Bhagavati (Blood of the Goddess/Kara Dalkey, 3) - Hardcover

Dalkey, Kara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031286003X ISBN 13: 9780312860035

Publisher: Tor Books, 1998

Synopsis

A young English apothecary's apprentice, sent to India and captured by the Inquisition, reclaims his freedom by pretending to know the source of a mysterious power called the Rasa Mahadevi, which can raise the dead

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In the conclusion to Dalkey's brilliant trilogy begun in Goa and continued in Bijapur, Thomas Chinnery, an apprentice apothecary whom fortune and the Fates have set adrift far from his native England, winds his way ever deeper into the labyrinthine interior of India. There magic and medicine peel away the layers of accepted reality, and dread spirits and forbidding gods fight for possession of his body and soul. Thomas is trying to revive his dead Hindu ladylove, Aditi, by bringing her to the source of the miraculous potion rasa mahadevi (literally, the "blood of the goddess"). On this dangerous quest, he is surrounded by characters both historical and fictional, all with their own deeply held faiths and conflicting and complex motivations. They include a brutal Catholic inquisitor who?himself returned from the dead?has begun to doubt both his profession and beliefs; an angelic Christian boy-child with an eclectically erudite nature; a Sufi mystic traveling a difficult path to enlightenment; a Scottish scholar with mysterious allegiances; a battalion of hostile soldiers; a noble Hindu leader and his venal foil; and various fantastical creatures personifying myth and madness. Dalkey's touch is sure, as deft at describing the lore surrounding an herb as at luring her readers into devouring her tale. Rarely has research, religion and fine writing been blended into such a literate and lively elixir.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Dalkey apparently concludes the quest, begun in Goa (1996) and continued in Bijapur , of English apothecary's apprentice Thomas Chinnery, for the Rasa Mahadevi, a magical powder that can bring the dead back to life, in late-sixteenth-century India. He has as much trouble as before keeping clear of the wrath of India's gods and wizards, not to mention the Portuguese Inquisition. The expansion of the Mughal empire into southern India under its greatest leader, Akbar, provides further complications and perils, increases the amount of action, and enriches the historical tapestry Dalkey wove so splendidly in the preceding books. Indeed, Dalkey has woven a tapestry better than she has told a story, and the trilogy is richer and more fascinating for those curious about Mughal India or seeking new and exotic settings for multivolume fantasies than for those seeking just a good fantasy read. But for the former kinds of reader, by all means have all of the Blood of the Goddess trilogy on hand. Roland Green

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 031286003X
• ISBN 13: 9780312860035
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 382