Title : Simoqin re-view : extended edition
Review : Yes I’ve posted a review on this book before, that was when I was still fifty pages off the ending, and those four hundred fifty pages that I endured seemed so much like an abyss that I gave up lookng for a bottom. For the sake of reviewer integrity I kept my review short lest my conscience prick me for being too judgemental and imposing my opinion on others.
BUT NOW ..
I have completed the book, and my bamaged nerve cells seem strained from one twisted dendrite to another, resulting in a further IQ loss of a few points. And though I don’t bear any childhood grudge against Mr. Samit Basu and his patrons at Penguin, I feel the need now to IMPOSE my opinion, if necessary, and save other innocent hard working ppl from spending their 250 bucks on what is worse than just a boring self important book - an open sacrilage of the most loved works of comedy and fantasy of this generation and the last including, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Monty Python etc.
This book is being touted as India’s first in the popular genre sf-fantasy, and though I do not doubt that I defer with some reviews on this site (with due respect to the esteemed reviewer) that go on to say ’’ move over Tolkien, Brooks and Rowling india has its own sff author to boast of, and a heady one that .. * more praise*.. The only thing missing now is an Indian Peter Jackson ’’
and from one other website..
’’ And where writers such as LeGuin and Tolkien can frequently become dull by virtue of their almost-obsessive attention to detail, Basu has managed to evade the issue by throwing in enough wry one-liners and puns to let all concerned know that he’s not taking himself too seriously’’
Notice that in 90% of these reviews the name of Prof Tolkien ( in this case also Ursula LeGuin ) is unnecessarily and blasphemously included.
The ’almost-obsessive attention to detail’ is perhaps why LOTR hs attained the grandeur and greatness of true myth, and also perhaps why the movie adaptations were actually possible
’’ the only thing missing is an Indian Peter Jackson’’ perhaps the Indian Peter Jackson is there but is not revealing himself for fear of investing in a work of fantasy( which usually means high stakes ) written by one who .. ’’ .. evades the issue of almost-obsessive-detail and let us all know that he’s not taking himself too seriously ’’
Now let us quote frm Basu’s book itself :
Civilian ( the Mayor of some city dubbed the ’Big Mango’ spsd to be spoofy, dunno, maybe I got osteoporosis and my funny bone too small ) .. to the Simoqin Prophecy hero
’’ A powerful ruler is often called Dark Lord, the Prince of Darkness, the Nameless One or something equally foolish ..’’
Note tht Dark Lord and the Nameless One are actually the references used by Tolkien for his chief antagonist the Mair Sauron (the Prince of Darkness is for Satan).
Inference -- 1 . This pimply 23 yr old wannabe just calld Prof. Tolkien ’foolish’.
2 . His attack suggests that he actually does have intentions of taking himself seriously, and the attack can thus be be attributed to his lacking imagination, and his desperation to hide it using the instrument of spoof whch maligns the works of others.
This was the line whch sealed the book for me, to be frank I was looking for this line since I found reading this unimaginative piece of poop such a pain in the ass. This act could still have been pardonable if this guy wouldnt have insolently copied for Tolkien.
He’s swapped one ’bleakwood’ for ’Mirkwood’ the supposed place whr Basu’s not-so-dark-lord fought against the forces of the world is called as Dahn-Gem’s wasteland, stolen from Dagorlad - waste battle plain in Tolkien’s middle earth.
According to Basu Dahn-Gem released ’dragons and let loose blasts of fire’ upon the world, and according to Tolkien’s history of middle earth Sauron’s master Morgoth, or Melkor let loose dragons and ’rivers of fire’ on the challanging allaince of Valar and the Elves.
I know some of u are thinking ’spoof’ well I saw no spoof there but a serious attempt at plot building using shamelessly copied references.
Plagiarism becomes a tribute if the source is reverently aknowledged, but plagiarism can also become a hideous crime when the source beyond being left unmentioned, is attacked and called ’foolish’
Now the ’story’ in brief.
Some prophecy foretells the awakening of ’terrible’ dark lord called Dahn-Gem, awakening from where I dont know. Incidentally at the exact same time a ’Hero’ will be born to fight Dahn-Gem. The hero is somehow discovered and sent to ’Hero School’ (yep thts the name), he makes friends and waits for the ’Full Moon night’ when Dahn Gem must return.
I wonder if given the screenplay, even Peter Jackson could save the movie, unless of course ur talking of a fourth adaptation of Scary Movie or a pixar animation with Shrek’s ’Lord Faraquaad’ as Dahn-Gem, and donkey as ’Hero’
The writing style ..
.. is bland, straightforward, lacking the faintest poetry
’’ The night was dark, as most nights tend to be’’
Theres spoof there somewhr .. find it and earn my 2 cents.
The book begins with some good description of the settings, whch seem good bcoz Mr Basu is actually a journalist and considering tht journalists are given a rich vocabulary in journo school ( in the same school where their brains are actually replaced with grapefruit ) there r words whch u would need a dictionary or thesaurus to comprehend, and u save urself the pain (subject to a lot of pain otherwise) and assume tht the word hs ’ tht deep hidden meaning ’ wch would make sense of evrythng in that setting, or for tht charachter etc.
Later in the book even the journalist in Mr Basu loses interest and u come across paragraphs having a total of six lines, four out of which begin with ’They’. I am an engg student but evn in my single credit communication skills subject I have learned tht a sentence shall never begin with personal pronouns.
Time to conclude review with
SPOILER WARNING
--> This review contains major spoilers. Read with discretion and do not blame me that I didn’t warn u.