Thanks to the author, Vasant Davé I am giving away one eBook copy of Trade Winds to Meluhha.
Book Description:
Trade Winds to Meluhha harks back to Bronze Age Mesopotamia. It involves adventure, strife and love in young Samasin’s life in which swift events chase him to a strange land 3,000 Km. across the sea.
Implicated in a foreigner’s murder, he is saved from a gory sentence by a rare event which is actually recorded on clay tablets excavated in ancient Babylon. He flees to ‘Meluhha’, Indus Valley Civilization, in search of Siwa Saqra whose name was uttered by the alien before he died. There besides Siwa, he also meets two damsels. Anu is a Sumérian who poses as a Meluhhan because she is on a lookout for a couple of faceless men for revenge. Velli, who wins his heart, is still devoted to a person who had jilted her. Interactions with all three lead Samasin on the trail of a diabolic trade that is ruining the lives of youngsters and women back in Mesopotamia.
The book was inspired by archaeological sites in India. The author happened to visit the ancient port at Lothal during one of his extensive tours as an engineer. When he read about explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s 1977 voyage in a reed ship from the Euphrates to the Indus, his technical background spurred him to delve deeper into the 3rd millennium BC ‘globalization’ between Indus Valley and Mesopotamia. That was when Trade winds to Meluhha started taking shape in his mind.
About Vasant Davé:
Vasant Davé was born in Kenya to immigrant parents from India. He was schooled there under teachers coming from all the races living in East Africa during British rule. Graduating from University of Bombay with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he settled down in India’s western state of Gujarat. His work in Industrial Market Research often took him to remote parts of the country where he could visit nearby archaeological sites too. His interest in the ancient past of the sub-continent led him to write a historical novel after retirement in 2008. His technical background helped him to understand and apply historical, geographical, environmental and cultural nuances bearing upon the life during 3rd millennium BC, the period in which Trade Winds to Meluhha is set.
This is an international eBook giveaway and ends on June 7, 2012.Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
In his collection of short stories, Hayes writes about quirky and maladjusted characters.Many, if not all of the main characters have a mental illness and some seem to manage day to day better than others.Hayes used wit and everyday settings to draw the reader in.
In some of the stories the characters just seem a bit on the quirky side, like Adam in the first story, A Feel For America.Adam is the head of the teachers in an ESL school in Taiwan.The teachers room together in an apartment and let just say, life gets interesting there.
I reviewed the title story, The Maladjusted, here.In this story it is apparent right away that Mike has a mental illness.If fact, he tells just about everyone he meets.The difference about him and the character in the other stories is that he has a support network.Most of the other characters don’t seem to know they are having problems that are different from the average person or maybe they aren’t so different.There are many people who go through life with some sort of mental illness who don’t know it and don’t get treated.
I really enjoyed this collection of short stories by Canadian author Derek Hayes. I loved the quirky characters.Some of the stories made me cringe a bit but as a social worker in mental health I have seen my fair share of people who seem maladjusted.We all have our quirks though, every one of us.
4.5/5
I received this book for my honest opinion from Derek Hayes.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
This is what I received last week: I actually got this today from Net Galley. It feature excerpts for books from authors that will be at the BEA this year. I’m not going this year but will be taking part in the Armchair BEA. They are taking registration for the Armchair BEA, so go register if you can’t go to the one in NYC this year. I plan to go again to the BEA in NYC in 2013.
I received this from Net Galley and Unbridled Books. I read Peter Geye’s Safe From the Sea in 2010 and it blew me away!
I received this book and the next from Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press, unsolicited. They are not to my taste but I will find good homes for them.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
