If you, like me, were hesitant about Sons of Darkness because you don’t know anything about the Mahabharata, then I am here to tell you that you can throw those concerns out the window right now. This book stands completely on its own and it will sweep you off your feet, no matter your background or prior knowledge. It’s a sprawling character-driven grimdark fantasy like you’ve never seen before, and I have no doubts that it will entrance both eastern and western readers alike.

As soon as I read this absolute banger of a prologue, I knew I was in for something special. Whereas most grimdark fantasies have dirty and bleak settings, Mohanty welcomes you into a rich, vibrant and honestly just all-round breathtaking world. However, that beauty soon proves to be quite deceptive, as this world is no less brutal than any other grimdark world you’ve encountered before. Right from the get-go, the stakes are dangerously high, and absolutely nothing and no one can be trusted at face value.

Now, this is a truly sprawling epic with a multi-layered plot that follows a large and diverse cast of characters spread out over all corners of the map (and over the entire spectrum of gray morality). There's no denying that it can be overwhelming to keep track of all the names, places, interpersonal relationships, tenuous alliances, and geopolitical scheming, but because the book is divided into 8 parts that each focus on only two or three of the POV characters at a time, the reading experience is surprisingly smooth. Yes, especially the first 25-30% definitely require some trust and patience from the reader, but if there was ever a book where the pay-off is worth it, then it’s in Sons of Darkness.

Each new part of the book only got more and more exciting for me as new characters were introduced and storylines started to converge in exciting yet often cataclysmic ways. There’s a sense of anticipatory dread that just permeates every aspect of this story from the very first page and I loved how the tension kept building, all leading up to not one, but two of the most thrilling action sequences I have ever read. Mohanty juggles all the disparate story threads with effortless grace and weaves them all together into a truly magnificent tapestry.

Add to all of this the fact that Mohanty's character work is outstanding, coming close to Abercrombie-levels of character voice. Naturally there were some characters that I latched onto way easier than others (mostly the women, to be honest), but there is no denyhing that both the main cast and the numerous secondary and tertiary characters just leapt off the page with their strong and vibrant personalities. Not to mention, they are all just deliciously Desi, which is exactly what makes them stand out from the rest of the morally grey grimdark crowd.

I also found it fascinating to see how the prominent themes of vengeance and ambition manifested in unique ways in every single character’s personal journey. Because especially when you follow such morally grey characters, that fiery ambition and quest for vengeance can result in some truly shocking actions and brutal back stabbings and betrayals, which this book is exploding with.

Other difficult themes of classism, oppression, disability, and sexism were also seamlessly woven into the narrative and handled with a lot of sensitivity and care, which added so much depth to the story and characters. I always love a good underdog story and the way that some characters use their perceived weaknesses to their own gain was super fascinating to explore. There is some great character growth that we get to witness and some of the character arcs were surprising and unexpected in the most satisfying way possible.

Also, a very big round of applause to Mohanty for creating some of the best female characters in the entire SFF genre, and in a deeply patriarchal world at that! Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some awfully brutal (and potentially triggering, tread with caution!) scenes that showcase the deeply ingrained sexism and devastating violence against women in this world, but I personally feel like they were not included for the sake of shock-value and I think they were handled in a relatively delicate and tactful manner.

From Satyabhama the war mistress with her warrior band of Silver Wolves, to Mati the rebellious pirate princess, to Draupadi the trophee princess who takes back her own agency, and to Masha the Oracle whose prophecy lies at the heart of this story, they all just absolutely stole the show for me. Truly, if there was one quibble I had with this entire book, it’s that I just wanted more of these kick-ass female characters on page. Though, I have a feeling that we will get to see some of them shine more in the rest of the series, so I am very excited to see where some of their stories go.

Speaking of things that I want to see more of… this story features chakra and mandala magic that absolutely entranced me. As someone who practises yoga and meditation every single day, I loved this spiritual type of magic and I desperately want to see more of it! Much like in Martin's ASOIAF, magic is viewed more as something of the distant past and it’s treated with a lot of superstition, though there are certain races/groups of people who have held onto the ancient knowledge and practices. It's really no surprise that Nala’s storyline quickly became one of my favourites, as that one came closest to fulfilling the magic apprentice in a sort of magical school setting trope, though in a way you’ve never seen before!

How Mohanty retells an ancient epic while wearing his modern influences on his sleeve without the story ever feeling unoriginal or like a rip-off is just completely beyond me. After finishing this book, I was already deeply impressed by what he pulled off here, but then I watched some author interviews and that only made me appreciate the bold and unique storytelling even more. Again, you don't have to know anything about The Mahabharata to appreciate and adore this story, but when you realise how cleverly Mohanty reinvented familiar characters and how deftly he wove Indian mythology into his own unique narrative, I will guarantee you that you will be left completely awe-struck.

