A review by narratricenessa
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

For a Hero of Light, he reckoned he cast a rather grim shadow. Hero. The word slithered nastily in his mind. An honour bestowed upon you when you had killed all those who would have called you a mass murderer. 

Sons of Darkness is a complex reimagining/reinterpretation of the great and equally complex ancient Indian epic the Mahābhārata but set in A Song of Ice and Fire-esque fantasy setting. A reimagining of a revered and complex classical text, especially one with a large cast of characters, in a grim epic fantasy setting, is an ambitious undertaking. Especially for a debut novel, however, Gourav Mohanty manages to make this work.

Sons of Darkness is a gripping tale that possesses all the elements that fans of epic fantasy like - a large cast of characters, lots of scheming and political machinations, revenge, epic fights and battles, morally grey characters... The reader does not need to be familiar with the synopsis of the Mahābhārata to read Sons of Darkness. However, familiarity with the original text might help you get your bearings quicker because the story has a large cast of characters and their interconnections can, at times, get quite complicated. But even if you don't know anything about the original text that inspired this quite grim epic fantasy reinterpretation of the story, once you start reading you will enjoy Mohanty's writing and will be too immersed in the story that's unfolding to worry about not being familiar with the Mahābhārata.