"A Drop of Venom" by Sajni Patel

A Drop of Venom (Jan. 16, 2024) by Sajni Patel.

<This is the first novel in a duology.>

<This novel does contain a trigger warning.>

Monsters come in all forms. To 16-year-old Manisha, it’s the King’s army. Those beasts have forced her people, the naga, to flee their home in Anand. Many have died. Manisha’s sent to the coveted floating mountains at age 11 and the sacred temples there. She’s an apsara, chosen for her beauty. Visitors to the floating mountains can’t so much as touch an apsara, but far from remaining safe, Manisha is viciously assaulted, declared “defiled” by the new High Priestess who’s always hated her, and is literally kicked off the floating mountains, landing in a pit of vipers. Amazingly, she survives and emerges with power she never knew she could possess. Her blood, even her spit, can turn people to stone. All Manisha wants is to find her family. Is her mother alive? Her twin sisters, Eshani (the eldest) and Sithara?

            To 17-year-old Pratyush, the famed slayer of monsters and last of his line, monsters are what he hunts to kill. Supposedly, years are added to his life for each monster slain. Supposedly, he slays enough monsters, and he’ll gain the house and peaceful, quiet life he so desires. Though he was raised to treat women as equals, Pratyush knows men who are monsters. He’s seen it with some of the men in his group, and his beloved sister was once assaulted by her betrothed. Despite being a powerful warrior, he’s nothing but a possession of the terrible King. He couldn’t save his sister, and she died. Pratyush is sent with the worthless General and a group of men to slay one more monster. A nagin. The “monster” he seeks is the woman he actually wants to marry.

            Be brave. Be cunning. Be strong. For anyone looking for a laidback story, this is not it. Patel unflinchingly tackles misogyny, sexual assault and rape culture, the trauma that comes from those experiences and tempers it with star-crossed love, sisterhood (by blood and not) and the love of family. This is set against a backdrop of mythic monster creatures and monster men and combines the Indian mythology of the naga with the Greek mythology of Medusa. The result, while upsetting to witness, is electrifying and powerful. Told from the viewpoints of Manisha and Pratyush, this fantasy/mythology is fast-paced with fantastic world-building. This dark-yet-dynamic duology opener can “adorn the world in beauty or control the world with greed.” The stakes are high, the battles are fierce, and there will be blood. Manisha is a nagin. She is venom.