Deadly political intrigue, exhilarating battles, thrilling duels, ethereal magic, ominous prophecies, meddling gods, mythological beings, utterly immersive world building, and a cast of deliciously dark and desi characters; this book truly has it all. Sons of Darkness is truly a breath of fresh air in the fantasy genre and it will undoubtedly leave you hungering for more in the best way possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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First read 2023: 4 stars
Second read 2025: 3.75 stars

Prepping for book 2 with a re-read on audio was an absolute blast. Though while I came to enjoy and appreciate some aspects of Mohanty's ingenius storytelling even more with foresight of what's to come this second time around, there were also sections of the story that didn't work as well for me, especially in the first half. Still extremely hyped to dive into the sequel asap, because the way that this book ends is just deliciously dreadful in the most enticing way possible. Bring on the chaos!

Sons of Darkness is a grimdark fantasy where a World, its politics and caste system are barely holding it together as War looms for the conquerors. An ancient magic and creature, the Daevas have been gone for centuries but could they return.

‘You think yourself to be lions, but you are merely scurrying rats upon whose tails our paws linger. The fact that the rats still live is not because of anything the rats have done.’

There were so many favourite characters in this, the fearless, sarcastic, pirate Princess with a murderous streak and an insatiable desire.
Karna with his golden chest plate which is part of his skin, who comes from a lower caste but has found himself favoured as a high lord.
Krishna is a slippery snake who prepares Mathura for war while protecting his citizens with ingenious methods.
Satyabhana, the War Mistress who is just completely badass and builds her army with orphaned girls.

‘The World was full of demons with pretty faces and angels with scars.’

Although this is a long book, I read it in a long weekend, that was how much this story gripped me. Check the trigger warnings because this is certainly grimdark with lots of gory, brutal violence.

Comparing it to GRRMartin is a good comparison because the World is as complex, the characters are huge and the plot is thick with politics, warfare, magic, devastation and brutality. If you enjoy grimdark high fantasy then this will absolutely by a book you will gladly drown in,

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review. I now have my own special edition and audiobook!

Sons of Darkness is an enjoyable and well-executed fantasy novel that brings together mythology, magic, and character-driven storytelling. While it follows some familiar tropes of the genre, Gourav Mohanty’s world-building and the emotional depth of the protagonist make it stand out. Fans of epic fantasy with a rich mythological backdrop will find a lot to enjoy here. It’s a promising start to what could be a very exciting series.

Rating: 4/5 — A strong, immersive fantasy with solid character development, rich world-building, and plenty of action.

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty is a masterful debut that brings epic fantasy to life with a uniquely Indian flavor. The world-building is rich and immersive, blending mythology, history, and political intrigue. The multi-dimensional characters, especially the complex protagonists, drive the gripping plot forward. The author’s vivid descriptions and intricate storytelling create a tale that is both dark and captivating. Fans of George R.R. Martin and Indian folklore will be enthralled by this book’s fresh take on the fantasy genre. An absolute must-read!

It’s also worth noting I listened to the audio version and it was an absolutely enthralling and immersive experience- would highly recommend the audiobook!

The narrator really pulled me into this story, tho I have to say, I was a little bit confused some times. But it's a great story for people who like a typical and complex high fantasy. I prefer fantasy with a little bit more focus on romance (not necessarily romantasy) than politics and battle, but if that's what you are looking for, you will be happy with this one.

My opinion of this can be boiled down to 'not the retelling of the Maharabhata I wanted'. I like grimdark. I like mythology. I like morally grey or outright villainous characters. But there is no rule for grimdark that says 'use rape for shock factor'. Which is sadly how this read. It's a cheap trick and frankly it's lazy. The rest of the story was also just not very compelling. Bear in mind I tried reading this in ebook format as well. Not a good example of the genre.

I can appreciate this book for what it is: a grim-dark, high fantasy.
I appreciated the indian representation, which we need more of in the fantasy genre.
However, this book was not for me.
The writing felt very dense and it was difficult to get into the story.
The book was also far too long.

Side note: it has a beautiful cover

DNF at 10%, sadly this book just wasn’t for me - it’s too like other well known fantasy and nothing really set it apart

Sons of Darkness is the debut novel from Gourav Mohanty, it is based on the Mahabharata an ancient Indian Epic. I was fortunate to be provided with an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

To start with I found the first part of the story very hard to engage with, a significant amount of lore is thrown at you and we hop around a vast number of POVs at such pace that I struggled to really attach to any of them.

The character development throughout the novel I found interesting, some were absolutely fascinating, some felt very two dimensional, and others I actively disliked. Unfortunately one of those was the “hero” of our tale.

