Book review of The Hangman's Master

 

The Hangman's Master
by Elyse Hoffman
Genre : Historical Fantasy

216 Pages, Project 613 Publishing  


"All revolutions devour their own children" - Ernst Rohm, during the purge of the Brownshirts.

Why didn't God use his power to change Hitler into a nice guy instead of a blood thirsty fascist who led Germans to commit the holocaust ? Is Satan really a fallen angel ? What is the meaning of holocaust? How did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933 as he lost the election in 1932 and couldn't become President of Germany? What happened during the "Night of Long Knives" which led to the purge and murder of brownshirts or the paramilitary SA by the Nazi party masterminded by Reinhard Heydrich and Himmler to consolidate Hitler's power over the German Army. Heydrich was not just head of SS and Gestapo but the architect of the Final Solution and author of the death camp system.He is better known as the Butcher of Prague and the Hangman, who she introduced in her book "The Vengeance of Samuel Val" So who is the Hangman's Master? These questions and more are answered by the author in her book, The Hangman's Master.

Stefan Harkel, 16, gets beaten up by his father, an SS man for being a homosexual and is thrown out by his parents. Homeless, he wanders around till he sees a recruitment poster for the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party and signs up just so he could have a warm meal and a decent bed. He grows up not liking communism and communists and so fascism makes sense to Stefan as he doesn't want people to have power. A loner, he falls in love with Axel Lahner, a fellow Brownshirt in his group who is well off and loves him back. Hitler's lust for power was more than those who were loyal to him.So on the Night of Long Knives which didn't take place over just one night , SS ends up in killing a large number of Brownshirt were murdered all over Germany by SS though they were neither Jews nor Communists, but loyal to the cause and were the Nazi Party's own paramilitary wing. Both Stefan and Axel survive the purge but only for Axel to join the SS. So they breakup. While Stefan joins the Black Foxes, the underground network which helps rescue and protect Jews from the Nazis, Axel continues to save him from Dachau even though Axel is married and has children through a lavender marriage. 

Hoffman writes about how "The Night of Long Knives" orchestrated by Reinhard Heydrich was the major turning point for the Nazis as they killed fellow Germans and  those with disabilities to create the so called perfect Aryan race, especially women and children that turned the tide against Hitler eventually. Also in Nazi Germany, homosexuals, especially male homosexuals were marked with a pink triangle and sent to concentration camps to die. This is something most historians gloss over in how Hitler came to power. She also addresses the Nazi propaganda about Jews which is resurfacing again in the western world and global south, especially among white supremacist gangs.

Stefan is contracted by Satan to be a master of Zone N-74 where he can torture Nazis responsible for mass murder. A dying girl signs the contract over to Stefan  to become the master of Zone N-1 which has just one soul - Reinhard Heydrich, known as the Hangman who was architect of the Holocaust which means "burnt offering" in Greek.  He becomes the Master of the Hangman's soul. What does he do to Heydrich's soul ? He meets Axel again and discovers Axel has multiple contracts as he has stolen them by murdering people after making them sign. Axel kills children because they don't look like the perfect Aryan. What does Stefan Harkel do to Axel Lahner?

Switching easily between different timelines, Hoffman's writing is engaging as usual. Finally the Black Fox series is tied up together from Samuel Val to Stefan Harkel. Though this book is stand alone, Harkel makes someone else the God of Zone N-1.  Who is it? What happens to Harkel?  What happens to the soul of Reinhard Heydrich?

Read the book to find out.
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Before Baahubali - The Rise of Sivagami

The Rise of Sivagami
by Anand Neelakantan
492 pages, Westland, 2017
Genre : Fiction
Language : English and mutliple Indian languages.


With people going mad about Baahubali2 - the conclusion, and social media pointing out the box office record - 1000 crores in nine days already, I am sure the director must be a happy man. However, I would suggest, people like me who have not seen the movie yet, read the book first to get a sense of people,  place and its history. This was missing in Baahubali 1.

How did a casteless society descend into slavery and child murder? Why are the corrupt allowed to live while the innocent murdered without question ? How did Mahishmathi descend to such a level and to protect what secret? Why is skin color which was unimportant before now so important? Neelakantan asks and answers these questions and more in his book, The Rise of Sivagami.

Sivagami is an orphan whose father, Devarayya is killed and branded a traitor. Her only aim in life is to demolish the royal family and seek revenge for her father's death. Neelakantan tells the story of orphan Sivagami and her rise to the level of Bhoomipathi - a title her father once held.  By telling the story of Sivagami and her  friend Kamakshi, we are also taken through the stories of young slaves obedient Kattappa and his rebellious brother Shivappa who longs for freedom, the young princes Bijjala and Mahadeva, siblings who are complete opposites in character, the original tribes who had been driven out of their land and are forced to take refuge in the forest by betrayal and not by war, the pirates who raid villages, rape women and kidnap children so they can be sold in the kingdom while the royal family and the bureaucrats of the kingdom turn a blind eye. It is a place where loyal people are killed while the corrupt are rewarded. What is damning secret in the document that Sivagami finds in the ancient language which she cannot read?

The pace is fast. The prose is poetic at many points but predictable at times if you had already seen Baahubali 1 in which some of the scenes slowly makes sense now. Since this is a story of three generations and a horrible secret hidden from the people of the kindgom, I look forward to reading the sequel as the book ends abruptly with a teaser - Sivagami now has to kill her father's best friend or be killed. And how does she go from being the destroyer of the royal family to becoming its Raja Matha?

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Rumi's forty rules of love

Many have  heard Elif Shafak speak on TED and become inspired but not many read this book

The Forty Rules of Love

by Elif Shafak

229 Pages, Penguin Group

Genre: Fiction

Ella Rubinstein, a loving mother of three and wife for forty years files for divorce suddenly after she reads a manuscript called "Sweet Blasphemy" by A.A. Zahara sent to the literary agency where she works. Is it possible to fall in love via email, so much so that you are willing to risk it all? What triggers Ella who leaves her husband and grown up children and her comfortable home, family and friends – to leave everything and everyone and move out of her comfort zone though she still loves them? What are the forty rules of love? Elif Shafak asks and answers these questions and much more in her beautifully written novel, "The Forty Rules of Love."

From Baghdad of the 13th century to Massachusetts of the 21st century, the author flits in and out narrating a wonderful tale that holds true for today. As readers, we are made to realize not much has changed in 800 years in the mental makeup of the people of the world. In fact, we need the forty rules of love now more than ever as religiosity and spirituality are assumed to be the same when it is not.

Elif Shafak is a Turkish American author. Her writing style is smart as the story is narrated with a varying pace – it slows down when you need to reflect and picks up speed when you wish to learn what happened next! It is almost like the author is there helping you as you read her book. The multiple points of view of the characters doesn’t confuse the reader and works to advance the story providing insights that are unique. 

This is an inspiring book for all people from any part of the world as it breaks down barriers and brings in better understanding. I cannot think of a better way to start the New Year except by reading this book.

© 2014 by Deepa Kandaswamy

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