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GameWorld Trilogy #3

The Unwaba Revelations

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Under the all-seeing eyes of the assembled gods, armies are on the move. The Game has begun. And when it ends, the world will end too . . .

In THE UNWABA REVELATIONS, the third and concluding part of the GameWorld trilogy, a way must be found to save the world; to defeat the gods at their own game. A daunting prospect under any circumstances, made worse by the fact that the gods, who control all the heroes, are blatantly cheating by following only one rule—that they cannot be defeated by their own creations.

As epic battles ravage the earth, Kirin and Maya, guided only by an old, eccentric and extremely unreliable chameleon, and egged on by the usual rag-tag gang, carry out their secret plan; a plan so secret that, in fact, no one involved has any idea what they are doing!

Monsters, mayhem, mud-swamps; conspiracies, catastrophes, chimeras; betrayals, buccaneers, bloodshed—THE UNWABA REVELATIONS continues the roller coaster journey that began with THE SIMOQIN PROPHECIES and gathered momentum with THE MANTICORE’S SECRET. Traversing earth, sea and sky, realms both infernal and celestial, worlds both imagined and material, this book will draw you irresistibly into a tantalizing, action-packed, epic race to reclaim the flawed, magical world of its heroes.

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2008

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About the author

Samit Basu

76 books544 followers
Samit Basu is an Indian novelist best known for his fantasy and science fiction work

Samit's most recent novel, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, was published by Tordotcom in the US and Canada in Oct 2023.

His previous novel, the anti-dystopian near-future The City Inside (Tordotcom, '22) was on the Washington Post and Book Riot best SFF of 2022 lists and earlier shortlisted for the 2020 JCB Prize (India) as Chosen Spirits.

Samit's first novel, The Simoqin Prophecies, published by Penguin India in 2003, when Samit was 23, was the first book in the bestselling Gameworld Trilogy and marked the beginning of Indian English fantasy writing. The other books in the trilogy are The Manticore’s Secret and The Unwaba Revelations.

Samit’s US/UK debut, the superhero novel Turbulence was published in the UK in 2012 and in the US in 2013 to rave reviews. It won Wired‘s Goldenbot Award as one of the books of 2012 and was superheronovels.com’s Book of the Year for 2013.

Samit has also written children's books, published short stories for adults and younger readers in Indian and international anthologies, and has been a columnist and essayist in several leading Indian and international publications.

Samit also works as a screenwriter and director. His debut film, House Arrest, was released as part of Netflix’s International Originals in 2019, and was one of Netflix’s top 5 most viewed Indian films that year. He wrote the film and co-directed it with Shashanka Ghosh.

Samit’s work in comics ranges from historical romance to zombie comedy, and includes diverse collaborators, from Girl With All The Gifts/X-Men writer MR Carey to Terry Gilliam and Duran Duran.

Samit was born in Calcutta, educated in Calcutta and London, and currently works between Delhi and Kolkata. He runs a newsletter, Duck of Dystopia (samit.substack.com) and can be found on social media at @samitbasu, and at samitbasu.com

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5 stars
191 (26%)
4 stars
255 (34%)
3 stars
211 (28%)
2 stars
61 (8%)
1 star
16 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for K.J. Charles.
Author 70 books13k followers
Read
December 8, 2018
I found myself singing Tom Lehrer's comic song about nuclear apocalypse "We Will All Go Together When We Go" yesterday and it was basically because of this book. Mostly an extended end-of-the-world quest-and-battle extravaganza, laden with special effects, violence, plot twists, comic riffs and all sorts of eschatological fun. Absolutely bonkers and wildly entertaining.

This trilogy walks the line between serious epic fantasy and parody with near perfect balance, so there are moments of real tragedy and a lot of spectacular writing and imagination along with jokes of utter shamelessness. The big reveal of the pirate ship's secret weapon at the point of doom is a gag that was set up from book 1: respect. Also there is an all-female Amazon island called Piscibiscicla. I don't know whether to congratulate the author or send death threats. Enjoyed the whole sequence immensely.
Profile Image for P..
538 reviews126 followers
May 20, 2020
I have never read fantasy before, and I'll probably never again and this trilogy is an exception : it's Indian and it's amazing. The world is fabulously constructed and populated with way too many quirky and memorable characters. An astounding amount of work must have gone into writing this and I immensely admire Basu for authoring this set of books. It's insanely fun, it never gets overwhelming, some parts are a total riot and it keeps surprising you at every turn. This part had a bit too much war for my liking, but thankfully the sections alternate. The God business that annoyed me in the second part gets crucial here and it finally makes sense. The ending is a bit too abrupt and inconclusive and seems to defeat the point of what came before, but it doesn't bother me much. For a trilogy spanning 1500 pages, the journey is (relatively) more important than the destination and we're never short of excitement and wild thrills in this supercharged fun ride.
Profile Image for Anushka Sierra.
297 reviews22 followers
March 22, 2021
Find my reviews at Feminist Quill

Synopsis: The war with the ravians begins in earnest, while Kirin and Maya work elsewhere to try and save their entire world.

