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Book Review : Time Crawlers


Book Title: Time Crawlers: Stories from Parallel Universes
Author : Varun Sayal
ISBN : ---
Publisher : ---
Genre : Science Fiction 
Publication : 2018
Pages : 118
Format : E-book

BOOK BLURB:
Alien Invasion, Dark Artificial Intelligence, Time-Travel, High-Tech Mythology, Djinn Folklore, Telekinetics, and life-consuming Cosmic Entities are some major themes in this book which has six tightly-knit, fast-paced Sci-Fi stories.
1. Nark-astra, The Hell Weapon
The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.
2. Death by Crowd
The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?
3. Genie
He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.
4. Time Crawlers
There are individuals who existing in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….
5. Eclipse
No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shapeshifter aliens being hounded by an eclipse?


6. The Cave
The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector
.

RATING: 4 ☆'s

REVIEW:
First of I would like to thank the author for the review copy in exchange for an honest review and would also like to extend my gratitude for waiting patiently for the review to come.
Coming to the book, the blurb is exciting and makes you want to dive right into the book. It is a Sci-Fi through and through with all the right elements combining the sciences and the myths and fables. I will take a slightly different approach to review the book here's what I feel about the book -


NARK-ASTRA:THE HELL WEAPON ⭐⭐
Having read the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi, the concept of sciences behind the Indian mythology and weaponry was something not new for me. But aligning it all with time travel and parallel Universes gave it an interesting twist. Although I would have preferred a little more of that, but I understand that it's supposed to be a short story for which it was a perfect length with a closure

DEATH BY CROWD ⭐⭐⭐
Again, a concept that was not new for me. Having read the book Make Me by Lee Child in the Jack Reacher Series back in 2015, I was well aware of the concept of dark webs and killings for a sum. Of course, in the Jack Reacher series it wasn't voluntary as opposed to in this story which made it all the more horrible and gory and ghastly but I liked how the author had executed the story and the fact that it was voluntary with the option to back out and money going to the family of the deceased surely sensitised the whole concept making it more acceptable.

GENIE ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌠
This was the sweetest of all stories. It was fun, light hearted and cute. I loved how the age old myth? Folklore? Was given a new twist with this story. I liked the alternate reality created by the author for this one. The portals and concept of questions over wishes and the bubbly attitude of the genie made it a very sweet read and the alternate reality for genies which the author created made the whole myth believable.

TIME CRAWLERS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was the best story of the whole series, the one that I didn't want to end. I wanted to read more about the Time Crawlers and it was a very interesting concept. I would have loved to read it more in depth and hope that the author decides to do an individual novel on the subject sometime.

ECLIPSE ⭐⭐⭐
Even though an interesting concept of alien race shape shifting and living among us, this story lacked punch for me. I was left looking for more which didn't come.

THE CAVE ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story was like an X-Men Mutant movie for me. I liked the plot and loved the character of the Protector. Also, I loved the fact that author chose a female character to fill the shoes of a Legendary Protector. It was a beautifully executed concept and story.



THE VERDICT:
The author has done a great job with this book. He has researched well and came up with varied and interesting topics for this compilation.
The topics, though inherently are Sci-Fi based, the stories are packed with as varied emotions as the topics - there's humor, there's vengeance, there's fear and then some horror.
For Sci-Fi lovers, it's a good read, fast paced and interesting. A couple of stories I felt could have been elaborated more, but all in all, it's a great collection. It's a definite thumbs up for me.


READ, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR:
  • Fast Paced Book
  • Interesting Sci-Fi Concepts
  • Short Stories Collection
In the end, I wish the author success in all his future endeavors and thank him once again for trusting me with his book.

Comments

  1. Thanks a lot Khyati, for this amazing review. My next book coming up shortly, will share an update.

    ReplyDelete

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