Devouring Divine

by Shrinivas Gaikwad

A war between Daemons and humans has disrupted Sekizen’s harmony for nine centuries. This never-ending war has permanently altered its course in the favor of humans as they discover a means to slay one of the immortal Daemons. They have acquired a weapon of divinity, one of the eight weapons capable of slaying the remaining seven immortal Daemons, who claim to be the children of one perfect God. But can normal humans wield the divine weapon? The kingdom of Manve, the strongest human kingdom on Sekizen, believes that the people from the Sakri island hold the answers to the weapon and the Viom, the magic brought by these Gods, but the island hides in the depths of the Sekizen somewhere near the kingdom of Daemons. But will human greed for power, intervention by the religion of Demistry and insults to the Divine Book yield Manve the victory and answers they crave so desperately? Kaori, the princess of the kingdom of Manve, dreams of equality and peace amongst the different bloodlines in the kingdom. She attempts to change the kingdom from within and fights for the Athemans and Agnosians in the emperor's court, but her fight against the Demistry changes the course of the kingdom’s internal politics. Raven, second in line for the Manve throne, a half Piousena and a Viom user, has given up on the Divine book and the Demistry. He wants to repent for his sins. His Viom powers have made him the strongest general and killer in the history of Sekizen. He joins the Elite Freaks for his journey for redemption, but are his good deeds enough to wash away the sins of war and innocent blood? Nihal, an Atheman, the bloodline of slaves, has given up hope on life. He only lives to avenge his mother and to keep a promise to his sister. He wants to retreat to his past and wants to live on the farm forever, but his latent powers change his life forever. The Elite Freaks show him an alternative to change the world for good. His powers give him hope for retribution against the crimson killer. But is revenge fulfilling? Will it give him the peace he is searching for?

383 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2021

About the author

Shrinivas Gaikwad, born in 2000, is an Indian fantasy writer still trying to find his footing in the world of self-publishing while balancing a full-time career as a software engineer. He hopes to complete this trilogy someday—and maybe, just maybe, earn the right to drop the word unavailing from his self-assigned pseudonym.

When he isn’t writing or working, he’s usually trying to stay fit or experimenting with musical instruments like the kalimba, violin, and whatever else catches his attention. More often than not, though, he ends up scrolling through YouTube, trying to decide what to watch next—and yes, that counts as a hobby now.

Reviews

[Harishma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If we don’t have the right to choose what we believe in and a right to question the morality of our own god, then is it right to call it faith which is free of interference… or should we just call it a law?”

Devouring Divine by Shrinivas Gaikwad was an amazing journey for me. As a fan of fantasy and action, I felt myself completely smitten with the storyline. It has a great world building, charecter depth and pace. However, I felt it was a bit predictive at certain parts.

“I’m not. You see, if life is like a play, then it has to end and death is that ending, and I don’t like plays that drag for far too long. Don’t you agree?”

Just like the author said, this book does not drag on. It is precise, crisp and beautiful. The ending blew my mind and I can't wait for the next installation. I'd rate it a 4 star and would higly recommend it. A thrilling novel filled with faith, power, strength, love and how far someone would be willing to go with a right amount of word play is waiting for you and you need to read this!

[Shally · Rating 4 out of 5]

29 chapters, diving straight into the realm of fantasy, thrill and fun, the book Devouring Divine by the author Shrinivas Gaikwad, is all you need to read this weekend.

The story is about a fight between right and wrong, good and evil, the Daemons and the humans. In the Kingdom of Manve, the fight takes place for the truth, the powerful and the righteous. The plot moves ahead with Kaori, Nihal and Raven as the main characters, they strive for their aims to be fulfilled. Nihal is the character I enjoyed the most, the character changes in him resemble so much of the real human's behaviours.

The introduction of the religion, Demistry which is followed by the kingdom's people, is symbolic of the real world and how these humans use it for their own purposes. The author has made sure to use many themes, symbols, and allegories right from the surrounding, which makes this book more interesting and worth reading. I read it in two sitting and literally loved the way how things are narrated. The characters are well defined and each one plays a role, I also enjoyed Kaori's presence in the story. We also have a map in the beginning, which helps us understand the kingdom. There are letters and at times when we move to and fro in time.

Overall, its an astounding read for all the fantasy lovers. Read it without a second thought.

[Abhishek Gaikwad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read with an interesting story arc. Any reader who enjoys fantasy thrillers will definitely enjoy the book.

[Vanshika Medi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal! For anyone who loves a good Fantasy thriller, this is the book for you. I think the universe created in the book was well written and very creative. The magic system was very interesting and overall it was a good read!

[Prakriti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic, the might, the thrill and the fantasty! It's the best debut book out there. A great read for lovers of fantasy genre and a thrill to read otherwise too. Great book! 5 stars!

[Shrinivas Gaikwad · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating should not be considered while deciding about this book. It is the baby of my imagination and for me it is still perfect with its flaws and inconsistencies. I am proud of what it is and I hope to improve and deliver better stories in the future installments! I hope you enjoy reading it!