Marshall Askesis’s plan to invade Avranti and defeat the ravians did not work. This was because the ravians rather uncooperatively decided to invade first.


The Unwaba Revelations is long and packed with so many story arcs that it is impossible to keep track. Two great battles have already taken place by the time we’re 30% in. As a result, the book has to wrap up 500 different storylines in one go – something it does with nitpicky care. But then again, I wouldn’t know if there are any dropped plot holes, because who can keep track with so many different plots..

The book was bound to be on the longer side anyway, but some amount of strict editing would have gone a long way towards making the book more readable. (Even if it would also have meant losing quite a bit of hilarious writing. That’s what companion novels are for, amirite?😂)

As the day wore on, we filled Dahn-Gem’s Wasteland with bodies, […] and made tombstones for them by breaking pashans. I use the term ‘we’ loosely; my main function was to provide moral support and stand attractively with one foot on the largest corpse available afterwards. ~ Eridon, Ravian Warrior


But the fact that it’s not a rushed piece of writing means that we get to enjoy several different types of narratives, usually from the perspectives of random one-shot characters. These perspectives save the actual main characters from having to go out of their way to show us those events through their eyes. Their respective arcs are thus kept focused without compromising on the overall story.

‘Do you still want to kill the monk?’ Spikes asked Kirin.
‘What monk?’
‘Right.’


The character development in this book is… interesting. At least two main characters – Kirin and Red – changed so drastically over the course of the past two books. As a result, at the beginning of Unwaba Revelations, they’re miles away from where they’re supposed to end up at the end of the series (both geographically and psychologically speaking). Basu resolves this by dint of abrupt character shifts rather than involved development via plot. This is more pronounced in Kirin’s case than anywhere else. As for Maya, I think she was rather relieved to have avoided a kidnapping in this book. Third time’s the charm, I guess.

Others like Asvin, the Silver Dagger and Mantric more or less retain their original personalities (although Asvin does mature to the extent of finally meeting the situation’s requirements.) After spending an entire book on the sidelines, these characters finally have something to do. But while their storylines are technically essential to the conclusion of the series, they still feel superfluous beyond a point.

It is, however, quite easy to overlook these points because of how enjoyable these adventures are in their own right. GameWorld was written and released during the era of trilogies – but there are times when you get the impression that it would have thrived in the era of quintologies that immediately followed.

The influence of other great and well-known works is instantly recognizable in different parts of the book. The sections concerning the gods are as close to reading Pratchett without actually reading Pratchett. The descriptions of the war between Imokoi and Asroye give off strong Mahabharatha vibes; and Eridon’s journal is a hilarious parody of The Illiad.

Ultimately, the book’s twists and turns are a little numerous, and did contribute to my re-read fatigue. But a first-time reader will have none of these issues to contend with, and is free to enjoy the hilarity and the tangents in equal measure.

Reviews for the other books in this series:
1. The Simoqin Prophecies
2. The Manticore's Secret
Profile Image for Manikanta Avinash.
195 reviews25 followers
November 24, 2011
I always had second thoughts on this book because after all that happened in the second, I was not sure how he could manage to close the trilogy thrilling enough. As I expected, the last few pages were interesting and relevant. The rest all, even the battle pages were boring and looked like they were written to just fill up the pages. Alsso he created so many characters that he couldn't give enough importance to any. Characters which were the main one's in the beginning too get very less pages in the third part. Aswin character was completely neglected(it was not etched properly,intentionally i guess, right from the beginning). Even Kirin and Maya do nothing in this book. I agree that it was all supposed to be part of the plan but seeing pages and pages of Rakshas-Ravian war is not exactly interesting.
Still, I am satisfied with the ending and the trilogy as a whole. The only regret I have is this trilogy also turned out to be like maximum trilogies, awesome and exciting first part and downhill from there. Still, am proud that an Indian managed to successfully pull off a 1500 page fantasy trilogy!
Profile Image for Devesh Yamparala.
25 reviews2 followers
July 2, 2016
Rating: (Read 2.5)

Really disappointing after the way the first two books set up the story.

