River of smoke by Amitav Ghosh

"River of smoke" by Amitav Ghosh. This book is published by Penguin India in 2012 and has 568 pages. This is Book 2 of Ibis trilogy.

The story starts with a time leap where Deeti is an old woman and matriarch of her clan in Mauritius and her shrine. Then it goes in flashback where the Book 1 ended.

Almost all of the story takes place in China - Canton. It's the story of opium trade in China and story of Parsi merchant Behram (Barry) Modi. The life of traders in Canton is shown in detail and is interesting. Remaining part is dedicated to Paulette's search of golden Camellia through Robin, who is looking for it in Canton.

The tiff between the traders and Chinese authorities about opium trade and British intervention that eventually lead to the opium war is the real story of the book. Author has explained in detail the modus operandi of the trade in China in 1839. It was a unique system unlike any other in the world.

The British arrogance about their superiority in view of Chinese sanctions on opium trade is astonishing. British duplicity of banning opium in their own country and resisting ban in China is abhorrent. Their definition or redefinition of free trade to suit their situation is callous.

Although the politics and history of opium trade, it's ban and impact on lives is interesting, it occupies most of the book (and this book is not small). Thus the book becomes a bit monotonous.

The story is slow. Readers hope that now the story will go back to the characters of Book1, but it doesn't happen. Behram steals the show. It's a sad end to Behram's story.

Although the book is good, it's not as good as 'Sea of poppies'

Read this book, if you intend to read Book 3, otherwise give it a miss.

The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo

"The Ginseng Hunter" by Jeff Talarigo. This book is published by Grijalbo Mondadori Sa in 2014 and has 234 pages.

This is a story of a Ginseng hunter, who lives on the bank of Tumen river that divides China and North Korea. The only work he knows is hunting for Ginseng root and the only pleasure he knows is the visit to brothel in the city of Yanji, once a month. One day he meets a prostitute, at the brothel who has run away from North Korea and slowly falls in love with her. Through her he understands the situation across the border. This book is a portrait of what happens in the lives of the hunter and the prostitute, memories of hunter and memories of prostitute .

Will the Ginseng hunter marry the prostitute?. Will he take her home? What's in her past? Would she like to go back to Korea? Will the hunter get the Ginseng root of his life? Is being so close to North Korea hazardous?

Author has presented a beautiful story. It is a subtle noir. Hunter's feelings for the prostitute are portrayed delicately. On one hand he wants her but on other hand he is happy with his solitary life and Ginseng hunting. Eventually he finds the purpose in life and marriage in the form of a little North Korean girl, but can he?

It's a story of love, empathy, survival and Ginseng hunting with the backdrop of changes in China with the rise of Mao and communism and with the backdrop of miserable life in North Korea and atrocities heaped by the government on North Korean citizens.

A Ginseng (अश्वगंधा) route is very precious. It is interesting to know that it has two legs and beard (Interested? See the images on internet). It is excavated with great care to avoid damaging it. The shovel used for excavation is made of bone as it is said that Ginseng is afraid of metal. The person who finds Ginseng routes is called hunter. Finding Ginseng is much like a hunt.

The story is concise and gripping. One can not help feeling sad for the North Korean citizens and appreciate what the hunter does. Though the introduction of the soldier towards the end seemed unnecessary.

A very good book. Recommend reading.

The third world war by Humphrey Hawksley

"The third world war" by  Humphrey Hawksley.

As the name of this book suggests, it's a fiction thriller. Book opens with an attack on Indian parliament on ground and by air. Pro US president of Pakistan is assassinated. There is Islamic uprising in South Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei. North Korean conventional missile strikes American airbase in Japan. An attempt is made on the life of Prime Minister of India. North Korea is in possession of nuclear warheads and biological weapons.

This book does not waste time in preamble. There is action from the word go. Characters are developed during the action and crisis. This is something new.

The author has demonstrated very good understanding of global politics, it's intricacies and fine balance required while making important decisions. He has predicted how each country and it's leadership will react in extreme situation. The book shows how world leaders think only about their country but still call themselves world leader. The speech of Russian President at the informal summit of important head of state is marvelous and sums up world politics precisely.

Some things however seem strange like president of Pakistan deciding to drop bomb on India in person or easy murder of America's national security advisor or character of Lazaro Campbell that acts as field operative and emissary of US president simultaneously or character of Hasan Muda who can breach the security of any country at will.

However the author seems to have lost the control some what after the nuclear war starts. The buildup to the nuclear war is excellent but the actual nuclear war is covered very quickly and author has given a miss to the opportunity to make it more interesting and dramatic. Readers wonder why the author chose to miss this opportunity and preferred to keep it vague, leaving so much to readers imagination.

Behavior of head of states during war sums up authors views on respective societies. American president comes out as unimaginative. Indian Prime Minister as most humane and nonaggressive. Chinese president as intelligent but who does not have absolute power. Russian president as wily. English prime minister as surprisingly firm. Japanese Prime Minister looking to regain pride. Pakistani and North Korean presidents demonstrate brinkmanship.

First  half of this 514 pages long book is unputdownable, second half is good but not unputdownable.  Recommend reading.

Bourne Retribution by Eric Van Lustbader.

"Bourne Retribution" by Eric Van Lustbader. Bourne series was started as a trilogy by Robert Ludlum and continued by Lustbader after his death. This book is 11th in the series and 8th by Lustbader.

Jason Bourne, a spy who lost his memory, has captivated audience for decades and many have lifted this idea in their novels in one form or other.

In this book Bourne is urged by head of Mossad, Ely Yadin, to go to China and try to severe the link between Chinese minister who supplies raw material and Mexican drug lords who refine and market it. Bourne has eliminated the chief of most powerful Mexican drug cartel and drug cartels have killed Rebecca (a Mossad agent, who loved Bourne) in previous book. Hence the angle of retribution.

Where does he go? Who does he meet? Does he get his retribution? What does he lose in the process? Is he betrayed again?

Like all Bourne books, this one is also fast paced and full of action. I had started losing interest in Bourne series in 7th, 8th and 9th book, but this book had revived the interest.

In order to fully understand the story, you should have read previous books before reading this one. The characters, incidents and references are lost on those who will start with this book.

Lustbader has concentrated on plot than the character of Bourne. There is a lot of action in the book and pace is fast. The end though, is not as elaborate and the villain is killed relatively easily. There is also a pleasant surprise at the end.

A good book. Read it if you  are a fan of Bourne series.