The Hundred Names of Darkness

The Wildings #2

by Nilanjana Roy

In the sequel to her critically acclaimed, bestselling novel, The Wildings, Nilanjana Roy takes us back to the Delhi neighbourhood of Nizamuddin and its unforgettable cats - Mara, Southpaw, Katar, Hulo and Beraal. As they recover slowly from their terrible battle with the feral cats, they find their beloved locality changing around them. Winter brings an army of predators - humans, vicious dogs, snakes, bandicoots along with the cold and a scarcity of food Unless Mara can help them find a safe haven, their small band will be wiped out forever. With the assistance of a motley group of friends Doginder, a friendly stray Hatch, a cheel who is afraid of the sky; Thomas Mor, an affable peacock Jethro Tail, the mouse who roared and the legendary Senders of Delhi - Mara and her band set out on an epic journey to find a place where they can live free from danger. With all the brilliance and originality of its predecessor, The Hundred Names of Darknessbrings the story of Mara and the enormously appealing cats of Nizamuddin to a breath-taking conclusion.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Cats, Animals, India, Indian Literature, Speculative Fiction

313 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Nilanjana Roy is the author of The Wildings, published by Aleph Book Company in 2012. This is her first novel and stars a clan of cats in Nizamuddin. A collection of literary journalism, How To Read In Indian, will be published by HarperCollins in 2013.

Her column on the reading life for the Business Standard has run for over 15 years; she has also written columns for the International Herald Tribune and the Kolkata Telegraph on gender issues in India. Over a decade-and-a-half in media and publishing, Nilanjana has been chief editor at Westland/ Tranquebar, edited and contributed to the Outlook Books page, Biblio and several other literary magazines/ periodicals, served on the jury for the Crossword Prize and the DSC Prize among others, and started India’s first literary blog–Kitabkhana, which ran for several years under the pseudonym of Hurree Babu. She has worked extensively on free speech and censorship issues in India.

Her fiction and journalism have appeared in several journals and anthologies, including Caravan, Civil Lines 6, the New York Times’ India blog, The Hindu and Biblio. Some of her stories for children have been published in Scholastic’s Spooky Stories, Science Fiction Stories and BeWitched. She is a champion eater, which much to her surprise, qualified her to be the editor of a 2005 anthology, A Matter of Taste: The Penguin Book of Indian Food Writing. Nilanjana lives in Delhi with two cats and her husband. She can be found at http://nilanjanaroy.com, or @twitter.com/nilanjanaroy, (and would very much like to be found @Belize, @Bhutan or @Barcelona one of these days, not that she’s hinting or anything).

Reviews

[Pranav Hundekari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Nilanjana Roy’s first book ‘The Wildlings’. If you haven’t read it, please do it before you read this book. The story continues seamlessly from the first book and you’ll need to frequently draw details from it. In the second book we get more vivid characters, more senders, more dilapidated conditions of the strays, fights that are more violent and Mara finally stepping out of the house. There are also some grand revelations about Mara the Sender, who is a still a kitten that’s maturing up fast.

Circumstances have however, made Southpaw hasten his transition into an early adulthood. He is now shown as risking his life invading kitchens to steal food. Outside there is just not enough. After the big fight (from the first book) humans have shunned the cats. During one of his raids, Southpaw gets hurt and is saved with the joint heart-warming efforts of Cats, Kites and the Bigfeet. A trip to the doctor turns into an adventure for him as he lands in a Golf Course.

Mara steps out of her comfort zone and is totally petrified by the outside. She visits Beraal, does much soul-searching and makes new friends. There are newer characters like Baby kites, Peacocks, Bandicoots and a lovable friendly Dog named Doginder. After Miao’s death Mara was left with no one to guide her, but not for long. A guild of Senders invite her and describe the purpose of a Sender in a clan, to her. The Grand Finale, as in the first book, is a Grand Fight won by a Grand Sending. The epilogue provides much more resolution and ties the story up nicely.

However, just like the first book, the story has its darkness. Human-Animal interactions both positive and negative are well explored. There are people who take hurt stray animals to the vets and also those who throw things at them at their very sight. Those who poison dustbins and those who regularly feed these animals. The author has also mixed scenes well to accentuate the difference between in-house and stray animals. For example, while Mara complains that her Bigfeet don’t play with her enough, Beraal’s kittens are licking plastic milk packets while living in perpetual hunger. Then, there is the ultimate realization, in the final fight, that these cats are essentially deadly carnivore predators as they rather ruthlessly slaughter their enemies, as Nature intends them to do.

You will be glad that Nilanjana Roy hasn’t written this as a pure children’s book laden with morals or a pure adult book laden with philosophy. She remains honest to the nature of animals. She doesn’t recognize or glorify the usual stereotypes that we associate with pets. 'The Hundred names of Darkness’ ends well the story of ‘Mara and her Friends’. But Who knows? A Cat’s life in a city like Delhi must always be filled with uncertainties. A Third book is always welcome.

