Sons of Darkness

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty, read by Homer Todiwala.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON MEETS SUCCESSION IN AN EPIC REIMAGINING OF THE MAHABHARATA

'An unforgettable wild journey set in re-imagined Vedic India' SF Book Review
'Like Game of Thrones in an Indian alternative universe... exhilarating... heralds the arrival of a special new talent' Dan Jones
'Mahabharata imbued with A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, & Malazan Book of the Fallen' Novel Notions

SOME BALLADS ARE INKED IN BLOOD

Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Satyabhama have put their plans in motion, both within and beyond the Republic’s blood-soaked borders, to protect it from total annihilation.

But they are soon to discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever – and that they are not the only players on the board.

Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways and become a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores.

Brooding and beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past, but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to granting second chances.

Hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through a path of daggers. Meanwhile, his foes and woes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.

Their lives are about to become yet more difficult, as a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise . . . even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.

'Incredible' FanFi Addict
'Phenomenal' Fantasy Book Critic
'A stunning debut' Michael R. Fletcher
'Unforgettable' SF Book Review
'Outstanding' Shauna Lawless
'Vivid... riveting' Kirkus Reviews
'Breathtaking' Anand Neelakantan
'Brutal and bleak' R.R. Virdi
'A series to watch' Philip Chase
'Wild, intriguing' Online Book Club
'Vast and sweeping' Reedsy

Critics Review

Through humour, torture, gore, lust, magic, dangerous power games and bloodcurdling battles, Sons of Darkness takes us on an unforgettable wild journey set in re-imagined Vedic India.
SF BOOK REVIEW
Remarkable characterization and vivid worldbuilding bolster this riveting epic fantasy.
Kirkus Reviews
The sprawling scope of the epics with all the brutal and bleak nature of your favorite grimdarks. Complex geopolitical drama, strife, and military battles to rival the greats of the genre and will have you sitting by the seat of your pants. You're going to want to read this dark South Asian fantasy infused to the brim with Mahabharata and Malazan's DNA.
R.R. Virdi
In vivid prose, Mohanty combines ghastly tortures, sly political machinations, throbbing romance, and eerie religious and social rites into a demanding but rewarding epic and sets the stage for even more gasps in a coming sequel. This is an impressive feat
Publishers Weekly
Sons of Darkness is outstanding. Brutal, lyrical and imaginative, it is an inspired mix of mythology and grimdark fantasy that I just couldn’t put down.
Shauna Lawless
An incredible debut that showcases the darkness of human hearts but also the heroic nature that resides within... easily one of the best epic fantasy debuts of the last decade & more
Fantasy Book Critic
Like Game of Thrones in an Indian alternative universe, Sons Of Darkness is an exhilarating, imaginative, genre-busting mash-up of high fantasy, timeless myth and ancient history, which heralds the arrival of a special new talent and a gripping new series in historical fantasy.
Dan Jones
The author’s vision, and the world he has created is breathtaking and fascinating. The Indian Fantasy Fiction genre finally comes of age with this book.
Anand Neelakantan, bestselling author of Asura and The Bahubali Series
A stunning debut. Gourav Mohanty is the new voice of dark fantasy
Michael R. Fletcher
With bold and gut-wrenching twists, Gourav Mohanty fuses passion for gritty modern fantasy with the greatest epic ever told, delivering a fresh and page-turning spin on the Mahabharata. This is a series to watch!
Philip Chase
Mahabharata imbued with A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, & Malazan Book of the Fallen, Sons of Darkness is the best fantasy debut of 2022. The unbreached bastion for grimdark fantasy literature in India has been breached with Mohanty as the lead, and nothing can stop the novel from encompassing the entire world now.
Novel Notions
Sons of Darkness contains all the trappings of a high adventure. The saga is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones
Midwest Book Review
A wild, intriguing work of fantasy that will keep you glued from the beginning till the end.
Online Book Club
Sons of Darkness smashes open the fountain of originality, spilling insidious plot, incredible characters, and grim violence. I loved this book.
Fanfi Addict
Vast and sweeping in scale, even while it is attentive to the minutia of its characters motivations and inner lives, Sons of Darkness is a fresh new, grimdark fantasy built on old bones and perfect for those who love their stories epic and their worlds unique!
Reedsy
Nothing says summer like reading about a bunch of morally dubious people literally stabbing each other in the back!
Winter is Coming
House of Dragons meets Succession
The Debut Digest
A totally brilliant novel by a new force in historical fantasy… a saga of magic, deadly politics, war and outrageous ambition, superbly written. This is historical fantasy at its very best
Historical Novel Review
A radical reimagining of one of humanity’s most foundational epics . . . with an excellent balance of humour, havoc and heart
Mark Lawrence
A great joy in Sons of Darkness is that Mohanty has taken the grimdark genre he loves and reoriented its eurocentric origins to center the Indian stories, characters, aesthetics and magic systems that lay at the heart of the plot and his world building
Grimdark Magazine

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