Have you ever wondered how we humans came into existence? Whether we were created as an entity by God or did we evolve as painstakingly from single celled amoeba as described by scientists?

Well, this question has always been a contention of debate amongst various cults, each claiming their own theory as sacrosanct and infallible. But the most curious theory has been the idea of Aliens creating life on earth.

Ever since I read about it in my textbooks, I was fascinated by the idea and after reading The Prophecy of Trivine, I have realized that I am not the only one possessed by this out-of-the-world slightly-crazed idea! In fact I have good company and now know three more humans who believe in this.

Before you begin thinking that I have been brain washed by Spielberg and have become the latest victim of alien mania, let me clarify that I am only talking about my latest read Prophecy of Trivine, coauthored by three friends : Pulkit Gupta, Srivatsan Sridharan and Tnahsin Garg.

When I was approached by Tnahsin for reviewing his book, I was a little unsure. I don’t really read Science Fiction and have never ever read a book written by three authors. I had my doubts as to whether I would be able to enjoy the book and do justice to it as a first time reader-reviewer. But on the other hand I was super curious to know how on earth three writers could write a single book without stepping on each others’ creativity and whether or not their styles would clash with one another!

And today as I finish the book, I am really happy that I followed my gut feeling and didn’t miss this golden opportunity. Prophecy of Trivine deserves a good applause as the debut novel by three best friends.

Right from the Prologue till the Epilogue, I was hooked to the fast paced, refreshing, innovative story and it impressed me as an Indianized version of Ancient Aliens.

Before I delve any further, let me give you a sneak peek into the story. The book begins with an engaging prologue where an ancient alien Cuehmoc visits Earth with the sole purpose of creating life. He is a Gucutep Ranger and is supposed to plant the seeds of life in planets deemed fit and he chooses modern day India as his place of experiment. Needless to say the prologue set the tone of the novel as a Sci Fi and began quite well.

Though in the very first chapter, the story was brought back to the present times i.e. 2012 with a tall, hefty Phil aka Red Dragon running away from the Police. Apparently he is a hacker involved in some National Security issue and has to take refuge in nearby forest.

And this forest is the main setting where most of the story takes place as Phil is joined by a nerdy Sid and mysterious Arty, trying to eke out a secluded existence in a fast changing mutated place.

On another level, the high command of Gucutep has decided to exterminate life on earth and sends Xona the Steward of Solar Azure Project to complete her assignment. Would earth be destroyed as decided by the ancient aliens or would our three heroes unite and save it, forms the main crux of Prophecy of Trivine spread over 259 pages of suspenseful drama!

I quite liked the fast paced narration, the easy yet involving language and the humble humane beginning of this extraterrestrial novel. Add to that a wonderful title and we have a winner on our hands.

Coming back to the title, I was a little misled by it in the beginning but actually liked the shock of it turning out to be otherwise. If you have been following my reviews regularly, you must already know that I am a huge fan of Indian mythology and am game for any kind of info or creative experiment in this field. And often enough I have wondered whether our Deities can also be bracketed as ancient aliens! The name Trivine in the title made me see a possible connection with our Holy Trinity and I approached the novel with a certain mindset. Though as I continued reading I realized that my initial impression had nothing to do with the story.

But there was always a slight shadow of Indian beliefs reflecting in the Alien characters. The authors described the Aliens as pure energy source that can take any shape, are able to teleport and can even read and control minds and have super weapons, not very different from our own Devas! Though described in scientific manner, the underlying philosophical thoughts and a close connection with nature ensured that the novel remains traditional and I am happy that the brilliant author trio successfully managed to walk on the razor sharp fine line between the crazed Western Alien Movie mania and the dry almost unbelievable scientific theories.

The main characters, though just four are also quite original and diverse. If Phil is a healthy paradox of cunning logic and charming gullibility, Sid is a typical Science-obsessed young man whose very profanities are limited to “Holy Mother Of Einstein”. And then there are Arty and Agni, two mysterious characters who are intuitive, mentally strong and know a lot more than they reveal. Their hidden persona kept me glued to the novel and definitely enhanced its appeal.

As debut novelists, Pulkit, Srivatsan and Tnahsin have done an impressive job and deserve all the applause but there were indeed some slight aberrations in this otherwise potential novel.

As I said in the beginning, it’s never easy to blend writing style of different authors and in Prophecy of Trivine, I did notice some sudden changes in narrative. The novel began as a fast paced suspense but at some places, it became too philosophical especially when Phil is attacked in the lonely forest or when Xona reveals the true face of humanity to the three friends. The anthropomorphic effect used in some chapters differed so widely from the original writing style that I couldn’t help but feel different minds struggling to find a similar ground in a single book.

But, it is too early to say whether this different narration style would work in favor of the book or not as The Prophecy of Trivine, as I discovered in the Epilogue, is actually just the first part. There is much more to come and the characters, narration and story has quite a potential to grow by leaps and bounds.

Had I not read the Epilogue, I could have been contented with this one book but now I am damn excited to read much more. A sure shot grand entrance by Pulkit, Srivatsan and Tnahsin in Indian SciFi world. Keep it going guys!