About a third of the way in the Pirate Princess was introduced, this was a wonderfully written section of the story. I have to say I felt this could have been pulled out as a Novella, whilst I thoroughly enjoyed it, it did little really to progress the main narrative.

Halfway through the various different threads of the story started to come together, the pace picked up and we ended with a very satisfying crescendo. I enjoyed the second half of the book significantly more than the first, which I personally found quite bloated.

The book is described as Grimdark, and whilst there is undeniable darkness and violence within this tale, I only felt any real emotional connection during Shakuni’s torture scenes and the epilogue which really stood out for me.

I wanted to love this, and whilst it was good and I did enjoy it, it wasn’t great. Comparing itself to Game of Thrones, Malazan and The First Law is an extraordinarily high bar which most would struggle to achieve.

DNF - I really tried, but nope.

I found the writing dense and at times too pretentious for my taste, which was funny when anachronistic language would pop up out of nowhere (historical/mythic fantasy doesn’t necessarily have to old-time-vibes language, but that is definitely my preference over references to psychology and “In my defense, I was left unsupervised.”) Also, it is EXTREMELY written by a man. Life is too short hang around hoping these misogynists find some personal growth.

This is not structured with rotating POVs, as many multi-POV books approach it. Instead, you get a big block of chapters following one set of chapters, and just when that story feels like it’s coming together, you get thrown into another big block of chapters with a different set of characters.

The violence in this book was… odd to me. There were times when it seemed gratuitously added for shock value, and other times it was kind of defanged and unimpressive. I checked reviews to see if I could convince myself to continue, but several readers mention rape used for shock value; my general dislike and distrust of the portrayals of violence here makes me think I’m going to have a similar problem with way rape gets used.

I received a free copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. The narrator Homer Todiwala did a good job juggling the large cast, although I will say that I primarily listen to audiobook with headphones, so have it turned down quite low for the health of my ears, and the volume control wasn’t always great — some of the characters are voice in a low, growly way that isn’t intelligible at a lower volume, but when I turned it up to account for that, all the other characters were too loud. I suspect this won’t be a problem when played through a speaker etc.

This fantasy inspired by the Mahabharata was a unique and dark tale! The world building was complex and intriguing. The characters were well written and fleshed out. The narrator did a great job telling this interesting tale! I look forward to reading more from this author!

3.5 stars

SONS OF DARKNESS is an epic tale of power and bloodshed and ambition.

This book took me a long time to get into it because the characters are so spread out and do not interact for ages, which is something I always find difficult. There are seven main POVs (plus a dozen more during the battle). At first, they come in separate pairs (the seventh has the last to say and comes between parts), sometimes interacting with the other in that pair but no one else. These pairs alternate speaking for several chapters (averaging two hours of audio time) then it switched. It took about half the book before they started coming together.

It meant that, for the first half, I was struggling to find the "through thread". It's a retelling of the Mahabharata, but I don't know that well enough to go "ah, this is what it's building towards". Instead, it felt like continually being dropped into a new story, a new set of characters, and being asked to start the process of connecting with characters and their goals all over again. It didn't help that some characters didn't turn up again after their section (looking at Mati, who had one mention and impact on the plot afterward and that was it, and Nala who just disappeared entirely.)

However, once they started interacting, I enjoyed the book. They became tangled with one another in a struggle for power. There's a war raging between lands, which provides a nation-wide conflict (and plenty of action scenes) but there are also people vying for power within them. These tend to be more scheme-based, which I very much enjoyed as people outsmarting one another is my favourite type of conflict (and I think more satisfying then who can punch hardest!)

There is also a cost to these fights. People are maimed and die in the battles. The heroes do not simply get to walk away, which I appreciate. It's also a grimdark, which seems to mean that there has to be a lot of sexual violence against women. The best I can say about it is that the assaults are not explicitly shown on page, just referenced and the aftermath shown.

The second book is out next year, so we shall see if I pick it up. It won't be top of the priority list if I do.

I have watched Mahabharata so many times. This book reminded me of the characters. Though I felt that the author has added a modern touch to the story. The Author did a really good job. I loved the world building and you will find the most clever and fascinating characters in this book. You won’t be able to decide between good and bad. The narration was gripping. This book follows two plot lines .

Though, I felt that author could have added more depth to the characters. Some characters really stood out while for some, we only get to know their present and so little about their past.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher

First in the series, the book follows 2 main storylines. One focuses on Krishna and Bhanumati trying to save the fate of people in Mathura with an alternate strategy. On the other Karna's character emerges with his own set of challenges that mixes his destiny, past life and future into an adventurous ride.

