The world of spirits and dark characters

BANGALORE: The Swords of Darkness : Appearance of the Krito is the first of a book series written by 14 year old author Swarnim. It is a teen fiction fantasy from the action-adventure genre and demonstrates the imagination and writing capabilities of this teenager. As one flicks from chapter to chapter, one is introduced to spirits, spirit fruits, spirit guardians, spirit islands, evil souls, holy spirit stones, special auras, griffins, kritos, robots and their army, ulops, and many other demon like creatures.

The young author's fascination for books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl is clearly visible as his work too is full of dark characters, magical happenings, fatal prophecies and unbelievable adventures.

The storyline is the usual for a fantasy novel : the battle between the evil and the good. Ichiro Umatsuki and his siblings receive a letter and a gift from their dead parents and set out to revive them.

To carry on this task, Ichiro and his siblings have to go through 12 forts and reach the 13th one to destroy the evil soul who intends to take over the world and destroy it. After a rigorous training for one year where each one of them imbibe a special skill and special powers, they leave for the first fort. Although they trace the first fort's guardian, they are captured because of their inexperience.

Moving ahead, they are rescued by Azgaurd (an immortal later killed by one of the siblings, Ayami) and they finally manage to defeat Preskrito, the guardian of the first fort. However, in the process, Azgaurd betrays them and he is also killed. But to their amazement, Preskrito returns with much more power and with a stronger army.

The four young heroes with their new power and skills are able to destroy him for eternity. The dark soul is captured in Ichiro's sword and hence, his sword becomes more stronger. But in the process, they lose their powers and decide to return home.

Finally, they journey back to their island home which alas has been destroyed completely and all that is left is : ruins, blood and corpses. Later, they upgrade their weapons using the stuff Ayami stole when they were in Preskrito's castle.

They begin their journey for the second fort, this time with the guild master and Jacob. Only halfway through something mysterious happens and Ichiro blacks out with no idea of what became of the others.

Swarnim, a student of Delhi Public School, North worked on this book for almost two years along with his school studies. Demonstrating his creativity at a very young age, the author has come out with a fantasy fiction that will keep many teenagers glued to the book and eagerly await the rest of the series.