God is a Gamer – Review

I’ve mostly confined my so-called book reviews to Goodreads till now. But henceforth, some or a lot of that wisdom shall be spouted on my otherwise mixed topic blog as well! So, I start off with God is a Gamer by Ravi Subramanian. I’ve come across a number of previous titles by the author but managed to read one finally this time! Given his background in finance and management, it is only apt Subramanian’s books deal with the same. Having said that, it also helps that my day job also involves things to do with finance. Hence, I could surely relate a lot to the book. And the premise of bitcoin-based fiction is definitely exciting. But, the book somehow loses grip while building up the suspense, or maybe does not try to build it. Either way, that was maybe the only disappointing part about the story I think. Otherwise, this is truly unputdownable fiction. The characters are slick and true reflections of things that are 21st century. Like a thoroughly action-packed read, Subramanian manages to squeeze in the best of locations and settings for the novel. And maybe that tends to undo it at times, as mentioned earlier, as one progresses towards the so-called climax or suspense. Because, I do not want to know all the time what the most eligible bachelor in town is wearing, or maybe Tony sounds more like a Goan cook than a Federal agent. Still, a very interesting plot development and outlining of the key characters.

Definitely recommended if you’re looking for current affairs based fiction with the twists and turns. Rating? Maybe a 3.5 on 5.

Get the book here

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Characters We Love

So yesterday, I undertook this small crowdsourcing (yeah, even I like using cool words) project on Twitter. I asked people what their favourite fictional character(s) from books is/are, using the hashtag #CharactersILove. And yes, a lot of women answered with Howard Roark. But the list wasn’t so predictable as well. There were some interesting names indeed. So, here goes:

1. @RootKanal – Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

2. @rbd_sqrl – Scott Pilgrim and Susie Bones

3. @BillyMcBoney – Marvin from THGG

4. @_DesiPsycho – Lin & Didier Levy from Shantaram, Agastya Sen from English August

5. @AreyOhChampa – Sherlock, Alice

6. @1203JanE – Howard Roark and Dominique Francon from The Fountainhead

7. @WhysoDrunk – Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird and John Yossarian from Catch 22.

8. @Rhythmnguitars – Rebecca from novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier and the women of Saadat Hassan Manto.

9. @thenesseeffect – Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird

10. @nari_ssist – Howard Roark

11. @thebongbabe – Marvin, Jeeves, John Galt from Atlas Shrugged and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

12. @LizaSaha – Howard Roark and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights

13. @juneymb – Hercule Poirot

14. @vivekisms – Queen Elizabeth II from The Uncommon Reader, Roxanne from Bel Canto, Julian from The Song is You, Justine from The Alexandria Quartet, Bennie from A Visit to The Goon Squad, David from The Sacred and Profane Love Machine, Eiji Miyake from number9dream, Wendy from This is Where I Leave You,  Zenia from The Robber Bride, Renee from The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Saladin Chamcha from The Satanic Verses, Pecola from The Bluest Eye, Gustave from A Wild Ride Through the Night, Emma from Madam Bovary and finally (as he told me) Anna from Anna Karenina.

And here are some of my inputs, which I also tweeted: Rajkumar from The Glass Palace, Adrian Finn from A Sense of an Ending, Ishigami from The Devotion of Suspect X and Mikal from The Blind Man’s Garden.