Skymerge

by Deepak Menon

Written by international Award Winner Deepak Menon, Skymerge is a sweeping well researched novel of the opening up of Space, spanning 5 Planets including Earth, and a planet named Rukana where a major portion of the events comprising this amazing novel occur. There are many heroes in this book and many heroines, each unforgettable with a unique personality distinctly different from any other protagonist in this book, or any other in its genre. The book begins with a shattering prologue reminiscent of medieval times on Earth, yet relating to another Planet. The story starts with the discovery of a Scroll and a Bracelet in a remote desert location in Africa, found in a geological layer dated a million years ago, before mankind manifested in its present form as a sentient species. This seems impossible unless the artifacts are of extraterrestrial origin. Alternating the chapters between Earth and other Planets, the story is skillfully built into a cohesive whole, bringing with it glimpses of different cultures, battles, and a war, as also a very human touch of love, affection, courage and wide ranging vision amongst the characters. Inevitably the story builds up to "Contact" with the Aliens from the alien planet situated Light Years away, yet the conceptualization is well interwoven with the Laws of Physics & Nature that the reader can not entirely discount the hard core science fiction concepts in Skymerge, since it retains an element of plausibility albeit miniscule, which is what this book is all about! It successfully explores the outermost boundaries of physical constraints with the message that what may be fiction today, may be the facts of tomorrow. Skymerge succeeds in effectively delivering a gripping adventure story based on hardcore astrophysics and astronomy to the layman, without straying too far into the realm of fantasy.

Genres: Science Fiction

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Deepak Menon, a banker with a difference,left his job as a senior officer in a commercial bank in India,in Sept 2011 to write stories to delight and gladden the hearts of adults and children alike. He writes across genres - so far has written 3 Books of Tales, 4 Volumes of Classical Structured Poetry & Quatrains and 3 Science Fiction Epic novels set in outer space
1. Tales & Fables:- He narrates stories of great adventure and thrilling rescues undertaken by a little Pixie and his amazing OctoDoll, with help from myriad fantasy creatures of the enchanted Booga Dooga Land. The author has filled his books of the Series - "Tales of the Booga Dooga Land" :- Pickwick's Plan, The Wormus and the just published "The Horus" with brilliant wordplay, designed to bring chuckles to readers of all ages, while they read through these sparkling "family together" children's books, where the author has created an entirely original and fascinating new wonderland - the Booga Dooga Land.
The author does not forget to integrate little lessons into the events which are written about in the book, designed to promote what he considers to be the most important aspect of life, “Family Values” .
These are wonderful books where he has introduced a new meaning to the word “Plan”, straight from the Booga Dooga Land.
His debut book Pickwick's Plan- is a 5 Star award winner of the 2013 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Contest in the "Fables Category".
The Illustrations have been painted by Julie Sneeden of South Africa, a wonderful visualizer and internationally renowned artist whose sparkling illustrations have lighted up the book immeasurably. These books deserve a place of pride on every adult and child's bookshelf.
2. : He has republished his well received Volume of structured poetry - Quatrains - with the title "All Pure - Poems of Passion - A tribute to Omar Khayyam", which is also being well received.
Deepak has published a 2nd volume of longer poems "What Worth My Tomorrows"
3. : His first Book was "Skymerge" which has started with several 5 Star Amazon Customer Reviews as well as a Readers Favorite 5 Star review, an epic well researched 311 Page Novel of Interstellar travel and adventure which touches several planets Skymerge shows us a window which may make Interstellar Travel a distinct possibility tomorrow ...
Deepak followed up Skymerge with his 2nd Sci Fi thriller of interstellar adventure and travel - Skysplitter - which also started with Readers Favorite and Amazon Customers with 5 Star Reviews.
His third Sci Fi Thriller SPACEVASION has just been published in Print and Kindle editions and promises to be an eyeopener for the people of Earth

Reviews

[Deepak Menon · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STAR EDITORIAL REVIEW Reviewed by Lorena Sanqui for Readers' Favorite
When a comet was found to be headed straight for a collision with the planet Kriel, two spacecraft were created to save selected people who would propagate the race wherever they landed. One of the spacecraft landed on Rukana and the other on planet Earth. A bracelet and a scroll with some weird symbols on it were given to the commander of each ship. On planet Earth a million years later, two anthropologists find the bracelet and the scroll. Together with John Kriel, a multimillionaire author, they spend years trying to decipher what the bracelet and the scroll mean. On the other hand, a great flood devastated the whole of Rukana, and for a few years Ruhan and Karala think they are the only survivors. How will the bracelet change the course of the lives of these two sets of people in Skymerge by Deepak Menon?
Deepak Menon is a very creative writer with a vivid imagination. He created an exceptional setting and excellent characters in Skymerge. All the scenes were portrayed well and reading it was enjoyable; it was like being on the adventure myself. It was written simply and clearly. The battle scenes in Soh-na were done really well; I can almost see and hear the cannons. I love the way Rukana and the complex were described, with all the high tech gadgets and teleportation devices. The characters are fun, strong-minded and believable. The plot of the story made me keep guessing and I loved all the surprises that sprang up while reading

[J.S. Luxor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An archeological expedition (involving Saki and her mentor, Hoslop) discovers an ancient scroll along with a symbol covered bracelet in Africa. The only problem is that the artifacts are far more ancient than is humanly possible. The goosebumps started forming on my arms at that point. On another planet, Ruhan and Karala discover something similar, although their physical journey is quite different. Deepak Menon sets up the action for his story in a very compelling manner. If you enjoy sci-fi and interplanetary intrigue, this book will please you. The writing is superb and well crafted.

