Review by Leonard Dabydeen
Merciless Dark
Publisher: White Falcon Publishing
Language: English
ISBN: 978-93-89085-50-1
CDN$15.92 ₹ 449.00
Selfishness and arrogance – twin conspirators in the survival of all living things.
There
is an uncanny and phenomenal approbation of co-existence in the life of all
living things. Animals among animals. Humans among humans. And between them
both, animals and humans, there is a carte blanche of plots and counterplots
that beset their consciousness to survive in each other’s domain. Their
co-existence belies frontiers of expository, ebullient imaginings of
superiority over each clan or group, canvassed in fantasies of mysterious
brushstrokes. Out of a cosmos primeval generative power, imbued with
evolutionary awakening, glorifying comfort on Earth for all creatures great and
small, humans and animals turned against each other to fathom who must be the
ruler on Earth. And both led a fantasy trail.
This
book, The Mystery of the Eclipse Island by author Harisshva D.V., written in Telugu and translated in English by
acclaimed Indian Master Wordsmith, U. Atreya Sarma, brings this apocalyptic,
primeval human- animal conflict fantasy theme as the first part of the
multi-volume saga, titled: Merciless Dark. In 292 pages, and a
confluence of 10 mind-boggling chapters, Atreya has painted an enriched fantasy
canvass, in the eyes of the author, that would keep any fantasy fiction reader
tuned away from works by Tripathi, Majoundar, Chokshi, et al. Simply fantastic
and a phenomenal epic. Author Harisshva
developed a seminal idea of this fictional odyssey through wisdom enthused by
Lord Venkateswara and Lord Shiva.
On
the back cover blurb, it reads:
The
story with its vast canvas weaves through deliberations and decisions, plots
and counterplots, espionage and magic, an incredibly mysterious island, skills
in various fields of knowledge, war tactics & strategies…(back cover: Merciless
Dark, The Mystery of the Eclipse Island.)
The Prologue
says that in this first volume:
…the story unfolds in the background of a great war
that had taken place twenty years before, between the animal and human races.
In that war, the humans destroyed every animal, but an order of them called
Morantuses managed to escape and survive.
The
escapee Morantuses holed up in a secretive
place called Death Hollow. Here they continued their greed and strife to
exterminate the human clan. On the other hand, the human clan did not attempt
to seek vengeance, become vindictive or reciprocate for the loss of human lives
as a result of the war. Their attempt was to engage in mutual relationship with
the animals and the rest of creatures on Earth. However, the animals blatantly
disagreed. And the humans made their best deliberations on an expedition to
exterminate the animals, engaging on nuances of The Mystery of the Eclipse
Island.
Stalwart, as leading warrior and tactician of the
human race, set out on an expedition on a ship across raging ocean, with a
strong contingent of Firestrom warriors. They headed for Death Hollow where
some of the venomous Morantuses believed to be still alive:
“What we are
going to do against the Death Hollow, is not a revolt or an attack or a war. It
is a sacred rite of sacrifice….” (4).
Stalwart was on a mission to eliminate all life in
Death Hollow housing the Morantuses. And he brainstormed the Firestrom warriors
to gratify his mission plan. Death Hollow itself was a mysterious place,
described as “ … an abyss of death
waiting for the human lives…” (19). It was also the security warehouse of
dead bodies from the war past. Security support for hosting of dead bodies was
enhanced by a group of animal beasts, which included a five-hooded serpent of
the ophidian race, named Bronx Cheer, and Asura, a jaguar and animal leader.
Deliberations with the beasts and Bronx Cheer made the Morantuses at ease. The
strategy of the animals was to trick Stalwart and his Firestrom warriors that
the dead bodies were alive. In order for the dead bodies to become alive, they
had to be taken to the Eclipse Island before the upcoming Blue Moon.
Vicarious truths and half-truths at Crostonfield and
Hardwood, where human clans lived, slated the memories of conflict and confrontation with animal
groups. They focused on the birth of twins by Wynfleath, wife of Stalwart, adding
depth to the body of the story. Then there were decision-making strategies by Roisin
and Merrell, including Gerardo. Roisin shared an expose of incredible truths in
astrological prophesying to Wynfleath about the birth of twins.
