Few days back I completed this book. This one had generated a lot of interest when it was released for the first time. Those were the days when Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code had made novels dwelling in the boundary of fact and fiction were toast of the season.
The good thing about these novels is that they mix a lot of fact with fiction. And these are not facts which are very common place to be found. Reading such novels has got two levels of attraction. The facts are obviously the first as you get to know some hitherto unknown ones. For history lovers they are truly revealing. And then you have the plot interwined which gives you the added thrill.
The Rozabal Line is a well researched book on a very sensitive topic. The author had listed down all references to the external websites and books which had provided the premise information for the work. While reading the book it may not be possible for a reader to read the references in detail as that would stretch the time required to complete the book. But anyone with interest to further learn and explore the subject should definitely try that.
The part where the book seriously lags behind is the fiction. I would say the author could have done a much better job if he had put some deeper thought and imagination into that part.
When the book has its foundation in facts, the fiction should not be something completely out of this world; the chapters on past life regression were such. 1 2 3 4 5....and you travel back to a birth more than 2000 years back or you see the future...is one of the most absurd pieces of imagination I have read in a long time.
Apart from that exit sections of the novel were a bit hastened. While during the initial portion author devoted a lot of time in setting up the premise but ended the storyline in a jumbled manner. A reader may think that the book would be more on the subject of Jesus in Kashmir but at the end the focus shifts to something else; not sure if that is deliberate or the author lost his way. The author tries to establish a link between Hinduism and Christianity which could be real interest to the Hindutva focused groups.
The good thing about these novels is that they mix a lot of fact with fiction. And these are not facts which are very common place to be found. Reading such novels has got two levels of attraction. The facts are obviously the first as you get to know some hitherto unknown ones. For history lovers they are truly revealing. And then you have the plot interwined which gives you the added thrill.
The Rozabal Line is a well researched book on a very sensitive topic. The author had listed down all references to the external websites and books which had provided the premise information for the work. While reading the book it may not be possible for a reader to read the references in detail as that would stretch the time required to complete the book. But anyone with interest to further learn and explore the subject should definitely try that.
The part where the book seriously lags behind is the fiction. I would say the author could have done a much better job if he had put some deeper thought and imagination into that part.
When the book has its foundation in facts, the fiction should not be something completely out of this world; the chapters on past life regression were such. 1 2 3 4 5....and you travel back to a birth more than 2000 years back or you see the future...is one of the most absurd pieces of imagination I have read in a long time.
Apart from that exit sections of the novel were a bit hastened. While during the initial portion author devoted a lot of time in setting up the premise but ended the storyline in a jumbled manner. A reader may think that the book would be more on the subject of Jesus in Kashmir but at the end the focus shifts to something else; not sure if that is deliberate or the author lost his way. The author tries to establish a link between Hinduism and Christianity which could be real interest to the Hindutva focused groups.
Overall if you want to gather the facts on the subject of Jesus in Kashmir, this is a good point to start. If this is your book on such genre, you may find it interesting. But if you have already read Dan Brown you may find it a bit difficult to motivate yourself to complete this book.
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