The first two books were very intelligently written and, compared to them, this book falls short real bad. Plus, the ending is really horrible. I would have been much much happier not reading the final book and just being happy contemplating the ending :-/
Profile Image for Gangambika.
79 reviews18 followers
October 10, 2012
What do I say about this book? It's fucking CRAZY!!!! Mad, bonkers, nuts, bananas, cuckoo, smoked up too much weed! I have no idea what's going on in here. The Dark Lord quits?! Seriously? "QUITS"??? And then lies about on a beach drinking, smoking up, having sex and acting in movies while other people go around saving the world??!! What is happening?? And everyone seems to be changing sides and there are humans and rakshases and ravians and werewolves and the Ursag (who no one seems to have heard of) and big monsters and the undead, and gods know what's happening. Actually, wait. They don't. The gods that is. Don't know what's happening. Because ofcourse they are being cheated by other gods. You get the picture. If you're reading this, be ready for a crazy ride!! Not to mention this book has NOTHING to do with the previous two!!!!
Profile Image for Jupiter.
2 reviews3 followers
July 5, 2018
Nothing to say but disappointing . The previous 2 books in the series was so good , totally mind blowing , that I was looking forward to reading this book (the final book in this series). But it was a tragedy , it had a couple of good fighting scenes and all , but the story's ending was a total let down. And there are some loose ends too , like the lady in the white dress .
Profile Image for Anangsha Alammyan.
Author 11 books547 followers
May 5, 2021
I love fantasy and was super intrigued when I came to know an Indian author had written an epic fantasy series. I started the first book fully prepared to be disappointed, but the first few chapters had me enthralled.

With stunning world-building, amazingly fleshed-out characters, and epic battle scenes to take your breath away, this series has all the makings of a story that will stand the test of time.

This was a brilliant, brilliant book, and the ending left me mesmerized. There was a finality, but also a sense of continuity. After all the turmoil of the first two books, the characters deserved some happiness, and I'm glad the author could justify all that build-up. A must-read series for everyone.
Profile Image for Robbie.
886 reviews6 followers
October 19, 2025
Like the others, I'm rounding up to five stars. I enjoyed this trilogy but I was also kind of relieved to be done with it. That doesn't say anything about the quality: I just usually feel that way after reading any kind of high fantasy series. I note it mostly because this series also has heavy comedic elements, which I thought might change my reaction, but it didn't. As to the book itself, like the 2nd book, this one doesn't pick up the momentum from the previous book and just goes its own way. It focuses more on the world's response to the gods than anything else. That said, there are two epic battles with the ravians, which are exciting and full of dramatic tension. Beyond that, it's good, it's silly, it's full of tense action, and it wraps up the trilogy well.
Profile Image for Nitya Iyer.
507 reviews42 followers
December 31, 2018
Honestly, the biggest problem with this book was how many threads were woven into the fabric of the first two. I just don't think I have the attention span to keep track of where everyone is and what they're up to.

But if you managed to stay the course through The Wheel of Time series or The Game of Thrones, but you're really looking for something a touch more Indian and snarky, this is the series for you!
33 reviews
July 7, 2024
A slight letdown after the first two awesome books in the series. Each book in the series took a different direction.
This was fun , though not as fun as the first and then the second book (in order of favorites).
Lots of clever writing still, though I can't seem to decide how I completely still feel about this book in particular.

Will still recommend this series. Lots and lots of fun reading it.

This book is a solid 3.5

28 reviews1 follower
April 20, 2021
(The dates for this review are for a re-read)
This trilogy is almost a standard fantasy, but set in India. You'll get some of the humour if you aren't familiar with Indian cultures and languages, but there are a number of in-jokes and references to other works lurking in there.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... is possibly worth a read too.
Profile Image for Zivan.
909 reviews8 followers
August 15, 2025
You need to finish this trilogy to fully appreciate what Samit Basu did here.

Self aware and breaking the fourth wall, Basu's satire has allot to say about epic fantasy, heroism and the divine.

Some similarities can be drawn to the very early Discworld novels, but Basu doesn't pull his punches and his universe is full of tragedy.


175 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2023
I tried but couldn't finish it.. maybe i had moved on from the genre at that time. But rating this 3/5 in respect towards the overall Gameworld series that started with "The Simoqin Prophecies".
Profile Image for LS.
50 reviews
March 28, 2025
Crazy ride , this isn't a story that ends with a nice bow on a wrapped box .
Profile Image for Rhucha.
157 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2026

This one was a bit anticlimactic - not what I expected from the climax of the thrilling trilogy. But you understand sort of why it is that way. To be fair, the author did deliver 3 war sequences which were pretty cool.

