A dark queen rises by Ashok Banker

​"A dark queen rises" by Ashok Banker - Huge! 

This book is published by Simon and Schuster India in 2020 and has 656 pages. This is Book 2 of ‘Burnt empire saga’. 

Jarsun, husband of princess Akreen, exiled brother of then occupant of Burning throne Sha’ant, assassinates the king Akron and takes control of the kingdom. Akreen runs away to Reygar with her daughter, Krushita through red desert on a desert train led by Bulan. Triak, Prince of Arrgodi decides to disregard the peace treaty between Argodi and Mrashk nations, but is defeated by Mrashk king Vasurava. He joins King Jarsun, becomes his trusted lieutenant and usurps his fathers throne. King Gwan  and Queen Bensera perform a prayer to Stone God and are blessed with two young strapping twins. The girl is Krushni and the boy is Drishya. 

Main characters in this book are interesting. Tirak, the tyrant. He is half Urrkh. He undergoes multiple transformations. Meek boy too aggressive Prince to ruthless commander to defeated youth to idolizing follower to Urrkh to defeated and helpless captive to supremely confident warrior king. Jarsun is the scheming Lynchpin.  He wants to control Burnt empire and occupy burning throne. He never does anything without purpose. Krushita is Jarsun’s daughter. She is very powerful and can take control of minds. She hates her father for trying to kill here mother. She is guided by Sage Vessa. He is the second Lynchpin in the story who is working on multiple plots at the same time. Drishya is the eighth son of Vasurava and Curie. He is Tirak’s nephew and nemesis. Akreen is Krushita’s mother. Bulan is the master train of caravans. They are a Vanjani. Two persons and bodies merged together. 

The relationship between Jarsun and Tirak (father-in-law and son-in-law, disciple and guru, master and vassal, idol and bhakt, reverence and hate, player and pawn) is most curious. This relationship undergoes multiple upheavals. 

Story in the desert is very interesting with a journey of 20,000 miles that takes 7 years. It’s a microcosm of normal humans, Urrkh, Vanjani, undead warriors and creatures like shwan, desert dragon, dromads and buzzards accompanied by phenomena like fire storm and spinning dervishes. It’s an enticing world. However, the battle with the army of dead is Long drawn. It stretches too long. Similarly the kovadi (kabaddi) sport of Tirak takes a lot of pages. It’s a huge book. If such things were trimmed a little bit, the story would have become crisp. 

Bane’s repentance almost comes like an afterthought. It’s unconvincing. It’s like ‘Sau chuhe khake billi chali haj’. The final fight between Tirak and Drishya also turns out to be a non event.  

Book1 of this series ‘Upon a burning throne’ was published in 2019. This book followed quickly in 2020, but next book isn’t published for two years now. 

Mahabharata, any time any where, in any form, by anyone is always interesting. Here an accomplished author like Ashok choses to reimagine the epic in his unique way, targeted for western audience. He tweaks the story to add new twists. 

Why did I read this book? Author, Mahabharat. 

What I didn't like? Length. 

What did I like? The divergence from Mahabharat. Character of Krushita.  

Recommend reading only if you plan to read the series.