Tapovan the Iron - Tvisha
My Rating: 5/5
For the last decade or so, most of the time I pick up the books that I am going to read, since I stopped reading Chetan Bhatasque writers long ago, but at times a book comes my way on its own (this time to my pleasant surprise), and I am super glad that this one did. Turns out a terrific read with so much heart in it that I will be eagerly looking forward to its sequel as and when it comes out. From the title, I guessed it would be a Mythological fiction, whereas it turns out to be an amazing historical fiction from the Gujarat belt. Story of the fallen kingdom of Rajgadh (fictional city): a king and queen under house arrest, with their crown prince on the run from the Delhi Sultanate, with no whereabouts of his own family, a princess in distress who fights the enemies but gets severely injured while attempting the escape, somehow gets off their clutches. Enter our hero in the form of an ironsmith, Hiranmay, all of nineteen years, who has his own story of becoming a recent orphan with two very young twins (a cute brother and a daring sister) and a distant uncle and aunt taking care of them. The only way out for him is to heat the cold forge owned by his father, while he helps the princess in distress without knowing anything about her on his own. What happens next is to be read in this fantastic, suspenseful, with simplicity as its core yet heart-touching.
I loved the way the author describes the geography and the village life with so many Gujarati terms and, at times, little sentences, that made me grin widely, as I know a little bit of the language and could easily make out what was being said. It reminded me of so many English books that I have read from all parts of the world where they pick up, at times, French, German or even Latin, for that matter, and they offer no translation at times. This is our revenge on them :) If the Western world ends up reading this book. There was so much in this book other than, of course, the suspenseful story; the timing of it all happening around Diwali shows the countryside in a different light altogether. Beautiful village setting with Hiranmay taking care of his little brother and sister, them looking forward to the new guest with storytelling at the end of the day to put them to sleep, etc. On top of all that, I loved the way the story progresses, and Hiranmay goes one step ahead to help his kingdom get back its glory, reminding me so much of Devaki Nandan Khatri’s much loved and admired “Chandrakanta Santati”. If you have read this one, you will agree with me for sure. Without disclosing much, I must say I will be waiting for its next part, as I said earlier, to know what happens next.
I must say that I may be among the very first few who have got the book before its publication, as I just checked; it's now available to pre-order on Amazon too. Do let me know how you like it if you end up reading this one.
