Chakra by Ritu Lalit - A Book review

Urban fantasy has myriad forms. At one level, it can be akin to horror tales - with vampires, werewolves and other such paranormal creatures - and, to my mind, the only thing that would differentiate these tales from the horror genre would be the fact that, in horror, the monsters are more akin to forces of nature without plans and motives whereas in urban fantasy they would have evil purposes that the protagonists need to thwart. Another variation is to write a tale that moves in both a fantasy world and the 'real' world - and, normally, such a tale would have protagonist from the 'real' world. A third variation is to have a fantasy world within the real world - with the events either affecting only the people involved in the fantasy world or capable of convulsing the 'real' world as well.

In a manner of speaking, J.K.Rowling's Potter series IS urban fantasy - since it is set in a fantasy world that overlaps the real world. It does not appear as such since almost all the events happen and/or affect only the people of the fantasy world though there are instances where people in the 'real' world do get affected. Ritu Lalit's "Chakra - The Chronicles of the Witch Way" is urban fantasy of the third sort.

The words 'fantasy world', in the context of her story, is used loosely only to denote people and organizations that are a part of the fantasy elements of her story. In the first book, there is no separate geographical location like "Hogwarts" which may be termed a fantasy place. What I particularly liked about her story was the fact that, unlike most Indian fantasy writers, she has not restricted herself to re-telling or re-interpreting Indian myths but has used elements of what may be termed fantasy - Kundalini Yoga, in this case - to create a fascinating idea of 'magic'. The other thing is the usage of good English - something I had taken for granted earlier but appreciate more nowadays since I find it relatively rare.

The story is fast-paced and quite an easy read. Since this is the first book of what seems to be a trilogy or more, it is too early to start talking of how well-rounded the story was, as it is written. I, however, felt that more tension could have been created in the story with a focus on a specific objective, either for the protagonists or for the antagonists, other than mere destruction of the other or survival - but, as I mentioned, it is early days yet and I may have cause to revise my opinion when the sequels come out.

Even if the book is a part of a multiple set of books, Ritu is following the episodic narration a la Rowling in that each book is a complete story in itself and does not leave you hanging at the end waiting for the sequel to complete the story. I sure hope that the following books may prove far more interesting.

http://phoenixritu.com/chakra-tale-events-tale-characters/