Book Review | ‘The Demon Hunter of Chottanikkara’ | S V Sujata

Navneet Potti
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

I should listen to my gut more. Stories with a mythological slash supernatural theme have never been my thing. From as far back as I can remember wanting to read, I’d look past all those books with stories from the great Indian epics. Or the great Greek ones. Even the Panchantra (animals, yay!) I read in comic form, thanks to Amar Chitra Katha. And there was always Tinkle, which I read for the Suppandi, Kalia the Crow (Team Doob Doob for life) and Shikari Shambu, but would deign to flip through the odd mytholgical tale and its goosebump-inducing lesson like “be brave” or “be good” or “Birbal!”. Closer to the more recent past, I skipped ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (the movies were better). I skipped Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’ trilogy (the movies will probably be terrible). Heck, even ‘Game of Thrones’ wasn’t much fun for me on the printed page.

When I decided to read ‘The Demon Hunter of Chottanikkara’, I wonder if it was the awesomely-drawn cover that drew me in. Or that the story was based in Chottanikkara, from where I have a few childhood friends and fewer fleeting childhood memories. Or maybe it was just the word ‘Thriller’ in the byline — even if it was preceded by the word ‘Supernatural’. Like I was saying, I should listen to my gut more.

The premise is simple enough — the village of Chottanikkara is besieged by demons — otherworldly beasts of every shape, size and smell, each one trying to outdo the other in methods of killing hapless village-folk. The latter’s sole hope is Devi, a young woman, also from the village, and the only one with the courage and skills to hunt down and kill the demons. Doesn't hurt that she does it riding around on a full-grown lion (I’m naming my next dog Ugra). And that she has a divine force guiding and looking over her. So yeah, the demons pretty much have what’s coming for them. Devi lives up to her reputation for the most part, slaying all those pisaachas, exorcising possessed kids, performing ceremonies that will keep more evil spirits at bay, and generally being a badass. That is, until a demon the likes of which she has never seen, let alone fought, comes to the village and sets into motion a series of events that make up the rest of the story. Without giving away too much, there are other sub-plots that include themes of parenthood, repentance, the guru-shishya trope, loyalty and vengeance.

The writing is of high quality, without a doubt. The author’s style is wonderfully descriptive, with the ability to make the village and its surroundings, the characters, and of course, the demons, come to life. The fight sequences are particularly well-written, with a fantastic sense of movement and urgency. The author is clearly well-versed with the back-story and legend (go Google ‘wiki chottanikkara bhagavathy’) that makes for a satisfying rounding-up of the story, especially with respect to Devi’s origins and the circumstances of her upbringing.

It’s Devi herself that was probably the weakest part of the story for me, and the main reason why I didn't much enjoy the book. For someone who has encountered, and can bat away, so much evil like it’s next to nothing, she’s too easy to read, and too much of a goody-two shoes, doing exactly what’s expected of her, in the exact manner that it is. Save for the fights, she’s got little spunk, and even fewer smarts when it comes to out-thinking the monsters and staying one step ahead. I’d have loved to see some grey areas in her evil-warring personality (Ok, I have a Batman hangup), especially when confronted with a difficult decision about two-thirds into the book. Come to think of it, almost every character in the book, the token villain included, is too one-dimensional. It takes almost nothing for them to give in, give up, and fall by the wayside. It also wasn't hard to see that ending coming from a long way off, but maybe that was just me getting my ‘thriller’ expectations too high.

Read this if you like well-told and vividly written mythological fantasies, and are always rooting for the good guy, no matter what. And if the idea of riding a lion sounds that bloody cool.

Navneet Potti

Flat-footed closet ignoramus.

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