Nisha Joshi (swamped, will review whenever possible)'s Reviews > Loot

An epic tale spanning continents. But was it enough to capture attention?

The Story:

Abbas is a 17-year-old toy maker in Mysore. His toys catch Tipu Sultan's attention and he is summoned to court to make an automaton. Abbas is expected to assist French clockmaker Lucien du Leze. And they do manage to build the automaton. But at what cost?

What I Liked:

I have briefly read about Tipu Sultan in my history books. However, not being from Karnataka, we never had any in-depth discussion about him. For example, I didn't know he was interested in rocketry. Neither did I ever read any book about him. This book proved to be very educational. I am now ashamed that I did not know about one of the pivotal rulers of India.

When I picked this book, I was expecting grandiose descriptions (at least an elephant on the street? wearing jasmine flowers?). But I was pleasantly surprised. It is a novel about India as it should be. Yes, we are in ancient India, but people are not sprinkling rose water in their living rooms.

The writing was also really enjoyable. Though prosaic, it never became too heavy to overwhelm. It flowed easily and made me want to read on to know more about the characters.

What I Disliked:

I would not say this is an outright dislike but I think that the characters could have been more detailed. Abbas is the protagonist of the book and even until the end, I could not figure out what his true nature was. The others were a bit better - Lucien, Jehanne, and even Rum. But I would have loved to know them just a little more.

Another thing that irked me was that I could not specify the genre of this book. Is it a coming-of-age story? A mystery? A heist? A love story? Because there was a bit of everything in it. Maybe that is what the writer intended, for our lives hardly follow a single path.

Final Thoughts:

I have longed for a novel on India that wouldn't go overboard (i.e. not be written for Western audiences). Loot is the perfect example of it. It should be hyped more and be brought before a larger audience.

4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the ARC.