Book Review: Time Guard- THE AWAKENING by Anmol Batra | Criticspace

Genre: Fiction/ Thriller.

Tag line: He can walk as a soul across time; so can the enemies of mankind.

Physical Attributes of the Book: The COVER is simply eye- catching and vibrant. The cover credits go to Karina https://chirun.deviantart.com

It also encompasses the tag line of the story, which is very attractive and mind boggling  The TITLE is very intriguing and the font very aesthetic. It also mentions the name of the series i.e. Time Guard, in addition to the name of this particular Book.

The BACK COVER entails, the blurb, an explanation of the context of the book, a beautiful picture, Facebook and ebook scan codes in addition to the basic information like the price etc. The book was published in August 2018.

It circumscribes 38 thought provoking chapters in 245 pages.

About the author: The Author, Anmol Batra, is also a Data Analyst and an artist. This is his debut book wherein he has attempted to write in a new, futuristic concept while taking hints from Indian Mythology: making a wonderful concoction using Time, Soul and Parallel Universe. The inspiration comes from his childhood days, when he used to be fascinated with the subject of Time Travel and Life after Death.

He can be followed at http://www.facebook.com/timeguardseries. You can interact him via email at author.timeguard@yahoo.com

The Book: The Book is edited by Simon Richardson, Vinod Batra, Monica Chopra and Tarun Sahni. The Plinth behind the brain twisting read is Time Travel or Teleportation or Transgression or Time Loop. This story basically focuses on two main topics: Time Travel and Soul. 

Time Travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a Time Machine. Soul is something eternal. The human mind only knows that there exists some kind of energy known as Soul… According to our Vedas, Soul is Immortal, it lives beyond the age of the Universe and beyond everything. It is the spiritual part of a being. 

As explained by the author, a Soul is nothing but energy with a conscious, a wave that can move across space, time & matter. The wave that one’s mind finally releases when they die. A few gifted ones have the ability to leave the shackles of mind and return to the physical self at will. 

Premise of the story: There are people on this planet that can leave their body and travel the universe as a soul, they can travel both forward and backward in time.  Some manipulate the world for their own selfish interest and a few devour themselves with the responsibility to harmonize and protect the world. 

Cliffhanger: Are you sure such people don’t exist?

The question is of belief and of faith. The first part in the series of TIME GUARD: The Awakening; is a chase to unearth this mystery. Writing is an underestimated art. You are painting colorful images in people’s mind by using words of black and white.

BLURB: Swati, a young corporate receives five envelopes on her table, at office. Each envelope has her name, a date and time written on it, to be opened accordingly. The message scribbled on the envelope says, “Please open this envelope at the time mentioned”. Out of curiosity, she tears open the first envelope, impromptu and pulls out a page inside it, a thick drawing sheet scratched in the middle with pencil; a handwritten line in the center of the sheet..

“I requested you to open the envelope at 12.30pm. Envelopes not opened on time will lose their contents. The time right now is 09:00:25am. When Swati checks her wrist watch, the time is accurate to the very second i.e. 9:00:25am

Now the question is; Who sent her those envelopes?

What exactly does the sender want if he doesn’t want Swati to know the future beforehand? If you want to know the story behind it, you surely read the book. The story is fast-paced, very magnetic, a page turner, thought provoking and with a very futuristic outlook, although it has roots in Indian Mythology. 

The language is simple, lucid and very descriptive. Illustrations help in visualizing the plot better, enhancing creativity and imagination while further magnifying the impact of the storyline. The concept is gripping, pushing the reader to read further, chapter after chapter. This book is part one of the series TIME GUARD and leaves one on a cliffhanger, a shocker. One is left craving for the next in the series, TIME GUARD II– Reborn. It’s a spine chiller, the USP( unique selling proposition) of a thriller and a good story line.

The Main Characters in the story are; Arjun, Zaffar, Swati and Howrang. The author needs a pat on the back for merging concepts from Hindu mythology with scientific research.  It has science, mythos, folklore and the super natural. All amalgamated in one. Time travel, lore, suspense, relationships. The read encompasses it all. The character sketch of each person is beautifully expressed. The blurb gives an interesting insight into the story. This book, part one of the series, is about the journey of the protagonist from a nonchalant youth to an accountable Protector of The Earth. I am all praises for the author, Anmol Batra, for working and bringing forth such a concept and compiling it in a marvellous read.