The Alpha Yeti by Sum Review

The novel The Alpha Yeti especially the jacket of the book reminds me of the movie King Kong. I hope you also remember the giant ape King Kong who hopelessly fell in love with a beautiful girl. What a stunning movie it was. I read the entire novel with King Kong in my mind. In this way it was easier for me to imagine the Yeti’s raw power and ruthlessness. But in no way I am taking away the credit from the author to delineate the Yetis superbly. The book has been written by the author with a pen name SUM.

Something About Yetis

Yetis are mythical creatures who are assumed to live in the extremely freezing snow clad region of the Himalaya and similar regions. They could be friendly or dangerous. They are said to have impenetrable skin covered with long, thick fur all throughout their body which help them survive the cold and made them almost invincible.

Story in Brief

Coming back to the book, the story starts in a Karya Kunj village located at the foot of the Nirmalaya mountain range. Locals were terrorised by the rising fear of Yetis who occupied the piercing and biting ice mountains. There were two types of Yetis: the white and the grey Yetis. The four mountaineers creates havoc in the adobe of the Grey Yeti which made it revengeful and was adamant to tear apart any human it comes across. The Villagers forces a gang of eminent hunters to kill the Yeti and restore peace. How they manage to do so forms the rest of the story.

Yetis Versus Humans

It is an out and out adventure read. In the first half tribal soldiers were fighting valiantly against the Grey Yeti with whatever primitive weapons like spears and arrows available. The entire episode reads like brave Rajput soldiers fighting battles with Mughals. The Grey Yeti’s brutality was at peak.

In the second half, the gang of hunters who are known for their skills, equipped with all the modern weaponries encounters the Grey Yeti. It was a great combat and scrimmage to read or rather it was so well written that you can actually visualize everything in your head.

Great Writing

Now the storyline is predictable. You can guess what will happen next. But the author has created such a realistic set up that it was interesting to see the outcome through the character’s eyes. Everything was logically placed though I felt that tribal people’s part should have been a little more clear. At one point the author says that they are poor and illiterate with a small population. While on the other hand, they build a fortress and hundreds of soldiers are fighting the Yeti. From where all the money and people were coming.

Characterization is superb. Both the Yetis: White and Grey, all the four hunters and tribal people came alive through the author’s words. In spite of being antagonist, Yetis were the focus of attention. They were the surprise package and it was always interesting to see how they would react. The White Yetis were the good one. It was the Grey one which was brutal and ruthless. But I won’t blame them as well. They feel threatened by human infiltration.

Conversation between the characters further added more spice to the adventure. Dialogues were short and snappy but lively and witty. I particularly loved Sanau. She was smart and intelligent. And her one liners were fun to read.

The Verdict

Overall, it was a good and entertaining read.