Agnyatha: The Memoir of Tipu's Unknown Commander  (English, Paperback, Krishnamurthy Hanuru)

There is nothing like this novel in Kannada literature. Starting as a chronicle of a soldier's life in the times of Tipu Sultan, the narrative moves with astonishing vitality across time and space. Its supple structure, its shifting locations and perspectives, the freedom with which the narrative roams over different and seemingly irreconcilable genres such as myth, history and folklore create a world which is at once mesmerizing, baffling and yet deeply real. Hanuru's scholarship and imagination enable him to place each episode in a precise time and place . Yet these worlds, which seem so apart and autonomous, morph into each other and open up a vast canvas , rich and vibrant , leavened by the writers sensitivity to human foibles." Girish Karnad