Get Your Free Audiobook
-
Sons of Darkness
- Narrated by: Homer Todiwala
- Length: 24 hrs and 6 mins
Failed to add items
Add to cart failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
New to Audible Prime Member exclusive: 2 credits with free trial
Sons of Darkness
Buy Now for ₹759.00
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
Bloomsbury presents Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty, read by Homer Todiwala.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON MEETS SUCCESSION IN AN EPIC REIMAGINING OF THE MAHABHARATA
'An unforgettable wild journey set in re-imagined Vedic India' SF Book Review
'Like Game of Thrones in an Indian alternative universe... exhilarating... heralds the arrival of a special new talent' Dan Jones
'Mahabharata imbued with A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, & Malazan Book of the Fallen' Novel Notions
SOME BALLADS ARE INKED IN BLOOD
Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Satyabhama have put their plans in motion, both within and beyond the Republic’s blood-soaked borders, to protect it from total annihilation.
But they are soon to discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever – and that they are not the only players on the board.
Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways and become a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores.
Brooding and beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past, but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to granting second chances.
Hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through a path of daggers. Meanwhile, his foes and woes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.
Their lives are about to become yet more difficult, as a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise . . . even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.
'Incredible' FanFi Addict
'Phenomenal' Fantasy Book Critic
'A stunning debut' Michael R. Fletcher
'Unforgettable' SF Book Review
'Outstanding' Shauna Lawless
'Vivid... riveting' Kirkus Reviews
'Breathtaking' Anand Neelakantan
'Brutal and bleak' R.R. Virdi
'A series to watch' Philip Chase
'Wild, intriguing' Online Book Club
'Vast and sweeping' Reedsy
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
What listeners say about Sons of Darkness
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Bhumika
- 13-05-24
A Mahabharat with no Avatars of Gods, no Paragons of Dharma, just men and their greed.
This is an interesting re-imagination of Mahabharat in a grim Kalyug like world. A world where Lord Krishna is not an Avatar of Lord Vishnu, and Arjun and Pandus are not Paragon of Dharma but players in a game of greed.
The book's scope is not limited to Mahabharat, it has foundation to break away from it and be something unique and different.
Battle of Mathura and Swayamwar are a great example of that.
Gaurav's love for A song of Ice and Fire and The First Law trilogy shines through this book, a little too much in some sections.
Shakuni is one such section where he, despite being an intresting charcter to follow, becomes a weak link due to his over resembles to Glotka.
Bheeshma's presence in this book is a minor one, but in some scenes he resembles Arch Lector Sult. His dynamic with Shakuni only aggravate's the case further.
Apart from that, this book has been great. The characters are thoroughly explored and given time to grow, and few, if any feel rushed.
Same is true for the World-building, Gaurav has managed to paint a vivid picture of Old Aryawrat in new shades and light where nothing feels out of place and everything is in Harmony.
Wish I could say the same for the magic system. We have covered it's basic in this book, but seen it in action in only two scene at most.
I'm hoping that the next book would quench my thirst for more magic and Pandavas Pov.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Milan Tandel
- 23-09-24
a strong fantasy but not flawless
ke first mainland indian epic grimdark fantasy, it's a highly interesting read. inspired by the dark and gory nature of the song of ice and fire and the heavy themes of mahabharata, sons of darkness draws from the familiar world of ancient aryavart, and introduces our known and loved characters into the chaos of nihilist and gritty world.
LIKES
- the magic system (it's based in yogic philosophy!!)
- the court politics (much more complex then the original mahabharata)
- the character of Nala (yes, they're basically copied from Amba/Shikhandini, but I love highly destructived female rage)
DISLIKES
- the characterisation of most characters : I get the Pandavas are made “morally gray”, but some of the things they do are straight up bullshit. instead Duryodhan is just a misunderstood baby who's actually nice and very duty-bound. I hate this bastardization of Pandavas to make Duryodhan look good.
- stereotyping women characters: draupadi as a shy little girl who gets oppressed by her husbands but still sees Arjun through a rose coloured glass is so bad. I hate kunti to made as an ekta kapoor villain saas. and bhanumati was made straight up evil in efforts to make her a girlboss pirate baddie.
- too many fucking pov: why were shishupala and bhanumati even relevant? the changing povs during the battle of mathura, especially between wolves was all a blur, and the small vignettes of Greeks soldiers' pov made me so annoyed.
- anacronistic and westernised world: what kind of vedic woman is wearing a corset?? also krishna's relationship towards his wives felt awfully biased towards satyabhama and almost felt like monogamy. I wish the author would have taken time to explore the nuances of feelings in a polygamy.
about the narration: I hate when a book influenced and adopting indic vocabularydoesn'tr follow proper pronunciations in the audiobook. if westerners with ridiculously complicated pronunciations are given emphasis, while the indic words are disregarded and butchered by the narrator. these names and words are not even that difficult. how do you fuck up the pronunciations of “karna” and “chakra”?it's not a difficult task to hire a narrator that is nominally familiar with the phonetics of indic languages. I can do a better job than this.
overall, I had good as well as bad times reading this. while reading about certain characters was painful, I'm extremely captivated by the plot and the magic system. i might read the sequel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!