AgniBaan: Guardians of the Fire Chamber

When the forces of evil come together,The forces of good must come together too.books by indianauthors 👌I kind- of have a special corner for them. When I am reading an agathachristie or stephenking i definitely have my benchmark & standards, set but when I am reading my very own indianwriters I have different expectations. I look forth for some mytho, some action, some drama, some romance, some macho scenes & definately some amazing takeaways from the read which I always always get, at the end!This book, agnibaan - guardians of the fire 🔥 chamber is the 2nd book by authorsvenkatesh- IIT Delhi, IIM Calcutta alumni- his 1st book kaalkoot was a bestseller .AGNIBAAN falls in the #thrillers & #suspense genre. I felt it was a perfect script for a blockbuster movie! The descriptive action scenes definately tickled my imagination. The book is a perfect amalgamation with a judicious blend of all aspects I mentioned I expect from a good read by an #indianauthorAnother point to be noted is that the author has done intense research & the book, therefore has places, names, events which have been taken from history. Also it highlights issues like climate change, the state of Sunderbans, Epidemic etc which is appreciable because we should try to give back to the society, in whichever way we can.Empires will fall.Darkness will prevail.Hell's fury shall be unleashed.The book has interchanging timelines. It begins in 535 CE, in Egypt, The Great Pyramid of Giza where Durjatep, the Chief of The Dark Order of Apep is searching for the 'sacred object' but Aphotep, leader of the Order of the Guardians has already taken possession of the secret, The Fire Arrow & he is responsible & will save it from the evil forces till his last breath. This is just the prologue.The story next starts with the present day in Uttarakhand where Dhruv, a part of Shauryas (an elite unit of the Indian Army) shows us some Bollywood action & beats the **** out of the dacoits! It made the adrenaline pumping!Agnibaan is well written with simple but effective vocab & was a perfect masala movie script for me. It is addictive, a total pageturner & captivating.

👉Hey readers,A fiction with Thriller is always best combination of me.Agnibaan is an splendid masterpiece of ancient history and a thrilling adventure by S.Venkatesh.Story revolves around ancient times and present day.When you start reading this story it creates a true suspense but as the story catches on, all the secrets will be revealed.Reading this whole book is a like watching an five star thriller movie because it's a well researched and a gripping story.So,let's talk about it.👉Story opens in 535 CE Aphotep races to the Oracle, carrying a delicate package whose contents could cause havoc if it fell into the wrong hands.Present day a US presidential candidate Decker was slain in Delhi by a drone swarm strike, and Indian Army convoy decimated in Arunachal pradesh with no trace of attackers.Dhruv, an instinctual, unselfish, and fearless member of the 'Shuryas,' is now on  sabbatical from his duty for being so-called mentally unstable for work as an result of an incident.Megha Rao is a passionate historian in the Institute of Historical Research in Delhi and incidentally they both amidst the murder of last descendent of guardian.When she meets Dhruv she tell him her whole research on Fire Arrow(Agnibaan) that the Guardians of Egypt apparently protected something called the Minew Satey, the Fire Arrow which is symbolised the delicate balance of the elements, the equilibrium of nature and due to some kind of upheaval disturbed the balance of the elements and only way to restore balance was journey to India with fire Arrow to unite with agnibaan and it was preserved in something called the Fire Chamber for many centuries around 535 CE and if it falls into the wrong hands it will be very disastrous.Now the main question arrives in everyone's mind why this agnibaan is so powerful? who is main culprit behind all the attack on present day?Will Dhruv and Megha able to protect this agnibaan or the prophecy are going to true?👉There is so much to say about this book that I can't fit it all into one review, and it's a slow start for me, but as the story progresses, I won't be able to put it down.This book take you on a ride from the dense of jungles to the hidden secrets of temples.Story is so gripping although situation moves in between 535CE and present but it's doesn't creates any confusion because author masterfully manages it.If you're seeking for a thrilling adventure blended with ancient history without any hesitation go for this one.

The first book of S Venkatesh Was Kaalkoot, which was a nice read. Except for the end, I enjoyed the book and finished in 2-3 sittings. So I had higher hopes with "AgniBaan: Guardians of the Fire Chamber". And I am glad that the author has surpassed all expectations. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say Venkatesh has outperformed twice or thrice than Kaalkoot.The book is written in two parallels. One around 535 CE when around 15-20 months earth atmosphere was covered with dust due to multiple reasons and proved very stressing period for civilizations over the world. And the second parallel is written after the Covid situation where political chaos is going on throughout the world due to multiple reasons. In between this chaos in both parallels we have two strong protagonists as well as two strong antagonists to give us company till we reach the last page.The book belongs to the league that of Dan Brown from foreign authors and Ashwin Sanghi from Indian authors. The book shows the depth of research done by Venkatesh. Not just cultural analysis but the author has given vivid details about India's and Egypt's geopolitical situations. He has taken support of numerology and astronomy of ancient times to give us added interest. The book easily glues you to the story, because every place in the book you will get a good combination of fiction with facts. I liked the story and this time I found the ending better planned and written than Kaalkoot. The pace of the story is apt for fast reading, you can read this 350-page story in less than 4 sittings for sure.Overall a 4.5 out of 5 for this book. And I am putting it in one of the best read of the year and must-read thrillers written in the last decade by Indian authors.

Well written although rushed at times effortlessly mixes real-world current scenarios with the past. Only short comings if any, the character development seemed rushed.