Eventually,
and in order to achieve supremacy over the human race, the animals had to
discover a way to revive the dead bodies in the Death Hollow hide-out. They
were guided by the strategic echelons of the key beast leaders, Asura and
ophidian Bronx Cheer. Their only decision was to reach the Eclipse Island:
The
souls of the dead were anxiously waiting, in the Eclipse Island, for the time
they could re-enter their bodies.
The
hostility between the humans and the animals sparked off because of the Eclipse
Island. The humans tried many a time to wreck this island, but they couldn’t.
Its destruction was as impossible as sighting the wind with one’s eyes. If at
all it could be destroyed only time would decide. (174-175)
What
was significant about the Eclipse Island was the encapsulated liquid, Vitone.
This liquid had the magic potent of resuscitating animals and snakes. With the help of the blue moonbeams, Vitone would also render the souls
of the dead, visible to one’s eye. (178)
More importantly:
The
souls of the dead hung on the Eclipse Island solely because of Barbarus’ magic. It was enough if the beasts and Bronx Cheer protected
Barbarus’ corpse until Wynfleath gave birth to the child. (178)
Virgin
Nature’s creation of the Eclipse Island as an uncanny,
invisible place, was that …
it did not stand on the surface of the earth, but lay in
the womb of the ocean. It nestled under the confluence of the Carcass flowing
from the south and the Millon flowing from the north. (176)
And more to the Eclipse Island mystery …
On
the day of the solar eclipse, the Eclipse Island would emerge over the surface
of the ocean at the confluence of the two seas, with a view to absorbing and
tasting the blue moonbeams. (176)
Bronx
Cheer and the beasts were successful in reviving dead bodies of the Morantuses before the Eclipse Island
receded in the depth of the sea. And they made their return journey to rescue
the envenomed Morantuses.
At
long last, Stalwart and his power warriors arrived at Death Hollow, before
Asura and Bronx Cheer were able to step foot in its mysterious surroundings. In their tactical attack to destroy the
Morantuses, they encountered situations of truths about the Death Hollow that
were unfathomable. They destroyed the Morantuses. And set sail on their return
voyage to Crostonfield.
In a sad finale, Bronx Cheer and Asura arrived at
Death Hollow just a little too late.
The
resolve of the beasts to annihilate the humans had watered down on seeing the
situation. From the wreckage of the Death Hollow, they realized the intensity
of vengeance the humans had harboured against the animal race. (282)
It
was the plan that went right. What happened next will be reeled in the upcoming
Volume Two of Merciless Dark.
This gargantuan, episodic epic The Mystery of the Eclipse Island, comes to the reader with
infinite concatenation, emboldened by English translator and Master Literary
Craftsman, U Atreya Sarma. The dialogues between Stalwart and his Firestrom
warriors are intense. Discussions between Stalwart and Adalwen are superb.
Incredible truths espoused by Wynfleath and Roisin about astrological paradigms
are truly provocative. The imaging of the Eclipse Island is fantastic. The
deliberations and decisions by the humans and animals are evocative, with
logical symbiosis for suzerainty on Earth.
Each chapter in the book leaves you with a reticent
itch to read the next. And Atreya Sarma brings the pages with quick turn over
with language that is simple to reach young adults and fiction-fantasy lovers.
The tone and texture of the book underscore the vocabulary and assertive
quality that drive the internal coherence of the fiction-fantasy canvas.
 |
| U Atreya Sarma |
About the Translator
Atreya Sarma is a poet, free-lance editor, critic and reviewer besides being a translator from Telugu into English, and occasionally from English to Telugu. His writing experience spans more than twenty three years . He is Chief Editor of Muse India.
He holds an MA (English Litt), a PG Dip (Mass Communications & Telugu Translation Techniques), a BA (English Litt, Sanskrit Litt, History) and BSc (Botany, Zoology, Chemistry), and CAIIB (Part I) with mid-level managerial experience in SBI.
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