The Magicians of Mazda by Ashwin SanghiMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hooter: Fast paced thriller rooted in the history of Zoroastrianism
My first Ashwin Sanghi and I see why they call him desi Dan Brown. the protagonist in this book Jim (Jamshed) Dastoor is a Parsi American scientist who seemingly figures out an antidote that can prevent and protect against a lot of diseases using what is rumored to be the famous Atravan star in Zoroastrian history. Soon there is international espionage, mythological antecedents, historical conjectures and a multi continent set up which includes recent affairs.
Being a historical fiction junkie, this was right up my alley as he grounds a lot of his conjectures using history of Parsis, Zoroastrians in Iran and in India , the interweb between ISI, Taliban, Mossad, R&AW, NSA and other agencies and timing it with the Americans leaving Bagram base in recent history. For me, whilst the main storyline was a run of the mill thriller with a wide array of friends with benefits helping push the storyline forward , the way the author pushes in a wide range of religious, political and mythological history into the narrative is what makes it an informative and entertaining read. Whilst the whole aspect of common antecedents of Zoroastriasm and Hinduism is very much debatable, he leverages linguisitic commonalities to highlight the same roots. Confirmational bias could be another way of potentially looking at that.
Irrespective of that agenda, the run of the mill thriller with a lazy ending is a fast read but not a strong storyline, its the wonderful mix of varying histories that really make this an enjoyable read.
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