Book: Maithili and the Minotaur Isle of Insanity (Book 4 in the Outlandish Graphic Novel Series)
Authors: C.G. Salamander and Rajiv Eipe
Publication: Puffin India
Type: Paperback
Length: 88 pages
Age Recommendation: 10 years+
C.G.Salamander and Rajiv Eipe’s graphic novel series Maithili and Minotaur deserve a fandom. It is by far one of the most inventive and culturally rooted series that I have read and with their newest Isle of Insanity, this streak of thrilling, gleeful and chaotic energy garnished with loads of puns, jokes and easter eggs, continues.
Though I also believe that the elders would read their books a lot differently than the kids. The darkness we saw in the Dolls of Despair continues and is perhaps a reflection of the world around us.
Sample this. Page 1, Panel 2-5:
“Monsters witches, broken men… they yearn for things to go back to the way they were. And so they cloak themselves In silence… Indulging in strange rituals, they offer their souls to quiet darkness, hoping to summon the gods who have long forsaken them.”
This is in an island where children are harvested and sacrificed.
This island is the island of not just ritual, but rust.
That’s not really about monsters at all, is it? Salamander is doing something quite audacious for a children’s graphic novel, embedding an unflinching portrait of ritual-as-control into what superficially seems like a story about the voice that will destroy them all—the same voice who is responsible for holding Maithili’s mother in the Tower of Torment.
Ridiculous? But that is the hallmark of this series. C.G.Salamander keeps throwing his characters into dark, absurd and tense situations, and this fourth instalment is no different. The book starts with a dance contest at which Anjali and Wolf are missing. Seeing how that is uncharacteristic of them, Nagesh, Aaraval, Minotaur and Maithili go looking for them and end up in the Isle of Insanity.
Given the trajectory of the series — each book escalating the stakes and darkening the atmosphere — the island they fall into is eerie and surreal. On the “island of rust and ritual” Maithili seems to come closer to finding answers about her mother but is plagued by the guilt of being the reason for putting her friends’ lives in danger. The book is a thrilling ride, and just when you feel tense and hold your breath, Salamander throws in a joke that has the creases on the forehead relax as you find yourself grinning.
As usual, the worldbuilding with Rajiv Eipe’s illustrations remain a standout. The artwork is incredible, with the texture of the tree-world, the decay of the island, the iconography of the various characters in the island make it quite eerily atmospheric. I wonder if they are rooted in cultural context.
The end was a little surprising. At hindsight it was indeed building up towards it. Nagesh, aka Pambu Deva, the lord of dance, as usual is in top-game and Is used extremely skilfully to release tension at the right times. All in all, I do wish there are fans out there who create a subreddit on this series and explore the various aspects of it which I would religiously follow. After all its very rare that very different aspects of the book will touch the reader. The kids race through for Nagesh’s jokes and the plot momentum; the adults catch the rust and the ritual…
And then there are readers who end up reading while listening to the original song from Sathiya wondering what Pachai Nilame is. That subreddit, would help people like them. Of course I am not talking about anyone I know.
Isle of Insanity highly recommended for anyone 10+.
ADDED BY ASHA: You can read the reviews of Book 1 , Book 2 & Book 3 on our website.
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CLICK & BUY NOW!Disclaimer: Mandira is part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc. She is the author of the award winning book Children of the Hidden Land. Her new release Muniya’s Quest for middle graders has been reviewed here with high praise and lots of love!
