Nagasravika's Book Reviews Blog

 An Acceptable Time  (Time Quintet #5, Kairos #8) By Madeline L'Engle  Published Year: 1989 Page Count: 295 pages  Medium Used: ipad Air  Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, SFF, Mythology, Time Travel, Primeval Time, Young Adult, Teenagers, Adventure, Healing, Childrens Fiction, Classics, 2026-read.  Rating: 5/5 😀 😀 😀😀😀 Absolutely thrilling. I always maintained that one doesn't have to study medicine in order to heal and this book dealing in healers from the ancient times proves me right. The world development of the ancient times  is immaculate - having read all the books in this Time Quintet series, i can attest that the author writes past better than the current times. She is also a critic on the past conditions of people and how the current world is not much different even though more civilized and evolved. I agree with her on that. We have come far technology wise but have much to improve spiritually and self analysis, correction. I liked how t...

 Many Waters  (Time Quintet #4, Kairos #4) By Madeline L'Engle  Published Year: 1986 Page Count: 300 pages  Medium Used: ipad Air  Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology, Mythical Creatures, Historical Fiction, Noah and the Ark, Classics, Childrens Fiction, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 Wow. What a book. What world development - very evocative, immersive and totally, totally legit. I have never read a book that took me back to the ancient times before the Noah and Ark setting. It is a beautiful concoction by the author - clubbing together the mythical creatures like dwarf mammoths, manticores, unicorns, griffins. She has also thrown into the mix angels who have volunteered to help humans in the form of Seraphims and those angels who have been tossed out of the heaven in the form of Nephilims. Even in those very early times of human evolution, there was fight between good and evil. Even with God sending the flood and Noah making the Ark and transpo...

 A Swiftly Tilting Planet  (Time Quintet #3, Kairos #3) By Madeline L'Engle  Published Year: 1978 Page Count: 236 pages Medium Used: ipad Air  Genre: Classics, Childrens Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, SFF, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Unicorns, Time Travel,Adventure, 2026-read.  Rating: 5/5 😍😍😍😍😍 What a brilliant book! This book is quite unexpected and quite a leap when compared to the two previous books in the series. It didn't read like childrens fiction. Because the plot is quite complex to grasp. And also the main characters are no longer kids. Charles Wallace is fifteen now. Meg Murry O'Keefe is pregnant with her first baby.There are many threads that come together and sew into a comprehensible plot when nearing the end but until then it is quite a jumble of repetitive character names and events. The idea of the book is novel and its execution kept me gripped from page one till the end. The author has masterfully blended themes of mythology, ti...

 A Wind in the Door  (The Time Quintet #2, Kairos #2) By Madeline L'Engle  Published Year: 1973 Page Count: 236 pages  Medium Used: ipad Air  Genre : Classics, Adventure, Childrens Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, 2026-read.  Rating : 3.5/5  Once again, Meg Murry is on an adventure to save her youngest brother, Charles Wallace. Like in the first book, she shows gumption and resolve, using intuition and some luck to get him out of death's snare. In this book, she fights and defeats Echthroi, masters of War and Destruction, seeking to destroy/annihilate/X the creation by destroying Charles Wallace. Farandolae within Mitochondria are fictitious creation by the author which the Echthroi target for destruction in Charles' body. The theory goes that if the Mitochondria die, our body cannot live, similarly, if the farandolae die, the Mitochondria cannot live. Death of all farandolae will eventually lead to the death of the ...

 A Wrinkle in Time  (The Time Quintet #1, Kairos #1) By Madeline L'Engle  Published Year: 1962 Page Count: 152 pages  Medium Used: Ipad air Genre: Classics, Childrens Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, SFF, High Fantasy, Action, Adventure. Aliens, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 This is a novella but gave me the satisfaction of reading a wholesome and non drawling book of fiction which superbly blended elements of multiple planets, alien creatures, magic and children becoming heroes. The world(s) building is amazing, the characters are super and not complex because they are either budding children or their loving elders. This story tells us the story of a young girl's efforts and journeys to other planets that are either consumed by Darkness(an evil entity that is subjugating all the minds of the world it infests to its control) or are fighting against its encroachment. She saves her father and then her brother, both of whom fall into the snare of the evil D...

