My reading glasses Evolution Cradle

I took a book for reading after a good gap of more than two months which is pretty unusual for me actually. As I was not able to built a tempo for reading. I took an easy gratitious pick. A combinaton of thriller and mythfiction. So how it goes. Lets see.

One of the first thing I noticed even before staring the book was that this is a new author for me. I have a tendency to compare all these authors with Dan Brown as that was my first brush with this genre. Subsequently I ready Ashwin Sanghi a few others but never quite had the same kick. Personally I find that Dan Brown has more tension in the plan typical of a thriller while enfusing the book wtih tid bits of history and religion. Whereas Ashwin Sanghi and others (including this author too) does not have same tension in the plot plus they have more mythology than history which does not tie as well.

The main protagonist Chad who is a scientist trying to create a cross species with his team of three more scientists. After a chance discovery leds them to a breakthrough. They were referred to another scientists related with Hitler himself who also tells them about a secret and sinister society with plan for world dominance (Vril Society). I would not spoil the plot by going into more details. But the scientist duo embark on an adventure across India

So as per me, what works for the plot. 

There is a nice colloqial quality to the plot and story keeps on flowing nicely. There is understated humour in conversation without overdoing it which I appreciates. It was a nice spin on Indian mythology that the authors linked mythological characters as half human half animals cross species experiments. The multiple and parallel narratives in the story are also well handled compared to some of the other books that I have read. As for the main twist in the end, the author do tried to throw some breadcrumbs foreshadowing it.

But somehow I have more complaints than praises for this book and a bit of disappointment as this genre is close to my heart and I feel that its a golden oppotrunity squandered by the writer.

So what does not work for me in the plot.

First I firmly belive that there should be some basis for flight of fantasy. Its always good to include some sort of disclaimer in the book and list the body of references in the end for further reading if ther reader is more interested. I found that sorely missing. 

The first chapter itself included some wild theory to form basis of Cow worship in hindues. The theory propogated is that "cow was probably the first complex multicellular organism after the Ice Age. So, basically, the dinosaurs disappeared but the cow magically appeared right after that. Cow never followed the basic principles of evolution like we humans did. It was as if it just appeared out of nowhere." Without any scientific literatur to backup it up. I found it as a cheap shot to appeal to a certian audience. 

Secondly I feel there are too many concepts forcibly squeezed into a single book. such as 

"Kauravas in Mahabharata as an example of embryo splitting and cloning "

"Reverse Aryan Migration"

"Divine weapons from Mahabharata"

"Ajanta and Ellora Caves made by gods"

"Nuclear weapons used in Mahabharata"

"Yetis in himalaya"

"Hidden city of Sangri-la"

"Zoroastrian religion practiced in Afganistan"

If only author would have let go of the temptation to include everything in the same story. It would have been more coherent and compelling read.

Also I was expecting that Author would touch upon a bit on the moral and ethical dilemma involved when men tried to be God or interfere in natural order.

There were four scientists in the team but Fourth member is not mentioned at all once the story took place. Even in the end She was not mentioned,  forgotten?

Its funny how less we know about our ancient civilization apart from some made up claims to boost our ego. 

PS : Not only I took to book reading after big gap. I'm writing a book review after an even bigger gap. I had this problem of immediately jumping to my next book after one read leaving very little time to get my thoughts in order and write a review of the book.