#133 : Elaine of Corbenic by Tima Z. Newman : Review

GENRE: Fiction – Literary

NUMBER OF PAGES: 318

FORMAT: Digital

SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone

HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: Review copy from Savant Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thanks guys!

REVIEW:

Elaine of Corbenic by Tima Z. Newman is based on the story of Elaine and Launcelot’s story of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. Having never or heard of the original work, I had the advantage of not expecting anything for the plot or the writing. The summary promised me contemporary themes of love, betrayal, abandonment and the quest for meaning. The book delivered all that. Just that the writer was really subtle about it. This story apparently, needs no introduction, for it is already quite famous. It is indeed a big gamble to write an adaptation of sorts when people already know what to expect. Author Tima, successfully has pulled off this gamble.

Being a non-native English speaker I was quite apprehensive about the language after reading the original work in the first few pages. To my surprise, the writing was just perfect enough for me to understand the story. The writing largely reminded me of the lyrical prose that I used to read back in school. Sadly, there aren’t much of such books around. Having never read much about the Holy Grail, this book gave me a better glimpse in the ideology of Holy Grail (Way better than Dan Brown did!) The story is a mix of everything – dream, adventure, love and deception. The characterization aided in the fluidic movement of the story. The protagonist, Elaine is portrayed a strong yet gullible woman, while Launcelot is one confused man. Guinevere on the other hand, is simply devil in disguise. The setup or the nature seemed to reflect Elaine’s mood at any given point of the story.

The writing and the story might seem very simple on the outset, but it is just the opposite. Tima has crafted a profound page turner which will make you rethink your notions on free-will and love. This is easily the one book that really made me sit up and re-think about lot of ideologies that I had.

MY SAY: Strictly profound thinkers. Not for the wannabe intellectuals.

RATING:

PLOT : 7/10

NARRATION: 8/10

CHARACTERISATION: 7/10

BOREDOM QUOTIENT: 5/10 (the lower the better)

OVERALL RATING: 7/10

BOOK LINKS: Publisher's Website - Savant Publishing.

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