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B is for… Book Review

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Title: Tantra
Author: Adi
Publisher: Apeejay Stya Publishing
ISBN: 978-81-908636-2-9
Number of Pages: 335
Price [INR] : 195
Genre: Fiction
 
The blurb of the book reads like this… Anu is a leather wearing, no-nonsense professional guardian with a reputation for killing the most dangerous vampires in New York City. But when her enemies murder the one person she truly cared about, all she wants is vengeance. The only clue points to New Delhi, so Anu puts in for a job transfer.
tantraIn India, she finds more than she expected. For one thing, her fellow operatives have made a truce with the vampires. For another, it’s way too hot to wear leather.At first, it seems Anu’s biggest challenge will be evading the nice boys her aunt wants her to marry. But when children start disappearing, she discovers forces older and darker than anything she’s faced before. All of Delhi is in danger, especially the sexy stranger who sets Anu’s pulse racing.To prepare for the coming battle, Anu must overcome her personal demons and put aside years of training. This time, her most powerful weapon will come from her mind, not her weapons belt.

Tantra by Adi is about vampires and vampire hunters set in our current times in the capital city of New Delhi. I have read the Twilight series and was aware of vampires and their powers and their romance with humans! Tantra is not at all like a typical vampire story – it is full of action and drama along with some thought provoking adventure and has the backdrop of India’s spirituality, religion, and philosophy in today’s times.

The beginning of the book is a bit slow but it gains momentum as the story progresses and becomes a page turner by the time it reaches its climax. The dialogues are laced with wit and humour which definitely bring some smiles.

The book is high on knowledge and insights. I liked the explanations given on the threads that connect everything, the various astras, mantras, yantras and tantric rituals of 3 types : sattvic, rajas and tamas… Undoubtedly, the author has done a lot of research on the subject.

All this while I thought of tantrics being fake and doing some crazy rituals but it was interesting to read that tantrics are scientists among priests. They took the mantras and the astras and they applied them to real life. While the priests and rishis seek to enrich their own beings through spirituality and meditation, tantrics use their knowledge to apply themselves to the world.

Tantra by Adi gives you lots to chew on… ‘Age is a commodity that is sold in markets. Those who do not reinvent themselves find time to be a cruel mistress without mercy’ is worth pondering and applicable in our lives…

I wish some of the things were explained a bit in detail, though. For example the ‘shift’, or how the healing of wounds and injury is quicker or how the guardians were chosen or how the vampire hunters moved on balls of their feet…

A different story with a powerful theme, Tantra by Adi is a fascinating read.

Rating : 3.5/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

68 Responses

  1. Thanks for the review. The priests and rishis of today are perhaps focussed on self, but I don’t think the original hindu scriptures showed them that way. The book sounds interesting but not sure if vampires are my thing.

    1. I can understand. After having read the Twilight series, I was intrigued by the vampires and the hunters in Indian context and written by an Indian author, so checked it out 🙂

  2. admire your interest in reading varied subjects, shilpa and yes i too liked the line ” Age is a commodity…………”

    1. Yes, this floored me too. All this while, I thought that Tantrics do some crazy stuff which is basically to fool the people… but this book says otherwise!

  3. The book seems interesting. But I have had enough of vampires after the Twilight series. Nevertheless, A vampire story set in India promises to be intriguing !

  4. nice…looks interesting…

    ‘Age is a commodity that is sold in markets’- took me to all those wonder creams, and oils, and shampoos and hair colours and what not….but maybe that’s not what he meant….

    1. LOL 😀 I feel the books are better than the movies. I read anything new and different and since the whole world was going gaga over the twilight series, so I wanted to check it out 😛

  5. Somehow I have never got myself convinced of reading a book by an Indian author. Did pick couple of them but was not exccited about it. So am still wary…will give it a shot with this one though 😛

  6. The book seems to have captured rituals from Bengal as well as Kamru Kamakhya. First Shiva Trilogy then Krishna’s Key now Tantra – Authors have started exploring more of Indian mythology, which is great 🙂
    Have added in my book list.

    1. Am laughing out loud at your comment S 😀 I know what you mean, but it is not comical… there are vampires in your city 😀 Bach ke rehna 😀 :))

  7. Wow, what a great review and much needed for me. Ever since I saw the blurb, wanted to review it, but didn’t know how it was going to be.

    Thanks, will apply for this now. 🙂

  8. Twilight is not your typical vampire book. Stephenie Meyer caught a lot of flack for the whole sparkling vampire thing, lol. Tantra sounds good! Thanks for the review 🙂

  9. Good to hear about this interesting book. Tantra is something that has been badly misunderstood and perhaps misused by local practitioners. Tantra has fascinated me deeply because it involves the purposeful unleashing of feminine energies and channelizing it to create something even more powerful. Those who practice it with good intentions are ‘spiritual scientists’ like you’ve mentioned, the spiritual discipline is rigorous and lasts a lifetime, almost like a penance. I personally know one or two such practitioners and they are very interesting, positive people to be with.
    I am posting your book review on flipitall.com for others to read as well. Tc!

    1. Aha! You know tantra practitioners! Wow! For the first time I read something positive about Tantra practitioners in this book otherwise, I thought they just fool people with their fake rituals. Thanks for sharing this review on flipitall.com. You are a darling! Appreciate it! 🙂

  10. Indian vampire story! B for Book Review and an excellent review again. people had different views on Twilight series and let us see how this tantra turns out to be. 🙂

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