Kara Dalkey

Two and a half stars rounded up to three. This was a lot creepier to me as an adult than I remember it being as a kid. The cover is even more beautiful to me now, and I was able to attach a different meaning to it. The imagery in this book was fantastic. I liked the poems, but they're not haiku. I liked the illustrations of what I took to be falling wisteria blossoms, that served as chapter transitions. The chapter titles were even intriguing to me as an adult. Normally, I find them useless. This could have easily been turned into a novella for adults. Considering the subject matter at times, I wondered if it should have.

The story has a massive tone problem. It contrasts flowing, beautiful, calm scenes with action, adventure, social commentary through its author; with heavy scenes of grieving a murder, arson, robbery...and this book is short. The story has an ending piled high with cliches that are done much better elsewhere. I recoiled in distaste from the wedding. It wasn't set up well at -all.- I don't care if they were minor characters and the author wanted to end on a message of hope. Unless it was a message about gender dynamics somehow. I'm glad I got to read this, though.… (mehr)

I finally caught up with “Bhagavati” by Kara Dalkey. It’s the third book in the trilogy that begins with “Goa” and “Bijapur”, both of which I read in the 90’s before, coincidentally, moving to India. I just reread those the past couple of months before reading “Bhagavati” for the first time.

This book mainly follows the main character, Thomas Chinnery and the end of his journey in search of the “Rasa Mahadevi” or “The Blood of the Goddess”, a magical powder he previously encountered that is poison to the living, but has the power to restore life to the dead. Before this book he found out the source is a living goddess in the hidden city of Bhagavati, and encountered a few people who know the way there.

Also trying to get to the source of the Rasa Mahadevi are the Portuguese priest, Padre Gonscao, whose intention is to destroy it, and the commander of a small Mughal army, the Mirza Ali Akbarash, who’s been sent by his emperor to investigate and secure the source of it.

Of course, once in Bhagavati, the living goddess herself makes other plans for Thomas, plans he’s not interested in.

I enjoyed the book. It was a good adventure tale. Some parts of it seemed to drag on, and once all the characters arrived at the main location it got a bit chaotic keeping track of who was there and who came with who and who knew who else was there.

This one didn’t have any nice, sexy scenes like the previous book, which I was hoping for.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it, and feel I should look for some more Kara Dalkey books.… (mehr)

After quite a number of years I just reread “Bijapur” by Kara Dalkey. I last read it in the late 90’s, along with the first book in the trilogy, “Goa” but then, coincidentally, moved to India before I caught up with the final book. Now that I finally got hold of the final book, I’m rereading the first two because it’s been so long since I first read them I had to refresh my memory of where the story was at.

This book follows Thomas Chinnery in a caravan of other Portuguese Catholics from the Goa colony and some Indian merchants as they travel to Bijapur on their quest to find the Rasa Mahadevi, or “blood of the Goddess,” a magical powder that kills the living and restores life to the dead. Thomas wants to bring the powder home to England, or barring that, escape from the Portuguese and find a way home alive, while the priest in charge of the Portuguese wants to destroy it, believing it’s evil and caused the corruption of the Catholic priests in charge of the Inquisition in Goa.

It also follows the Mirza Ali Akbarash, a trusted general of the Mughal emporer, Akbar from the north who is also on a quest for the Rasa Mahadevi. He’s joined by his trusty lieutenant and a traveling Sufi mystic, along with his small army. His goal is to get the Rasa Mahadevi in order to supercharge the Mughal armies for greater conquest.

The two parties converge on Bijapur, where the ruler, a minor king who is more interested in art, music and culture than war wants to manipulate the two groups and get them out of his hair.

Overall it’s an enjoyable book, a good adventure. I appreciate it more now than I did when I first read it, having spent a decade living in India, being more familiar with the people and geography of India.

Dalkey does write one nice, but short sex scene in this book, though disappointingly it’s between two of the secondary characters, without involving either of the main ones.

Having finished this, now I’m caught up and ready to tackle the third and final book of the trilogy that I haven’t ever read before.… (mehr)

After a number of years I just reread “Goa” by Kara Dalkey. I last read it in the late 90’s, followed by its sequel. But then I didn’t get hold of the third book in the trilogy before I, coincidentally, moved to India. I remembered I enjoyed the first two books and wanted to finish the whole trilogy, but with more than twenty years gone, I had to start it over again.

The book follows several characters, Thomas Chinnery, an Englishman, an apprentice apothecary, in an herb and medicine trading voyage who winds up in Goa, India instead of his expected destination of China, and separately, Father Antonio Gonscao (whose name has more accents, but I don’t have the tools to easily type them) sent by the Church from Portugal to investigate the Catholic Inquisition that’s going on in the Portuguese colony in Goa, as they think it might be getting corrupt.

Through piracy Thomas comes into possession of a small amount of marvelous powder, Rasa Mahadevi, or Blood of the Goddess, that has the power to kill the living and restore life to the dead.

Several times the story also follows the character Aditi, a worshipper of the as yet unnamed Goddess.

The leaders of the Inquisition in Goa also want the Rasa Mahadevi.

Overall it’s a good fantasy novel. I appreciate it more now that I’ve actually spent a lot of time living in India and know some of the geography a lot better just by hearing the names. This book doesn’t include very many Indian characters, though, and not much time spent away from the European characters, on ships or in a castle or church, so there’s little “feel” for the Indian environment.… (mehr)