The prologue surely invested me into the story. I was excited to see how the Mahabharata-inspired tale spans out into its own epic fantasy. The main characters certainly had a depth to them with multiple angles developed and introduced to readers (their intellect, emotional baggage & strengths).

While the book did have so many layers to it, I did have a few concerns. The character names & a few relationship dynamics were borrowed from the original, but they often played a different role and interest areas, which confuses whether to live with the image in mind or with the partially developed side characters who we may or may not understand. Another turn-off was that the female characters were explained in a stereotypical way. And lastly, it is not exactly a clean read!

Hence, I had hard time deciphering if I loved it or had too many issues with it, which leaves my rating to somewhere in the middle. Given the length of the story, I feel at least a few of the muddles could be cleared up.

Sons of Darkness is a truly epic and grimdark fantasy that blends influences from Ancient India and the more modern fantasy of George R R Martin and Joe Abercrombie.

I have to my shame not yet read the Mahabharata but was at least to some extent aware and familiar with some of the characters lifted and re-imagined from this. I did find this an utterly refreshing fantasy, a unique island alone in a sea of otherwise medieval European, Celtic or Norse inspired fantasies. There is a rich vein of historical storytelling gold from Asia that is ripe for bringing forward to the present day and to wider audiences.

However, this is probably not an entry level fantasy for those new to the genre. There are many POV characters and there are frequent shifts between them, characters are morally grey and there is arguably no central protagonist. Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire will no doubt be quite comfortable with this approach. Experience with Malazan was also helpful to accept feeling absolutely bewildered during the opening chapters and not be too concerned about knowing about every last detail of what has happened before moving forwards - arguably there are also some Malazan comparisons to be made here too and not just the initial confusion but more how well there was a sense of deep multi-milenia history and lore imbedded in the narrative throughout.

The writing and prose was excellent and Mohanty was able to showcase his strength at writing beautiful passages together with dark humour and gripping epic battle sequences. Where I initially struggled to differentiate and associate with the characters, the quality of the writing was strong enough to keep me fully engaged.

If you love large, epic grimdark fantasy packed with political schemes and converging storylines then this could be something that you are looking for. This would normally apply to me but I have been lately burnt out by long books, otherwise I would have picked this up much sooner when first published. Fortunately, the audiobook is about to release for those who would prefer an alternative to the eyes only experience and I was lucky to be approved for the audiobook Arc which was superbly narrated by the actor Homer Todiwala.

Many thanks to Head of Zeus Audiobooks and NetGalley for providing an audio Arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF'd at only 11%. Usually, I give books to 20% but I couldn't force myself through it when I knew only a few pages in Sons of Darkness was definitely not for me.

It quickly fell into the male author stereotype of misogynistic character descriptions. Why do they love describing breasts like they're a personality trait?

It was so info dumpy and boring. I was so confused. If you asked me what the plot was 11% in, I couldn't tell you even if my life depended on it.

DNF at 11% - the language used to describe women and how to treat them in this book was VERY mysoginistic, I'm OK accepting that it's a reflection of the times/setting of the book but it's not for me and I can't push through so many more pages of descriptions of hideous women dropping their petticoats. Also I didn't enjoy the narration of this - not sure if that's a symptom of not enjoying the book itself but the tone felt off to me.

Sons of Darkness is definitely a unique fantasy. It is deliciously dark with a violent atmosphere throughout, with little let up. Prepare yourself to experience this journey. The chapters are different perspectives so this breaks it up well. Also the narrator does a great job of creating a different feel for the characters. Over time the complexities of the world and the characters within are laid out. There is everything from ancient Gods, magic systems, prophecies and politics. It is EPIC. Love the use of the Indian mythology and historical elements - amazing.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audiobook. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

As soon as I got to know that this written by an Indian author 😍 I rushed to look for it and fortunately found this Audiobook 💖
This was so well written and executed that i instantly got hooked till the very end of this book . As an Indian, well i loved the way the characters were built and the plot damn it simply blew my mind.
I will be definitely looking forward to read the upcoming titles by this author.

I’d like to start by thanking NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was a little difficult to get into, mainly due to it’s length, slow pacing at the beginning and the amount of characters introduced. But when this story picked up its pacing, it really picked it up. I found myself unable to stop reading, hence why it’s past midnight now and I’ve just finished it. And it was worth staying up for, trust me. Now I just have to wait for the next book, which might be more painful than seeing some of my favorites die in this one.

I would write a bunch more, but my brain is a bit of a mess because of how good this was and I’m still trying to process it all. I will, however, say that I loved Mati. Why? Because I support women’s rights, but most importantly, I support women’s wrongs. Also, I have a weakness for women who refer to their partners (romantic or sexual, in this case the latter) as “lamb”.

I definitely recommend this book, but I also recommend looking up triggers before reading it, as there were quite a few.