Slow Burn, by Amal Singh
The Book
Synopsis:
When Rishi Tripathi, a failed actor, falls through a mirror in an inverted Mumbai, he invites fame like he has never seen before. In this inverted city, he’s a superstar and a critically acclaimed darling. But he soon realizes that success bears a heavy cost. The cruel actions of his doppelganger catch up to him, and he’s forced to find an entity called the Maker of Mirrors to return to his actual city.
But fame is also a drug, and Rishi has become an addict.
Is he truly ready to return and embrace failure?
My Review
Slow Burn is an interesting contemporary fantasy novel written by Amal Singh, published by Flame Tree Publishing. A proposal that explores the line between ambition and greed, analyzing how success might change a person through a curious portal fantasy set in Bollywood.
Rishi Tripathi is a struggling actor in Mumbai, desperate to become a movie star, but the opportunity never seems to arrive, trapped doing gigs just to survive; one day, after shattering a mirror, he falls into an alternative Mumbai with a new version of himself. He's now Rrishi, a movie star, meaning he could take over a life of wealth and fame, but also the secrets and dark actions that Rrishi did to keep that life; he must choose if he wants to continue living in this alternative Mumbai or if he returns to his previous life.
A relatively light plot that allows us to explore more of its themes through the eyes of Rishi, especially as we see how he changes as he's getting accustomed to his doppelgänger's life, how he starts being a kind person to others but slowly gets engulfed by those attitudes; however, the more he discovers what his doppelgänger chose and substituted in order to reach that point of fame. At some point, we will see how Rishi starts to see how ambition can mutate into greed, and how that means sacrificing other things.
In terms of pacing, Slow Burn is quite on the spot, kinda fast as you would expect from this kind of fantasy; there are some few rough aspects in the plot, but you could get them as "needed if we want the plot to have consistency".
Slow Burn is a really enjoyable novel that you can devour in a few sessions, which invites the reader to think about themes such as ambition, the cost of fame and how different is real life from the one shown to the public; a fine work by Amal Singh!