[D.K. Lyndon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly don't read much science fiction, but this one was a mind-boggling adventure from the brilliant mind of Deepak Menon who writes a fun, exciting fantasy. I highly recommend it.

[Gautam Dutta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skymerge by Deepak Menon is an interesting work of speculative fiction. The story is about how human civilisations on different planets make contact with each other, amidst political conspiracy and intrigue at their own home planets. First of all,it is commendable to see an Indian author come up with this kind of stuff, which is just epic in scale, for lack of a better work. Set across five planets, there are some wonderfully written scenes that would be breathtaking if this is made into a movie- from two planets colliding with each other, to futuristic battle scenes in alien planets, to suspense-filled scenes on Planet Earth. However, all is not perfect with this novel. For starters, I feel the author should have paid more attention to detail- especially as far as scientific units are concerned. For example, the Universe is not a trillion years old. And at the end, some facts seem to have been mixed up as well (that may have been an oversight, which must must have got corrected in subsequent revisions). Another drawback is that some of the points mentioned isn't clearly elucidated at the end- like the technology behind faster-than-light teleportation, or the identity of the main villain. There are facts in the story that do not add up till the very end. And I felt that the narration could have been more coherent. At some parts,some not so correlated facts have been presented together, which disrupts the flow of the storyline. It appears that while writing, the author suddenly remembered that a particular loose end had to be tied up, and just mentioned the point then-and-there! In spite of all these drawbacks, this book should be read by fans of speculative fiction, as well as by Indian readers. After all, there is much more to Indian writing that Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, or Salman Rushdie. Note: I mentioned these three authors on purpose, because each of them represents a particular class of Indian writing. On the international stage, that is the image people have of English Fiction originating in India. Many are unaware that India produces each and every genre of fiction. Skymerge is a good example of that.

[Charles Remington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruhan awakes - he is dazed and very weak, barely alive, a victim of a massive tsunami which has engulfed the main land mass of his planet Rukana. Squinting at the planet’s heavy red sun, he has little hope of survival. During a dig in the Sudan, young archaeologist Saki discovers two strange artefacts in strata dating from the Pleistocene era, meaning the items are over one million years old, which is impossible. Skymerge by Deepak Menon chronicles how the fates of these two individuals become intricately entwined in an exciting, sweeping narrative which takes us from the planet Rukana to our planet Earth, and to the home of an ancient race known as the Eternals. We follow Ruhan as, together with his rescuer Karala, they explore the abandoned city of Sohna discovering unimagined wonders, and we follow Saki who, together with her mentor Professor Hoslop, struggles to translate the strange script found on the ancient artefacts she has uncovered. The fates of the three worlds begin to merge as both Saki and the inhabitants of Sohna come under attack, and the protagonists assisted by the mysterious, powerful author John Kriel, make a last- ditch attempt to communicate their astounding findings to the President of the USA.

Slymerge is a multi-layered tale of massive scope. Deepak Menon’s fiction is based on science fact, and he is careful to underpin his timelines and mechanical inventions with sound contemporary physics. The characters are well-drawn and likeable (except the nasty ones) and the romance between Ruhan and Karala is charming. Mr Menon has chosen a truly complex subject as the theme of his first science fiction work, examining the origins of intelligent life and its evolution on different planets, interstellar travel and a multitude of gadgets and devices to bring the threads of this story together. Highly recommended, classic science fiction which will not disappoint the aficionados of the genre.

[Ken Donaldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skymerge opens with style of poetic 13th Century storytelling: presenting a mythology based upon a beginning opening out of an ending. It is here you first meet Ruhan facing suffrage in self-sacrifice to allow change to come to pass. As the story unfolds you get the feeling of a sense of war happening from a long time ago happening in the present time. Deepak’s use of poetic phrases centres throughout the story’s theme locking in past to a present time where one can see a merging between two planes of existence coming to exist on one. Presented in a highly philosophical works which is standard of Deepak Menon’s Authoring penning-ship

[Hans Bronkhorst Bronkhorst · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the beginning I liked the story and expected a lot from it. The fact that the story is alternating between two different locations - earth and Rukana - was nice. But halfway through the book, the story became boring and badly written as if the author had been in a hurry to finish it.