 The Last Emperox  (The Interdependency #3) By John Scalzi  Published Year: 2020 [Tor Books] Page Count: 350 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Hard Science, Space Opera, Philosophy, Stored Consciousness, Court Intrigues, Game for Throne, Thriller, 2026-read.  Rating :5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 Link to book 2, in the series,review is here:  The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi Book Review Link to book 1 is here:  The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi Book Review I wrapped up this final(as of now, based on what the author has commented) installment in the Interdependency series by John Scalzi and I am filled with mixed emotions. I want the series to have atleast one more book because it is so good. Also I felt all that needs explaining in the story/plot hasn't been satisfactorily done - so needs one more book. I got fully invested in the political, social and economic conditions of the twenty billion inhabitants of the Interdependency ...

 The Consuming Fire  (The Interdependency #2) By John Scalzi  Published Year: 2018 Page Count: 360 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Hard Science fiction, Court Intrigues, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😍😍😍😍😍 My review to book one in the series :  The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi Book Review Carenia - her official title, Grayland - has assumed the powers as emperox of the Interdependency and is now facing an unprecedented problem of the empire on collapse. There is ample, undubious math proof that, within a decade, all the systems of the flow stream connected empire will become isolated, unconnected and taken over by despair, hopelessness and possibly violence. She wants to help cart as many people as she can to the only isolated and functionable habitat on the planet, the End. At the start of the book, she spouts out visions of prophetic nature in order to influence the common folk into believing her/Marce...

 The Collapsing Empire  (The Interdependency #1) By John Scalzi  2018 Locus Award Winner  Published Year: 2017 Page Count: 370 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Hard Science fiction, Space Opera, Game for Throne, Thriller, Court Intrigues, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😍😍😍😍😍 The Interdependency is the nation of systems where humans are spread out across the universe. There are around 47 habitable systems in all. On some of them, like the Hub, they live underground. On some, they don't have feasibility to inhabit the planet and hence live on scientific habitats or space stations. Only End is the planet where they live on the surface. These human occupied outposts are interconnected by flow streams. Where even if they use their fastest spaceships called Tenners, it would take them anywhere from decades to centuries to plod between these habitats, using and traveling through Flow, they can reduce the time to weeks or months. ...

 So Let Them Burn  (Divine Traitors #1) by Kamilah Cole Published Year: 2024 Page Count: 334 pages Medium Used: Kindle Paperwhite  Genre: Dragons, Gods, Magic, Young Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sister Bond, Political Intrigue, 2026-read. Rating: 4.85/5 When I started to think about the apt rating for this book, I was conflicted between bestowing it a 5 pointer or a lower 4.5. I finally settled with a 4.85 because while it wasn't a story that was blowing me away, it was logically sound and highlighted the moral ambiguities, natural flaws in human nature impressively. There were a couple of places where I had to back up a bit and rewind to understand the author's sound and clever conclusion! There are quite a few things that impressed me and educated me in this book. First off, the writing is great. It is very riveting and gave off a refreshing vibe. Even when good and evil are fighting off each other, the vibe is not one of  despondency. I liked how dragons -  ...

 Someone You Can Build A Nest In  By John Wiswell  Won 2024 Nebula Award Won 2025 Locus Award for Best First Novel  Finalist in 2025 Hugo Award  Published Year: 2024 Page Count: 310 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: LGBTQ,Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Horror, Action, Drama, Romance, Monsters, 2026-read.  Rating: 5/5😇😇😇🥰🥰 Loved this one! Absolutely. Reading this, I couldn't slurp in the chapters continuously. I took them in snatches, got a break going elsewhere (into other books, silly 😋) and returning to digest more of this story. This is not an ordinary tale. John Wiswell is an immense talent. What he has created is not just a monster that lived while the story was read and forgotten afterwards. This creature thrives in memory and imagination. It doesn't have one concrete shape or name or body parts, organs..anything for that matter. It is a shape shifter that can ingest bodies whole. It has no conscience that stops her from harming...

