Live Love Believe..: BOOK REVIEW- HEXAGON BY ISHAAN LALIT

Well, there are two kinds of readers I know of- One who read Science Fiction and Love it, and second, those who have read something on those lines but refrain from reading the pure sci-fi genre, fearing it'd make no sense to them. I happen to fall in the latter category.

BOOK DETAILS

TITLE:HEXAGON

AUTHOR:ISHAAN LALIT

LANGUAGE:ENGLISH

FORMAT:PAPERBACK

PUBLISHER:MAHAVEER

ISBN:9788183520201

PAGES:232

MY RATING:

Call it fate or otherwise, I happened to meet Ishaan Lalit, the author of this sci-fi novel, Hexagon. I was instantly enticed by his lifestyle- the way he has multiple worlds in his mind and how he perfectly chaffs and juggles himself in and out of each of those with that constant smile of his and with the endearing and warm personality that he exudes. I have in the past couple of years dreamed of being a writer and I pretty much am the same sorts. Such personality types perhaps cannot be bracketed in any particular compartment or a "type"- I can be the wildest extrovert with the widest grin and biggest mouth and can turn into a recluse as I shut the door of my room. If I love you, I am passionate and if I hate you, I am even more passionate. You get the flow, don't you? :)

I have hitherto, been quite afraid of such genres, blame the humanities studies that I am still going through. But like they saw, if you fear something, overcome it. And thus, though I acquired a copy of the book, I fellshort of actually sitting down and reading it. It was then that I borrowed another book on the same lines, Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr. and as I flipped through the pages, I realised that I was enjoying the journey. And thus, I began reading, Hexagon by Ishaan Lalit.

With Ishaan Lalit- This one I call The Formal-Informal Pic! :)

And trust me friends, if you have read Catch Me... you will relate to this one instantly. How? Well, that you'll have to discover on your own and come back and let me know if you felt it! The difficult aspect of writing a review for a sci-fi is that you cannot let out much details and yet, let your readers know how you felt without letting them know why you felt so.. Ah! Such tough Job you see!

The story revolves largely around a certain brat named Rahul Oberoi who is a artistic heister in the sense that he steals precious artefacts and art pieces without being caught even once. (I think I am in love with adjectives, and see how double-meanings they acquire! Such talent I have!) Oh, and there's my favorite dimension to it- Ria, his partner in crime as well as his Girlfriend. (I know, this totally sounds like Dhoom 2?)

One day, they are caught by the Government officials and the police but are then sent to an underground address where Rahul learns that his grandfather is dead and that now there are more secrets to be revealed to him, which he had no clue of. He learns about Hexagon, a structure which is basically a gateway to six parallel Universes and that one of them ruled by the Moths, is about to declare war and seize control over the other universes, including theirs.

So, the main hounding question is- How does Rahul help the officials? What role does Ria play in the scheme of things? And what role do the other characters play to either stop the war or declare the war? And lastly, but most importantly, who wins the battle-The humans or the Moths?

It is an intense and gripping tale and keeps you hooked on to the plot, the characters. But it ends too soon. The situations, the emotions and the conversations seem to be in a scurry. I really wish Ishaan Lalit would have kept the pace a little slower with a slower pace of detailing of the places, such as the initial introduction to the Hexagon- one has to be either very creative or be a science-fiction fan to get a grip of the structure so described. Another flaw would be that of the errors. I really wish both, the author as well as the publisher had taken care of the proof reading and editing bits and delved into them more seriously. Because at times it were these mistakes that broke the intensity of the plot. For example, Ria written Riya or Rahul being called the son at times, when he was the grandson.. More glitches like the book literally ended from cover to cover, i.e. till the last page. The last page is usually left blank or has information about the author's next or the publisher's next..and this one did not. (In a way good that they are saving on paper, but well...)

I am sure these things can be taken care of in the next re-print of the book. Otherwise,in terms of being one of the few sci-fi books, it deserves an applause and a worthy read. Also, though I did like the book cover, I think it does not do justice to the plot, perhaps you can come up with a better one too? And oh, by the way, this isn't Ishaan Lalit's first novel. He has authored a book titled, The Bracelet which also includes some other worldly characters. Clearly, he is an outstanding and out-of-the-world kinda author! (The love for adjectives is really getting unto me, isn't it! )

Also, the book received the Best Science Fiction Award at the Indian Literary Awards hosted by Butterfly and the Bee. Cool eh?

Being someone who isn't much of a sci-fi fan, I think anyone who likes to read can safely go for this book. It isn't technical or boring. One does not have to belong to the Sciences to get a hang of it and thus, I entered and safely exited the genre! :P And so will you, so do not fear my worthy friends, take a deep breath and jump in for the thrill of it!

Here you can buy the book at a discounted price!