Excelsior Correspondent
The Forbidden Truth by Prasenjeet Kumar is an intriguing trilogy, to say the least. At one level, it is a roller-coaster tale of adventure filled with magical spells and intriguing twists and turns at every step that will stretch the limits of your incredulity and leave you confused about who the good persons really are. At another, it depicts the epic and eternal battle between an inclusive culture and an exclusive one, between nature worshippers and the believers in the so-called one-and-only one true God, and challenges you to decide who you would rather be with.
The books, individually or as a trilogy, are available worldwide in both print and e-Book formats on platforms like Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Google Play, etc.
Its Book 1, or rather “Season One” as the author calls it, starts with a foreboding quote from Sun Tzu’s Art of War: “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
The backdrop for this quote is the rivalry between two neighbouring states viz. Sidua and Malsia. Sidua is green, while Malsia is a sprawling desert. Siduans follow a religion that is inclusive, respecting every faith and belief, whereas Malsians believe in their one-and-only-one true God and slaughter everyone who believes in any other school of thought. Sounds familiar?
However, nothing is hunky-dory in Sidua. The politicians there are so entangled in their own petty rivalries that they have forgotten who their real enemy is. So much so, that in a fit of left-liberal-wokism, that we too are so plagued with, they make any reference to the “Book of Truth” that discusses the “forbidden truth,” a punishable offence on the ground that it upsets their neighbour, the Malsians!
In Malsia, Ihan, the evil sorcerer, is not taking any chances. He asks Yosh and his men to find the Book of the Truth first and destroy it. Because only the Book of the Truth can extinguish their stranglehold over their people and Malsia’s entire raison d’être.
In Sidua, Noora, a seventeen-year-old lad, whose father is languishing in state prison for daring to mention the forbidden truth, is tasked to undertake a perilous journey to find the Book of the Truth. For only the Book of Truth can save Noora’s father and their homeland Sidua from its enemies.
Noora in this task is helped by Yadu, the legendary warrior-general of Sidua, and Ila, a healer refugee girl from Malsia, who can also command, believe it or not, an army of spirits.
Thus, the stage is set for an epic battle for possessing the Book of the Truth.
In Book/Season 2, Noora and his team reach Cynthia, the high-altitude god-forsaken border town in the north of Sidua, where they are suddenly attacked by the Malsians. Surrounded and outnumbered, there is no way they can continue with their journey. The corrupt Government of Sidua refuses to send any reinforcements. And what is worse, they are looking for an evil spell to control the minds of its people.
Book/Season 3 describes how Drabu, the one-and-only prophet of Malsia, is planning an all-conquering invasion of Sidua. Who can foil Drabu? Again, the same top-secret Book of Truth.
So, Noora, Ila, and Yadu continue with their epic search for the illusory Book of Truth. With every step, their journey becomes even more perilous, impractical, and utterly frustrating.
Will they ever find the fabled Book of Truth? Or will they watch their beloved homeland reduced to slavery once again?
If you liked the Lord of the Rings and the Game of Thrones, you will sure fall in love with THE FORBIDDEN TRUTH, and its powerful, eternally valid, underlying message.
And if you ever wished Harry Potter had a message, read this trilogy. Recommended for everyone above 13.
Incidentally, this is the second trilogy of Prasenjeet. The first, KASHMIR IS FREE, was co-written with his father, Dr. Arun Kumar, an IAS officer of 1979 batch of the J&K cadre.
About author
Prasenjeet Kumar is the author/co-author of over 38 books in four genres: Fiction, motivational books for introverts (the Quiet Phoenix series), books on Self-Publishing (Self-Publishing WITHOUT SPENDING A DIME series) and cookbooks (Cooking In A Jiffy series). His books (over 100 titles and counting) have been translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese, and sell in over 50 countries.
Prasenjeet is a Law graduate from the University College London (2005-2008), London University and a Philosophy Honours graduate from St. Stephen’s College (2002-2005), Delhi University. In addition, he holds a Legal Practice Course (LPC) Diploma from College of Law, Bloomsbury, London, and was, for a brief while, a solicitor of England and Wales.
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