Book Review: Shanti and the Magic Mandala by F T Camargo
Book: Shanti and the Magic Mandala
Author: F. T. Camargo
No. of Pages: 366
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Lodestone Books
Shanti and the Magic Mandala is an adventure in
which fantasy and reality are mingled. The book tells the story of six
teenagers, from different religious and cultural origins and different parts of
the world, who are mystically recruited to form two groups - one in the
Northern Hemisphere, and one in the Southern. They eventually gather in Peru,
and through a single alliance, begin a frantic chase for the sacred object that
can stop the black magician's final plan.
The plot may not be new but the
treatment and the story telling is pretty colorful
The characters, with different
religions and cultural origins, come from different parts of the world and the
author takes full advantage of this. He introduces the reader to the diverse cultural
and regional things – places, culture, foods, lifestyle etc. The characters
travel so there is more to be learnt about places for the reader. It is in a
way ... a general knowledge enhancing book for kids/teenagers.
As a story, it is well-told. The author
has a nice plot and makes use of parallel story telling across two eras
effectively. The characters come together and they keep having flashes of their
past lives and ultimately, it is like a reunion.
Each of the 6 characters develops and
grows through the book and you enjoy their innocence while shouldering their
responsibility. They face danger with courage and they have their guardian
angels to help them out of their troubles with the dark elements.
Some may call this book childish or for
the teenage crowd and they won’t be wrong either but I enjoyed the book
nevertheless because I am still a teenager at heart :)
The book that way was a pretty light
read and I think it could have been made far more exciting. All 6 kids had some
magic to them and guardians who helped them. There could have been some more
challenges which would have made the story more captivating. In the current
form, the journey of the 6 kids, although eventful and danger-ridde; was NOT
challenging enough. The ‘hero’ rises to the level of the challenges posed by
the ‘villain’ and in this book, the level is not too high. May be this was
intentional keeping a particular audience in mind, but I suppose the audience
(feeding on Eragon, LOTR, HP, Percy Jackson, Hunger games etc) is maturing and
can take on more.
In continuation of the same point, even
the climax could have been more ‘climactic’ and stunning. Not to say that it
was not. It was pretty colorful and interesting – picturising the events in my
head was interesting enough.
The story surely has potential and can
have sequel added to it and I would look forward to it.
The cover design was ordinary and it
would have been great if it was more catchy and realistic. I liked the
background image with the 5 backpacking individuals … only thing is there are 6
characters in the story (although at some point one is kidnapped and the other
5 become rescuers) and that they weren’t really backpacking in the story. Yes,
they did have bags that they carried around. Maybe I am being too critical but
an image with 6 teenagers in the mountains with some ‘dark’ elements to convey
their adversary would have been nice. The mandala in the backdrop was a nice touch
and they could retain that.
Ratings on Book Review Parameters:
Cover
Design: 3.0 / 5
Writing Style:
3.5 / 5
Characters: 3.0 / 5
Story /
Plot: 3.0 / 5
Climax: 3.0 / 5
Overall: 3.0 / 5
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pretty interesting...
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