[Davy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun to spend more time with my l favorite wildling! Although less adventurous than the first book, it was still a very pleasant read!

[Leni Iversen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting sequel and conclusion to The Wildings
Mara must face her fear of the outdoors, an adolescent cheel must overcome his fear of falling out of the sky, and the whole Nizamuddin clan must brave the unknown to find new territory. A great duology for middle-grade and up, but the reader must be able to handle reading about death and animals who have been mistreated. (This goes especially for the first book.) I'm going to miss these characters. I hope the author writes more animal tales.

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love!

I can’t say enough good things about this book and this duology as a whole. If you loved The Wildlings, you’ll enjoy this book and delight in returning to the company of Mara and the Nizamuddin cats. If you haven’t read The Wildlings yet, I highly recommend giving it a try if you like cats and stories of magic, friendship and the importance of home.

Full review on my blog: https://literarytreats.wordpress.com/...

[Aikouncoloured · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

IF it was possible I loved this sequel to "The Wildlings" even more than the Wildlings itself. There was something about the struggle of Mara, Beeral, Southpaw and the pressure the Hatch felt, the fear, the joy, the friendship. Everything spoke to me in a way that a book hasn't done in a while. I was at a strange place in my head when I read these two books and they had a very calming/happy effect on me. Strongly recommend reading if you haven't alread

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is enjoyable, but also... is it a children's book? It doesn't even seem to be an allegory. It is just straight up a cat love story, not that I hate a good cat love story.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enchanting fairy tale about the cats of a Delhi suburb which drew me in from page one. We meet the Sender, a young cat with outstanding whiskers who can talk to other cats over long distances. Her companions are cats, cheels, and a dog that all protect her while she finds her courage to leave her house and control her sending ability. The crux of the novel is that the building works in the suburb is leaving the stray cats, squirrels and birds without habitat and food and the adventure undertaken to find a new home for which they have to battle. The novel is tenderly and beautifully written and the descriptions of Delhi create a vivid background to the tale. A story to re-read.

[Chitra Ahanthem · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hundred Names of Darkness by Nilanjana Roy takes readers through the by lanes of Nijammudin in Old Delhi and the cats that live and battle it out with other night creatures. There are cats with superpowers that derives strength from their whiskers...and there is a battle to boot. Humans are bigfeet to the cats and most are mean bullies though a couple prove to be the exception.
The book jacket tells me this book is the sequel to an earlier book and yes, I was at a disadvantage for a majority of the book till I got the bit about the cat(s) with super powers...but yes, this is an engaging story no doubt.

[Jennifer Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't write a review for the first book because I wasn't sure what to say about it. I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. The writing style is pretty good for YA (I don't tend to read a whole lot of YA for this reason). I suppose it's a bit ridiculous to wish that the "cat facts" were more realistic, in a book about cats that are sentient beings that can speak to one another though whisker-link, but there were definitely a few things that bothered me. I enjoyed the second book more than the first - maybe because I was more invested in the characters.

[Bianna G · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a sequel to The Wildings, I was worried that it would not captivate me as much as the first book did. But, I can say that it was amazing.

This is probably my own biased opinion, but I love this book, as much as the first. You become one with the clan of cats in Delhi, and you feel their struggle, hardships, and triumphs. I also love how you become part of this cat clan as you read along about their journey and their lifestyle.

If you are on for adventure and have a love for cats and animals, I definitely recommend reading this series.

[Ms Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bok 2 in this excellent series about a group of cats in India. Nilanjana Roy is obviously an expert in all things to do with cats as she writes so knowledgeably about them. It is an exciting adventure which I loved reading as the author is a real story-teller. This is another exciting adventure, which I think is even better than the first book, "The Wildings", as it has less violence. I would recommend this to all years.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sequel disappointment herein! The adventures of the Nizamuddin cats continues as they struggle through hard times.
Marvelous section telling of the love between the two eagles,Tooth and Claw.
The author's choice of names for all the animal characters is great, and the tone of voice captures their individual characters so well.
Both books are so very well narrated by Tania Rodrigues.

I can't recommend these enough!

[Rayne Dowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful, poignant, and humorous look at the world through the eyes of animals. Their personalities leap off the pages and languidly seduce you to know them, and understand them and how they see the world. Highly recommend.

[Rhoddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as strong as the first book in the series, The Hundred Names of Darkness is still quite remarkable and a worthy sequel to The Wildings.

[Manish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't enjoyed a series this much since Harry Potter. A deeply satisfying book and a superb sequel to the Wildings. The many characters in the clan of Nizamuddin will stay with me for a while.

[Selah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying wrap up to the Wildings’ story.

[kaysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfect book perfect ending <3

[Vontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel and conclusion to "The Wildings" which I read earlier this year. I'm looking forward to a good read. It was well worth the time and I quite enjoyed it. Recommend thses two books.

[Dani (The Pluviophile Writer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel and conclusion to a unique story of a group of cats in India.

Review at the Pluviophile Writer: https://bit.ly/2LJByPy

4/5 stars.
ebook, 290 pages.
Read from May 8, 2018 to May 11, 2018.

Cat lovers, if you have not come across this author and her work, you need to. It is thanks to this book that I found my way out a very deep book-rut.  I am sad to see this delightful story come to an end but I guess nothing good lasts forever. This book picks up exactly where the previous book, The Wildlings, left off so if you have not read the first book, stop right now and go and get your hands on a copy!

Set in the sprawling streets of India, you are reunited with the main characters, our felines friends, Mara, Southpaw, Katar, Hulo and Beraal.

Image from the India Bookstore.

The group is still recovering from their fight with the ferals and some drastic changes to their neighbourhood. Food is becoming scarce and the group is starving. Mara, still living with her 'bigfeet' (humans) is blissfully unaware of the group's situation and has not stepped up to be their sender out fear of the outside world and the hatred she still feels from some of the other cats.  However, a frightening event at Mara's home forces her into the outside world where she comes to learn and appreciate what it is to be an outside cat. Meanwhile, Southpaw has found himself in dire trouble and is suffering from a life-threatening injury. In desperation, the group leaves him with Mara's 'bigfeet' in hopes that they will take care of him but at the time Mara was already missing from her home.  By the time Mara finds the group, no one knows the outcome of Southpaw's fate.  In order to help her friends, Mara needs to find a way to have the other cats accept her and take on the responsibility of being their sender.

This book concludes with the hopeful ending you are expecting but that doesn't make the rest of the story any less exciting. While not quite as action-packed as the first novel, this novel focuses more on Mara's inner dynamics and struggles into becoming who she is meant to be. Mara has grown older and is no longer a kitten. With the help of some new friends and enemies of a variety of different species, you follow Mara on her final journey to becoming the sender of Nizamuddin.

If you are looking for an easy read with some very unique and likeable characters, even if you don't like cats, you will still appreciate this entertaining story.

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[... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the problems I have with this series...

First, let me address The Wildings. The premise, the setting, the cat characters - that's what I loved. But, while the beginning and the ending were quite good, the middle - and the longest - part made me want to hurl my paperback across the room. Reason? Nothing really happened. Over 300 pages on Mara's and Southpaw's kittenhood was just plain uninteresting and irritating. Who was the target audience? Kids? I think even kids would roll their eyes as much as I did. Aside from the non-existent action, I hated the tiger chapters. What was the point? Oh, I know. All for the grand final battle. Still nope.

Now the sequel. I. Loved. It. More than that, I think it should be the main book, making The Wildings a prequel (which would be good, too, if only we could cut out about half of it; the tigers, preferably, and Mara's never-ending kitten yowls).

Of course, some issues from The Wildings remain. There, it was the tiger and the mongoose chapters, and here it's the cheel and the bandicoot ones that drive me mad. So unnecessarily long! Actually, these were the only chapters that made me put the book down, for days at a time. Still, The Hundred Names of Darkness managed to make them more digestible, and it's probably because they weren't as frequent nor as drawn-out as in the first book. And some were quite enjoyable.

The writing is really good - and it goes for both books, though I think the sequel really shines when it comes to that - so it's a shame the author couldn't decide whether she wanted to write for kids or for adults. The Hundred Names of Darkness does a better job, for it reads more like a YA. It was nearly a 5-star read, if not for these problematic parts.

The titular story that Beraal tells Mara was an element this series lacked, and I wish there was one or two more; it reminded me of the animal folklore & myth that was so prominent in Watership Down or Fire Bringer.

I laughed, trembled, almost criedKatar and Hulo's farewell! *sobs* I know it's not forever... they were such worried dads, and now they part ways *double sob*. I firmly believe Hulo eventually visited both Katar and Southpaw. I mean, at least he's alive. Last time I was so emotional about a fictional cat was when Miao died from battle wounds in The Wildings.. I paused to ponder. I grew to love the characters. And in the end, I decided to keep my paperbacks for future rereadings.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of an interesting Nimh-like tale set in Delhi, India. Cats and their psychic whiskers at the forefront, but fun other-animal characters too.

[Kereesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

While lacking the heart-pounding moments and suspense found in its predecessor, The Hundred Names of Darkness is still a worthy sequel to this wonderful little duology. Instead of a big bad, The Hundred Names of Darkness focuses on a more realistic narrative: finding a new home after the consequences of The Wildings.

