Steampunk Avarice Review
লেখক: Debraj Moulick
শিল্পী: Team Kalpabiswa
Author: Sumit Bardhan
Language: English
Genre: Steam Punk, Science Fiction, Detective Thriller
Country: India
Published by: Kalpabiswa Publication
Blurb
IN A WORLD OF AIRSHIPS AND ALCHEMY, ONE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR MUST UNRAVEL A THEFT LEADING TO A DEEPER ENIGMA
It is the early twentieth century in an alternate-reality Calcutta. Here airships fly in the air, alchemy is an established practice and mythical races live alongside humans. Against this backdrop, private investigator Dhoorjoti is tasked with solving the case of a theft at the prestigious Indo-British Clockworks. But what looks like a simple crime, soon deepens into a deeper mystery.
The Effect of Avarice
The opening sentence provides a sense of laidback ease in the life two adults engaged in casual conversation of life. Sumit Bardhan draws the setting of the bachelor’s pad with the help of carefully chosen words and thus transfers the readers to be a part of the conversation. It seems to be an ordinary setting in which the main protagonist Detective Dhoorjooti (notice the nomenclature, another name of Lord Shiva, just like Saradindu Bandopadhay’s celebrated Byomkesh) is introduced along with his sidekick, Jatin who prefers to document the cases. Yes, the author adapts the age-old tradition of Watson, Ajit and Topshe to document the exploits of the Sleuth.
It is almost similar to the drawing rooms of Holmes, Bakshi, Mitter, Dupin, Mitarai, and Poirot among others. Bardhan follows them until the readers are taken out of the room into the by-lanes of Calcutta and most importantly to the place of crime which deals in time, clocks to be specific. A new world is ushered to the readers, the audience experiences a crime scene set in a world of steam-driven world in the early years of 20th-century British India. The author amalgamates a unique historical world (realism) with the elements of speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy) and serves it in the palate of a detective crime thriller. This is the main turf of the novel, the promising world-building.
No place for spoilers in the review, it is a crime.
The crime is quickly solved by Detective Dhoorjoti only to realize that a bigger sinister plan is lurking in the background. The setting changes from the by-lanes of Calcutta to a place in the countryside under local administration. To prove the notion of crime, Dhoorjoti along with the assistance of his sidekick Jatin, unleashes his science of deduction. He then prepares the stage for the opponent and anxiously awaits the curtain call. With an air of surprise and betrayal in the story, the climax will provide readers with an adrenaline-filled experience. It also introduces a narrative of two crooks only to reveal their trifling part in a major game of science, black magic, alchemy, and yes the lust of money; Avarice.
You will get to know about the details of unique robots that are known to serve mankind, and the complex methodology to control them. A whole set of creatures from the realm of fantasy is served along with some appealing state-of-the-art weapons is served on the narrative of the plot. The creatures of fantasy, the unique robot, and several vintage-styled weapons thicken the palette of Sumit Bardhan’s plotting of Avarice. It is not only about a detective solving a crime but it is about the unleashing of a new kind of world, the world of Steam Punk, previously attempted by Sumit Bardhan in his Bengali work, Bhushondir Math.
To find out:
- What is the crime?
- Who is the criminal or a set of criminals?
- Who is the master planner?
- What is the motive of the crime?
- How does Dhoorjoti solve the mysterious affair?
- And more importantly, how did Bardhan build up this attention-grabbing background?
Well, just grab a copy of Avarice!! (Check out the cover picture by Ujjawal Ghosh and the glossy feel of the book)
Kalpabiswa, the leading publisher of Bengali Science Fiction and fantasy, ventures into English Science Fiction with Sumit Bardhan’s steampunk detective thriller, Avarice, with excellent world-building, characterization, and a nail-biting plotline. Enjoy the feel of a hardbound copy.
Pros
- Character development of the investigating duo
- Innovative world-building, probably the first Indian Steam Punk Detective Thriller
- The fusion of fantastic elements in the plot
- A crime followed by another sinister motive and…
Cons
- The Bengali version Arthatrishnaboasted some great illustrations by Adrija Bardhan. They are invisible in Avarice.
- Origin Story of Dhoorjoti and Jatin.
