Kavithri - Aman J. Bedi - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Aman J. Bedi

SERIES: Ghosts of Ethuran, #1

GENRE: Epic Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: May 16, 2024

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: An epic dark fantasy in a South Asian setting. Intriguing lead character. Great fantastical elements. Complex world hierarchy. Too gruesome, especially in the final quarter. First of a planned trilogy. A good start to the series if you can handle the brutality.

Plot Preview:

Kavithri, aka Kavi, is of the Taemu, a warrior clan that was once mighty but now considered the lowest in the social hierarchy after their loss against the mightier Raayans. Alone since many years and surviving by doing menial work, Kavi still dares to dream – she wishes to earn a place at the exclusive mage academy and use its secret devices to locate her long-lost family. Doing so would involve facing the mysterious Jinn and handling their callous challenges, but the reward seems worth the risk. As Kavi moves towards her ambition, she learns what it means to be a Taemu who fights and aspires to reach beyond her lowly status. But is the world ready for such a rebel?

The story comes to us mostly in Kavi’s third-person perspective.

Bookish Yays:

💪🏼 Kavi, our titular protagonist with a never-give-up attitude. She is complex and flawed, yet likeable. Most of us readers do love rooting for the underdog, and Kavi epitomises this term in every way.

💪🏼 Some of the secondary characters such as Bithun, Massa, Chotu, Hessal and many more. Each had roles in varying lengths, but never dominated the narrative. They fulfilled the role of “supporting” character to the hilt.

💪🏼 The “South Asian” aspect of the fantasy. The setting is clearly South India-inspired, but still not a recognisable India. I kept wondering if the three classes were allegorical indicators to any extent. The Kraelish seemed to be a variant of the British colonials. But there is no direct real-world equivalent to the Raayans and the Taemu. So perhaps my historical-fiction-loving head is overthinking a fictional fantasy. Either way, the book uses the setting well, with the sights, smells, dirt, sweat and toil all being equal part of the narrative.

💪🏼 I am somewhat apprehensive of Indian books as many of these focus on caste/class issues stereotypically. However, this story focusses on class in an novel manner – by highlighting how the losers in a war are pushed to the edge of the social hierarchy. It is a system based on power than on birth credentials or social mores. Similarly, the content highlights the poverty of some classes but in equal measure, focusses on the rich outsiders who loot the locals without guilt. Colonialism, oppression, racism all have a role to play in the plot, but none in the usual way. It was an interesting look at pseudo-facts through a fantastical lens.

💪🏼 The found family trope that highlights connections across age, race, gender and wealth. Nicely done!

💪🏼 The twisty plot development. While some things are easy to guess, there are many surprises along the way: some good, some horrifying.

💪🏼 No romance, forced or otherwise. Love it when a book sticks to its purpose. All the more praiseworthy in a book with a female protagonist.

💪🏼 The magic is delectable! A curious medley of (Indian) mythological-style weapons and Jinn-based powers.

💪🏼 The visceral writing, which caused me to experience every scene and its highs and lows to my core. This is especially true of the action sequences. Strictly speaking, such scenes aren’t at all my cup of tea, but I must acknowledge that they are really well written. I could actually feel the sweat and the grit (and the blood too – yikes!) Couldn’t have guessed that this was a debut work!

💪🏼 Drisana’s story in the interludes – Wow! I wanted so much more of her!

💪🏼 That cover and the caption!

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🤔 The world building. While I could visualise the physical world excellently, the political and historical background went a little above my epic-fantasy-fearing head. I found myself somewhat lost in the complicated structure of class and country for most of the first half. So I just decided to go with the flow and got a rough idea of the hierarchy, though I am still not too sure of the key players’ motivations and interests. This might not be an issue to avid epic-fantasy readers who are used to complicated fantastical worlds.

🤔 Despite the complex structure, the pacing is quite decent. The first half is more about Kavi’s journey towards her dream, so the proceedings are slowish but steady. As the second half is filled with action sequences, it almost zooms by. But this also means that the ending feels somewhat rushed, with plenty of whats and not enough hows or whys. No cliffhanger though – the key arc is complete.

🤔 There is no glossary for the Indian words. This was fine for me as almost all of them were from Hindi, but it will be problematic to those not familiar with Hindi.

Bookish Nays: (Both of these nays are strictly because of my reading preferences. And to be perfectly clear, the author did warn me about both of these points beforehand. I honestly thought I would be able to handle them. Apparently, I am more squeamish than I had assumed. These issues might not be applicable for readers more attuned to such content.)

🤜🏼 The final hundred-or-so pages were not at all for me. Too much gore. Too much brutality. I can sometimes read through graphic scenes without too much flinching, but eyeballs are my Achilles’ heel – simply can’t stand the mention of anything happening to them!

🤜🏼 The Hindi profanity. I don't know why, but I can hop over English vulgarities such as the F-word easily. But Hindi cuss words just cause me to cringe. Western readers won't have a problem with this because they won't even know the words and there's no glossary anyway. However, my sensibilities were a bit scandalised at the plethora of filthy expletives.

All in all, I mostly liked this novel, except for the gore and the cuss words, which were more of a personal constraint.

Epic/Dark fantasy is not at all my genre. But the blurb and that bad-ass heroine on the cover made me want to give this debut novel a go. So I have no comparable standard by which to measure this book against others of its ilk. All I know is, it handled its job well, setting a great foundation to what might end up a promising South Asian fantasy series with a brilliant heroine to champion!

This is the first book of the ‘Ghosts of Ethuran’ trilogy, and based on this explosive start, I am sure the remaining two books will be equally gruesome and gripping. Will I read them? Well, the second cover looks awesome, though a part of me wishes the cover designer hadn’t gone for the obvious Black Widow stance. I guess I’ll have to prepare my stomach to stomach the gore. Good thing I am forewarned! 🤭

Definitely recommended to epic fantasy lovers who love underdog narratives and can handle graphic scenes and enjoy Asian settings.

My thanks to author Aman J. Bedi for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Kavithri”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.