The story picks up from last one. Maya witnesses the Ravian portal being opened. Kirin defeats Myrdak and takes Red (who is in Maya's disguise) with Spikes to Imokoi. Ravians acquire the airships and try to take over the Earth. Red is injured in an attack on Imokoi and Kirin tries to take revenge against the Xien monks where he meets the real Maya. The Unwaba is a lizard who knows that the Gods are playing a game with the Earth. It along with Maya, now tries to enlist Kirin's help in saving the world from this game. Aciram dons Kirin's face and rules Imokoi till then. Kol is under attack from invading Ravian airships and Kirin sends every living dragon to Kol's aid. Qianzai, the mother of dragons, is furious, and Kirin destroys the gauntlet to ever avoid using it again. Unwaba asks Maya and Kirin to meet Zivran and blackmail him into saving the world but instead Zivran grants Unwaba God status and it in turn leaves them hanging. There are 2 war scenes which I wish the author would have described from the perspective of someone who is part of them rather than a history lesson. I also wish the author would have given Kirin / Maya something to do other than laze around.

When Unwaba tells Kirin and Maya to lay low, the aim is to distract the Gods from considering them as important pieces so that they can seek audience with Zivran to blackmail him into saving the world. Mantric travels to the 'end of the world'and promises Gods endless 'action' movies if they promise to save all the people in the existing world.Not sure why the Ravian werewolf was brought in to fight Kirin but it lasted all of 5 mins before getting killed. Asvin becomes a zombie and ends up helping save the world from 'creatures from hell' in the middle of Rakshas-Ravian war. Rakshas-Ravian war with multiple levels of strategies is awesome. Ascension of Red int oa power hungry person is too abrupt. After getting a good look inside her head in the last book, this feels too random.

Profile Image for Sadaf.
113 reviews8 followers
October 22, 2014
The series comes to an end with this book. It was satisfactory in some aspects like character development and complexity. But there were loose ends, unanswered questions. Or rather I couldn't completely buy the answers.
however, maybe there was too much pressure and expectation on the author after the first two books, and this may be a result of that.
The stories takes many a wild turns, and there are lots of important turning points. however, there are too many characters and the focus is lost. At times, it feels like the character ’s confusion reflects similar bend of mind of the writer when compiling this last work.
However, it does put a cap on the series, and there are some genuine surprises. Worth a read.
Profile Image for Saurabh Modi.
345 reviews38 followers
February 19, 2017
Damn. It ended.
One of the most amusing books I've ever chanced upon. There're a lot of things that keep happening ,too much action. Characters are fun. I believe that to fully appreciate all the parodies ,the entire series needs to be reread. At least once.
The series gave me a few questions to think about ,but those questions can probably never have any suitable answers. There's always a different side to everything ,that's yet invisible to us. That's probably the whole point. To what ,I have not the slightest clue.
Profile Image for Johny.
56 reviews11 followers
August 18, 2009
Absolutely loved the entire series. The author manages to bring a number of characters or concepts from Greek Mythology, to Classic novels, to Indian Mythology and other sources and blends it into a perfect mixture of fantasy and humor.

Though at times there are too many weird ass names and creatures to remember, which is extremely annoying, it is worth the effort.

Profile Image for Shilpa.
145 reviews14 followers
October 11, 2016
I waited so long to get my hands on the final part of the Gameworld trilogy and I honestly don't know how I'm feeling at the moment.
But the spectacularness of the first two books seem to have a gone a little bit down in this.
Lost in the greater picture, if you will.
Still an awesome series!
Profile Image for Tathagata Kandar.
20 reviews3 followers
January 12, 2014
Not even worth the time writing a review for this crap...seriously....my expectations were blown sky-high after the 1st book and from then on it was a complete downward spiral. Don't know what happened
Profile Image for Lakshmi Vijayakumar.
7 reviews2 followers
July 8, 2016
Fitting end to an amazing series. Was pleasantly surprised by this book. The plot, the extremely lovable characters (both human and non-human) the language (<3) kept me flipping pages till the very end which is as mindblowing as it is heartwarming. ^^ sad to see this one end.

P.S MAYA RULES!
Profile Image for Chris.
145 reviews4 followers
December 15, 2019
After the first two books I expected more shenanigans but this one was just sort of droning on about battles for a good half of the book. I listened to it as audio and Ramon Tikaram killed it but it was not as good a book as the other two.
13 reviews
August 16, 2008
The most awesome SI-FI trilorgy by an indian author! Hats off to Samit Basu!
Profile Image for Ankita.
63 reviews3 followers
March 17, 2014
It finally felt as if the author had bitten way too much than he thought of chewing....
Profile Image for Friday.
66 reviews15 followers
May 2, 2014
WOW!

I read the trilogy twice. It's really fantastic. Patrick Rothfuss of India. Before Patrick Rothfuss.

The best fantasy writer in India in my opinion.

Great work. Had lots of fun.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews