso reivindicaciones de igualdad en una sociedad extremadamente estratificada. Todo muy bien llevado, especialmente para ser una primera novela, ya que apenas se notan bajones en el ritmo de la historia y los personajes están perfectamente definidos, tanto que, a pesar de mis problemas con sus nombres, no tenía que esforzarme por seguir las andanzas de cada uno. Sin duda, hay muchos personajes, cada uno con su personalidad y trayectoria, condenados a encontrarse una y otra vez. Y eso que es solo la primera entrega de la saga, con lo que podríamos pensar que nos encontramos ante un volumen “introductorio”. Pero no es así para nada, en este tomo ya hay bastante tela que cortar.

La gran cantidad de puntos de vista en los que se vertebra la novela puede echar un poco para atrás, pero me atrevería a decir que Gourav Mohanty consigue que esta gran cantidad de información no resulte en ningún momento intimidante para el lector. Tiene una dramatis personae incluida en el texto así como un mapa bastante básico que nos servirá para situarnos en la acción. No obstante, aunque este tipo de ayudas siempre son bienvenidas, es la forma en la que el autor ha sido capaz de entrelazar las vicisitudes de todos los personajes lo que hace que la lectura sea tan agradable. Y el libro tiene muchos detalles que te ayudan a situarte rápidamente en caso de que te hayas despistado.

Sons of Darkness es el comienzo de una saga de fantasía épica muy recomendable, con un trasfondo muy rico del que queda mucho por explorar y con personajes entrañables. Todo un acierto.