Soul Warrior (The Age of Kali #1) by Falguni Kothari

“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover’s skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won’t. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again.

That is their mystery and their magic.” 
― Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

I am tempted to open the review with these words. Mahabharata is a great book. It inspired countless authors to retell it in myriad ways. Everyone has their own interpretation.

Karna is a character from the epic which deserves our sympathy. Same is done by Falguni in her book. He is shown as immortal and is present in current day also. He can see the asuras, devas and shape shifters by their aura. There is the eternal battle going on and he is playing his part.

The book has interesting premise and almost all the characters of Mahabharata are here but with a twist. This book has a large canvas and took time to sink. 3/ 5 stars.