Mirror of Desire, by Ananta Govinda, blends philosophical elements with character’s actions and choices, a bit like the TV show The Good Place does (but without the zany humor).
This is a love story at its heart. Kastuba begins with visions of a mysterious woman, and is slowly led, through challenges and setbacks, towards Adi, the women who waits for him. This love motivates him, and inspires him to face the mysterious dangers in his path.
Mirror of Desire introduces a complex, detailed fantasy world, illustrated with beautiful maps. Characters travel by stretoplanes and swanobles, encountering paladins, magicians, and all kinds of challenges. There are a lot of new customs, beliefs, magical systems, new technology, and even new battlegame rules to keep up with. Some parts of the story are direct allegories for the philosophy presented, but still in a fantasy-novel context. For example, Kastuba must subdue two bulls named Mind and Intelligence as he works towards his goal.
The people of BluArth receive wisdom from the Self-Writing Book, but they can also make changes to the book. The idea of this self-writing book, almost like a physical manifestation of free writing or journaling for guidance, plus a fantasy-novel book of prophesy. This book is a living book of prophecy, with the chance to edit the book and change one’s fate.
The end result is a thoughtful adventure ramble, told with fantasy art and bits of poetry. Why aren’t more books for adults illustrated? This adds so much to a light novel. Here the art is related but not always representative, more like a manuscript illumination than an early reader.
As other readers have noted, it’s quite difficult to read this on a Kindle. The book is perfectly compatible with Kindle, there are no tech issues with opening it, but it’s a multimedia book, and the formatting is optimized for iPad. I used the Kindle Cloud Reader on my computer to make it large enough to read easily and to enjoy the artwork in this book. Unfortunately, each page is a complete image, so there’s no way to increase text size for accessibility.
There are additional multimedia elements to add to the reading experience, like a soundtrack with themed music to make reading and viewing even more immersive.
Finally, this is the beginning of a series and not the end of Kashuba’s (and hopefully Adi’s) adventures. This fantasy world of pilgrims seeking guidance and knowledge from the Self-Writing Book and the Mirror of Desire is just beginning.
The Mirror of Desire is by Ananta Govinda and was published by Next Step Publishing on November 6, 2020.
“Mirror of Desire” is a thought-provoking and beautifully crafted blog that delves into the complex realm of human emotions and aspirations. Your ability to explore the depths of desire and its reflection in the human experience is truly commendable. Your blog serves as a mirror that allows readers to reflect on their own desires and motivations, sparking introspection and self-discovery. Your eloquent and insightful writing makes “Mirror of Desire” a compelling read, and it’s evident that you have a gift for conveying the intricacies of human longing. Thank you for sharing your unique perspective with us, and for providing a mirror through which we can better understand our own desires.