Asha of the Air
Published on 26. April 2022
Book
Hardback
228 pages
978-1-7358535-2-9 (ISBN)
Description
In a mythological future, the last daughter of a noble house breaks from the abusive prince that she married (thinking he would save her from her troubles), then makes an epic trek of body and mind to regain self-knowledge and claim her own truth.
In a city levitating among the clouds, a translator of ancient languages casts his mind down to the surface of a long uninhabited earth and six thousand years into the past to tell the tale of Asha, a possibly mythical, possibly factual princess, or Raajakumaaree in the language of her era. Asha's life of beauty and privilege, the compensation for marriage to an abusive merchant prince, ultimately sets her on an epic yaatra, a trek of body and mind, to seek self-knowledge. Along the way she must imagine a path beyond the totality of her past mistakes-before hope itself comes to an end. A novel of fantasy, spiritual exploration, and adventure, Asha Of The Air interweaves European chivalric tradition with the mysticism of South Asia's sacred texts to craft an immersive world where legend and science, history and myth come together in a tale of intense emotionality.Asha's story is that of a young woman trying to conceive a new female archetype for herself, one that transcends the norms of gender and wedlock while still embracing all the rightful powers of femininity. It is strikingly relevant to the way that today we are renegotiating the balance of power between the sexes and learning how to reconcile the urge to dominate with the need to love.
In a city levitating among the clouds, a translator of ancient languages casts his mind down to the surface of a long uninhabited earth and six thousand years into the past to tell the tale of Asha, a possibly mythical, possibly factual princess, or Raajakumaaree in the language of her era. Asha's life of beauty and privilege, the compensation for marriage to an abusive merchant prince, ultimately sets her on an epic yaatra, a trek of body and mind, to seek self-knowledge. Along the way she must imagine a path beyond the totality of her past mistakes-before hope itself comes to an end. A novel of fantasy, spiritual exploration, and adventure, Asha Of The Air interweaves European chivalric tradition with the mysticism of South Asia's sacred texts to craft an immersive world where legend and science, history and myth come together in a tale of intense emotionality.Asha's story is that of a young woman trying to conceive a new female archetype for herself, one that transcends the norms of gender and wedlock while still embracing all the rightful powers of femininity. It is strikingly relevant to the way that today we are renegotiating the balance of power between the sexes and learning how to reconcile the urge to dominate with the need to love.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7358535-2-9 (9781735853529)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
John Huddles is a screenwriter, film director, and novelist. His writing career began as editor-in-chief of Brown University's student magazine, and as one of Brown's first-ever Undergraduate Writing Fellows. He is also a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Nitze School Of Advanced International Studies and the American Film Institute Conservatory. His debut novel, the kids' sci-fi/adventure story, Boon On The Moon, extended his love of sci-fi/fantasy from storytelling for the screen to the page. With Asha Of The Air, John shifts into sci-fi/fantasy for an adult readership, in a novel that weaves together European chivalric legend and India's sacred texts for a mythological diptych of past and future.