Rohan Monterio’s Shadows Rising is a mythological fantasy featuring a yaksha, a celestial being found in Hindu mythology, as its central character. Akran, who was once a powerful yaksha warrior with friends in high places, has been living in Mumbai for a long time when the book opens. He keeps away from the prying eyes of the powerful celestials who banished him thousands of years ago for a crime he has no memory of committing. As a disgraced celestial with few friends, he tries to make the best of life he can on earth. He pretends to be human, owns a large building in Mumbai, and spends his days sitting in bars, using what remains of his power to get drinks at a cheaper price.

Akran has made up his mind to keep well away from the games that both the mortals and immortals play, but sometimes—out of sheer boredom—he helps people find stuff that they have lost. Things take a turn when an old man reaches out to Akran for help. The man’s granddaughter has been kidnapped from their home—and, since Akran has accrued some fame as a locator of lost objects and pets, the man hopes Akran can help him, too. Initially somewhat disinterested, Akran only agrees to get involved because the case involves a child. However, once he starts digging, he finds that this case is much more complex than a solitary kidnapping incident: before the thugs kidnapped the girl, she was sent a piece of celestial music.

Through his preliminary investigation, Akran learns that this girl was one among the many others that have been kidnapped in the same fashion during the past months. And the music is a kind that only someone who carries a touch of celestial within them can hear; for all others it is white noise. Despite his friend Shukra’s warning not to get involved in what seems to be serious business involving non-human, probably celestial, agents, Akran feels that he can’t let this be. He gradually uncovers the truth behind these kidnappings with the help of Shukra and three other friends—Sars, K and Deanne—and, once they find out the dark secret behind the plot, they set off to stop the nefarious plans of celestial agents hell-bent upon destroying the present world in order to usher in a different era.

While Shadows Rising describes itself as an urban fantasy, it leans heavily on Indian mythology, particularly on the epic Mahabharata. It’s imperative that the reader be familiar with at least the outline of the great epic, along with the Hindu concept of the four yugas—or the four cycles of time through which the world passes—in order to understand and enjoy the story. To his credit, Monterio also provides his readers a detailed note on the mythology behind the series, which will be of help to a reader unfamiliar with the central mythology; but, apart from Akran and Deanne, most of the characters who appear in the story are versions of either Indian mythological characters or celestial beings. Shukra, for instance, is Shukracharya from Hindu mythology; K is Kama, or the god of love, and Sars an aspect of Saraswati, the goddess of learning and wisdom. (Deanne is a Valkyrie and the only character in the novel who comes from a different mythological universe.)

Monterio ensures he gives all these figures a modern twist, and this is a book which seems to have been written with a YA audience in mind. Although it hasn’t been marketed as such, all the characters are made “cooler” than their original archetypes, and more relatable to younger readers. Their names and behaviours, their lingo, the humourous tone of the entire narrative; the constant comparisons of the older, mythological figures with icons of pop culture, like characters from the Marvel universe; the fact that Monterio manages to apply modern interpretations to mythological events through the private journals of Akran which appear in the beginning of each chapter reinforce this feeling: perhaps it is somewhere here that the weakness of the book lies. For while the tone of the narrative is light and humourous, Monetrio’s punches don’t always land and sometimes the narrative voice seems to be trying too hard to be relatable and funny.

Take Akran’s private journals. Their appearance before every chapter plays havoc with the pace of the narrative. After a time, they start feeling inorganic to the main storyline, a tool for the author to school his readers in his new reading of the age-old myths. While the idea of re-interpreting the myths is brilliant, this execution feels wanting. Then there’s the question of women characters. The entire book has a rather macho feeling to it, right from the cover page to the lone illustration on the inner page, which depicts Akran in a fight with an antagonist many times his size who holds two huge swords in his hands, has bulging biceps, and a mean snarl on his face. Don’t get me wrong, there are two women characters in the group—Sars, the star hacker, and Deanne, the Valkyrie warrior—who play crucial roles in the final battle of the book. Neither of them, however, feels essential to the story. It’s interesting to note that these characters make their first appearance on page 115 of the novel, a bit late for a book that wraps up in 260-odd pages. Having said that, it’s essential to point out that in his Note on the Craft at the end, Monterio points out that he realises that Sars “doesn’t get enough love in this book” and hints that this will be rectified in the rest of the series, during which Sars and K get more space in future books.

Despite these flaws, the storyline of Shadows Rising is interesting and there is an undertone of humour that will appeal to a lot of younger readers. Perhaps I wasn’t as enamoured of the book because I wasn’t the audience at which it was aimed. That younger demographic might find more things to enjoy in the novel: overall, Shadows Rising is an interesting book and an attempt worth praising. It would be a good idea, however, if Westland market the next books in the series as YA to ensure the series reaches the right readers.