Kiriti Omnibus Vol IX

Dr. Shri Naneelal Sen’s Introduction is by no way less mysterious as the other selections in the volume as the web of words that is woven will cause much suspense to the reader’s mind and is best kept for the last as spoilers might act obvious spoilsport to the stories.

Of the four stories that it contains, both the novels Kaalohaat and Chayakuheli are no doubt sincere novels in their own right. Including them as mystery stories will do grave injustice to the plot as well as unfortunately to the genre too. Reminiscent of Kalobhramar, the 1^st one is a mystery where people related by their past gets killed one by one but a curious turn of events and chanced acquaintances help the sleuth to catch the perpetrator. Actually there are two plots in one which is cleverly unraveled by Kiriti, thanks to his hand getting the right clue at the right moment. So though some disappointment is in store but its absoluteness makes it a nice thriller in its own right. The 2^nd one starts with a curious will and an even curious case of false identities that make the police dumbfounded and the law at a stalemate. It again remains on Kiriti to solve but though a fantastic mystery was woven but the solution with an even more fantastic coincidence makes it a touch unrealistic and quite definitely robs it away of its charm. The short story Mrityubish, on the other hand, is a regular mystery story which starts with a tragedy of death of twin children. Written from the perspective of Subrata, the deaths are though confirmed to be case of poisoning but there seemed to be no clue to the perpetrator and the mode of poisonings. The case was presented long after the last rites of the body and so armed with only the police snaps of the deadbodies, the clues are unearthed and criminals apprehended. The other story Padmini again starts with a promise of mystery but its final pages actually do not complete to solve the mystery but only to close the story.

Recommended for its thriller like plots the mystery lovers may feel a bit disappointed though the classic edge of the stories will have to be acknowledged.

Asterix and the Normans

The Normans, the most fearless of the people, due to their scientific bend of mind, wants to understand fear, the emotion that quite sadly were devoid of them. Thus they set sail for a land where they can find an expert in fear and guess what, their random selection lands them in the little village of the Gauls, where too fear is an emotion quite remote with the people. But fortune seems to be in the way with Justforkix (just watch out the pun in the name), the nephew of VItalstatistix who was sent by his father on a holiday trip to Asterix’s village with an instruction to his cousin to make a man out of him. The modern youth Justforkix never knew the strength of the Gaul and their magic potion and so when he saw the Norman ship, was visibly frightened. The Norman spy also spotted him as the only one who knew the meaning of fear and thus he was carried off by them to their chief to make them frightened. So Asterix and Obelix were automatically chosen to rescue him and Asterix tried to bargain him out with a clever suggestion. He sent Obelix to get the bard Cacofonix, whose singing, he was sure to cause panic among the Norman ranks and thus Justforkix can be rescued peacefully. But problem was that Cacofonix was off to Lutetia to try his talent there and thus Obelix had to use some intelligence, something not his cup of tea, to find the bard before the Normans execute Justforkix in their obsessive urge of knowing the meaning of fear. Again the comic is full of witty puns in the name and the Romans in this case seems to get beating from both the Gauls and the Normans and like the adventure of Asterix the Gladiator, Cacofonix seemed to take the centre stage in the showdown. And those who are thinking that in the ultimate celebration of the adventure, Cacofonix is to be found bound and gagged, think once more as it is Fulliautomatix who is on the receiving end this time.

Asterix and the Big Fight

This time it's Vitalstatistix's turn of defending the Gaulish tradition of the Big Fight. It occurred when one of the tribes wanted to take over another and its chief challenged his counter part in the fight with the winner becoming the ruler of both. This was the ploy that the Romans of Totourm now tried by employing Cassius Ceramix, a Gaulo Roman ruler of Linoleum to challenge Vitalstatistix. Problem was that Getafix, at this critical time, lost his memory, thanks to Obelix and his menhir, the knock of which was the cause for the disaster and thus the serious disadvantage of unavailability magic potion seemed to stare in the face of the Gauls, all except Obelix. As a new druid, Psychoanalytix was called in, he too lost his memory in no time, again Obelix and his menhir and also his feeble brain sharing the responsibility. Thus it remained to be seen whether Getafix could be cured and the tribe saved by Vitalstatistix. This also offers a series of clashes with the Romans and each time the hilarious situations will keep the readers smiling their heart out till the last page.