KOCHI: Fantasy novels never fail to attract readers. Kottayam-native Swathi Nair became an ardent reader when she was a Class XI student, out of the love for fiction. Swathi, who has had her head in the imaginary world of The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Chronicles of Narnia, never thought that one day she would turn an author too. Her debut fantasy novel series Argans: The Dream Knights was released on Amazon last week. The e-book of the novel featured on the bestseller list in the ‘fantasy’ category.
It narrates the life of a 12-year-old orphan named Ivan. This book is the first of the eight books in the series planned by the young author. “He’s uncomfortable in the world he lives in. One night, after he sleeps, he wakes up in a dreamland - Dandelion, the kingdom of dreams. Havenden is their rival and they come to wage a war against Dandelion every 12 years. Ivan gets some friends there and they join Dandelion’s army and train to become an ‘Argan’ to fight against Havenden.
However, Ivan and his friends stumble across an ancient secret at Dandelion, which was hidden for millennia. When destiny takes a different turn, the group of seven twelve-year-olds end up doing something unexpected for their kingdom,” says Swathi.
A first-year BA Economics student in KE College, Mannanam, Swathi says she has had the idea for a while now. “Though the story line is made up, everyone loves to dream and create their own world and characters. When the lockdown happened, I started to write down the story in my mind,” adds Swathi. “I’ve completed seven chapters,” says Swathi. “I have got a clear idea of the story in each book. So I’ll be writing the books one-by-one,” says Swathi.