I initially compared the first in this series to the incomparable Watership Down, and while I definitely think that statement still stands (as after all, so much in this series is undeniably an ode to Adams from the seers, the battle for their home, the interspecies friendships to name but a few), The Hundred Names of Darkness kind of hits Watership's most important bit: humanity creates chaos for other living beings.

And that's why The Hundred Names of Darkness is such an interesting piece in comparison to both Watership and Wildings. Wildings is an adventure book, a LOTR, final battle escapade that is full of...well...wildness. The Hundred Names of Darkness, by comparison, isn't. It's a softer story, one that looks at the real world and strips a bit of the nativity carried over from the first book. It's not completely stripped; the novel is lighter in terms of heartbreak than the first. But it is a little more serious. Just a little.

Which I think is the more important point here. Battles, villains, all of these are great, but Roy's true thoughts on the world, its greed, cruelty, and fear, are much better presented in this sequel. And that's what makes it more thoughtful, almost, than the first one.

And even though I think I will always love Wildings more, The Hundred Names of Darkness is a sweet finale that contains probably some of the best moments and characterization in the series. I think Mara alone proves that.

But, if none of this convinces you to read this book, the British peacock and the cobra-killing Magnificat probably will.

[Soumyabrata Sarkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel to "The Wildlings", this one is as engaging as its predecessor. It's not even possible for me to finger out the best among this two. For me its still one tale, continuing to a second book, with the life of the lovable cats of Nizamuddin, though the geography that this book handles had now enlarged to other parts of Delhi as well as India too. Please read the previous one, if you haven't. It will turn you into a cat person, if you already are not.

This book traces the origins of the protagonist Mara, and her mother. Also gives you a new evolving face of Delhi, that is changing and the troubles the local pets are facing in the emerging capital. Reading about the old characters in the new book feels like meeting old friends. Their behaviour is predictable. It is also equally easy to predict how the story will end. After a point the puns tend to get a little indulgent, the preaching even more so. The first book had the suspense build up to a crescendo culminating in that deadly battle. Here, the battle seems tame and the ending a tad too saccharine. The tale of the Hundred Names of Darkness was a fascinating one for me. The humor around the golf course public was amusing one, with Thomas and the others. .

Though I missed the zoo in this book, Why is there so less of Ozzy in this?


Waiting for the next book or this series to be made into motion pictures.
Thanks to the author for sustaining that parallel dimensional portal open for me to dwelve into and enjoy this rich tale.
A light-hearted yet though-provoking follow up of a must read.
This one's a must read too. Highly Recommended!

[sayana · Rating 5 out of 5]

goddamnit it im invested in cats now

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Being a cat myself, I love cat mysteries. I am not really "in" to fantasy books but I found one here that not only do I love, I did not want it to end. It is a great adventure story on its basic level.
Mara is a Sender, perhaps the greatest Sender ever but she does not venture outside of her Indian home except through her long whiskers which have magical powers. Quite by accident, she is thrust into the world outside where she is lost and alone until she meets and makes friends with other members of her clan.
She soon realizes that her Big Feet (humans) are not the norm. They are loving and kind but the street cats know a different kind of Big Feet, cruel and unthinking and impinging on the neighbourhood where they live and hunt. It becomes apparent that if the clan does not find a new home, they will not survive.
The story is beautiful on so many levels. it is a story of coming of age and facing responsibilities. It is a story of alliances and learning to live amongst others not of your kind. It is about friendship and love and how remarkable things can happen when we work together.
There is humour, there is pathos but at the core, there is a lot of heart. We truly enjoyed reading of Mara's journey. It is a story that can delight all ages and species.
I give it a rousing five purrs and two paws up.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars from Kate, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE

Disclaimer: just so you know, some of the books we review are received free from publishers

In The Hundred Names of Darkness, Nilanjana Roy comes back to the cat colony she so convincingly established in The Wildings, back to the neighborhood of Nizamuddin in Delhi, and her irrepressible young Sender, Mara.

The challenges the cats are facing now are more nebulous — and more realistic — than they were in The Wildings. Instead of a tightly-knit and vividly characterized group of feral cats (led by the chilling Datura, and a more convincingly mad villain I’ve never met!), the threat now is human development. The Bigfeet are building roads, cutting down trees, and polluting Nizamuddin. This human incursion into the previously-ignored and animal-inhabited spaces affects everyone, from the smallest mice to the predators at the top, the cats and the cheels (hawk-like birds). Animals are becoming ill, getting run over, and starving....4 stars from Kate, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE

[Aldeena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully narrated, Nilanjana Roy does an incredible job with this sequel to 'The Wildings'. I must admit however that I was terribly disappointed with the cut-down in illustrations! Was expecting much more. That said, the book is lovely with a host of memorable characters as before and an array of puns -- the peacock Thomas Mor, and the Supreme Court cats Affid and Davit! It follows the problems of the Nizamuddin clan and the relationship between the clan and the Sender. Waiting for the next one now! :)