 The Iron Trial  (The Magisterium #1) By Cassandra Clare, Holly Black  Published Year: 2014  Page Count: 276 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre : Fantasy, Magic, Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, High Fantasy, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 At the beginning, the plot felt a lot like reading from the Harry Potter series. I would definitely say that the authors have taken inspiration from it. But only just an inspiration. A basic outline. The rest is their own brain material. The main character cast consists of two boys and a girl. They are in their first year of training at a school for magical kids. There is a dark lord called the Enemy of Death who happens to be an ex-student of the school. But that's where the similarities end. There are wild creatures that are ingested with chaos - the Enemy of death has put chaos into their souls and made them his spies. There are creatures which have given up their souls to the elements of nature like Earth, Fire,...

 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking  By T. Kingfisher  Published Year: 2020 Page Count: 282 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Fantasy, Bread Men, Magic, Action, Young Adult, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.25/5  This is my first book by the author. I have many other books from her in my tbr and having read this, I feel she is worth checking out! This book felt more targeted for children and adolescent audience but I also enjoyed it. I felt a bit of disconnect with the story because the narrator is so objective and detached in her style of writing. I didn't feel that invested in the plot as I would have had if there was more emotional depth created through the narrative. The Duchess,one of the key characters, in the story, seemed more interested in bestowing laurels, badges of honor on heroes of war than controlling the wild elements of her council or running her government efficiently. Lol. But still, this felt like a good enough story if not the most cr...

 Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) By Seanan McGuire  Published Year: 2018 Page Count: 174 pages  Medium Used : Kindle Scribe  Genre: Novella, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Multiverse, Multiple Worlds, Academia, Adventure, 2025-read.  Rating: 3.65/5  Weaving this series around children at a school for special kids, magical worlds which are tempered and curated for each of their innate desires, which feel like true "home" for them, is very appealing to me. It feels warm, cozy and like a drug to my imagination. 🥰 Even when I come across one not so spectacular a story(a partial dud, in short😆) like this one - it doesn't put any significant dent in my opinion of the over all series. I guess what I didn't like about this book is that it is set in a very bright, colorful and frothing Sugar world where everything is made up of sugar syrup, candy or bread. I would have liked a world that is more darker.🤫 I am drawn to the drowned worlds, the underground wo...

 This is how you lose the time war  By Max Gladstone and Al Mohatar  Published Year: 2019 Page Count: 170 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Multiverse, Time Travel, Shape Shifters, 2024-read.  Rating : 5/5 👏👏👏👏👏 Amazing. Brilliant work. Did a magic play with words. Weaved a tale that is mesmerizing while keeping it short!  Although I didn't understand it fully - despite reading it in two iterations - I loved the vivid imagery, cinematic prose and wonderful narration style. In my first attempt to read this book, I went fast in my perusal and understood very little. Then I quit that attempt and started new. I read the paragraphs real slow and made myself some mental notes as the plot unfurled. It is an amazing experience - walking in the shoes of the main characters, Blue and Red.  So, first of all, my question is - what are they? They are definitely not human beings. While I came to...

  Dream Snake by Vonda N. McIntyre Winner of Nebula and Hugo Awards Published Year: 1978 Page Count: 318 pages Medium Used: Kindle Paperwhite Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fantasy, 2024-read. Rating: 3.25/5 Plot and Story Overview Snake is a healer from a society of people who immerse themselves in training and genetic manipulation experiments to assist people with healing skills. Apparently, this story is taking place at a time in future after nuclear war has ravaged and destroyed many parts of Earth. She uses her three snakes - Mist, Sand and Grass (the DreamSnake) to heal and cure infections and other diseases for people scattered across the desert and mountainside. On one expedition, she accidentally loses her dreamsnake and that becomes a set back to her profession. She feels immense guilty to go back to her camp and ask for a new one because of the unavailability of these dreamsnakes with/to her people. Mist and Sand are genetically modified and when drugged, they produce ...

 The Serpent and the Wings of the Night  By Carissa Broadbent  Series : Crowns of Nyaxia #1  Published Year : 2022 Page Count : 450 pages Medium used : Paperback Genre : Fiction, Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Young Adult, Adventure, 2024-read.  Rating : 3.75/5 ⭐⭐⭐💫 💫 Its an okayish read for me. At times I found myself wondering if this story is for real. A human girl fights and wins against hard-core vampires through sheer brute force and some magical abilities that she doesn't really know how to wield. She summons them in case of need but that doesn’t work always. I read the whole book and I am just as clueless, about why she is called a serpent, at the end as I was at the start. She is clearly raised with messages of wanting and needing self protection and self denial from associating with vampires in her father's(the Vampire King) court because she is a human. Why is she called a snake/serpent? Is there some part of her history that is not disclosed at this p...

Shadow and Bone (#1) By Leigh Bardugo Rating 4/5  Genre : fantasy This book didn't feel like much when I started but it had a strange pull on me as it went on. This very morning, I opened my eyes and resumed reading the continuing chapter before doing anything else..  I was a bit confused about a few things which got only partly cleared towards the end. Like whats the difference between the Darkling wanting to put the collar of stag antlers around her neck versus her putting it. How can he have absolute control over her and then cease to have any control at all. Well, still intriguing to read .. Keep reading on. :)  Alina Strokov is an orphan cartographer with the King's army. She has a hidden talent of summoning light from her body whenever she wants. This power is so immense and useful to the King's second hand man the Darkling who looks to exploit it. But she learns of his plot in time and escapes. She is eventually caught, the Darkling's plans unfold ...

A Feast For Crows (#4 in GOT Series)  By George R.R.Martin Rating :5/5  Genres : Fantasy,thriller,fiction  Like all the previous books in this series, this one too is wildly entertaining and very captivating. A few old, noteworthy characters are gone and new ones introduced - the absence of Tyrion and Danearys is deeply felt. After the last book ( a storm of swords) which was a wild ride with so many twists and turns happening, this one is more slower and tepid in action. Despite everything, still very riveting .. a special skill of the author, no doubt! 

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022) Winner of 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction   503 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Genre : Fiction, Fantasy, Afterlife, Philosophy, LGBT. Rating : 5/5  Mr. Shehan weaved a mesmerizing tale that is simply superb and awesome. I was half way through the book and already making plans to read it one more time!!  He lifted the stigma and heaviness attached to the most gorical elements of war, death, loss and injustice. I didn't cringe or feel obnoxious reading through the numerous homosexual relationships Maali has. This story makes one reconsider their notions of what makes life worth while and wholesome. Why should we waste a life that is blessed to be had by indulging in wastefulness of war and power craving.  Loved it through and through!!  He paints a scary picture of Sri Lanka with race / faction wars in which innocent people are ruthlessly, mindlessly sacrificed. The government tortu...

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau  By Silvia Moreno Garcia  Rating 4/5  Genres : Fiction, Mexico, Fantasy  I liked the premise for the book more than the actual story itself. A doctor isolates himself on a Mexican island and conducts experiments of creating hybrid creatures..sometimes mingling animal with animal and other times human with animal.. his daughter Carlota being one of them. His employer not getting enough return on his investment plans to cease funding and at the same time the employer's son falls in love with Carlota .. but he is not a good fella .. the doctor wants the marriage and funding.. others in the sanatorium don't want anything to do with their alliance ..  All things break down at the end. The daughter of doctor moreau sets up her own place and practice with her surname wiped clean.. its an interesting read. Unlike other works where mention of hybrids made me cringe.. this one is very moderate and gave those animals a real human l...