Puss Reboots: Blog: January 2020: The Tiger at Midnight

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Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Kelly Thompson and Veronica Fish
The Space Between by Dete Meserve
Swing it, Sunny by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
There's a Murder Afoot by Vicki Delany
The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala
The Troubleshooter's Guide to Do-It-Yourself Genealogy by W. Daniel Quillen
The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas and Erin E. Stead
The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson and Chloe Bristol
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World's Worst Parrot by Alice Kuipers

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 06)
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 13)
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 20)
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 27)

Road Essays
Road Narrative Update for December 2019

Previous month

The Tiger at Midnight: 01/13/20

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala is the first in a fantasy trilogy set in a landscape inspired by Indian history and myths. It's told in alternating points of view between a soldier, Kunal, and an assassin, Esha.

The country is one recovering from a bloody coup where the royal family was slaughtered, save perhaps one daughter. Drought too has settled in, parching the landscape. Believers say the gods have forsaken them because the ancient rituals can no longer be performed.

But mostly it's a cat and mouse game that settles into something similar to The 39 Steps (the film, not the novel). Kunal and Esha end up having to work together even though he has been sent after her. He's supposed to capture her and take her back to the garrison.

In all of this chase northward, one is reminded of the title. It's the first part of an adage that says a tiger at midnight is the manifestation of unfinished business. Kunal and Esha both have their own tigers — figurative and literal. The figurative one is the hook for the second book, The Archer at Dawn, which is released on May 26, 2020.

Four stars