Uncomplicated and Compelling

The story preserves not only the characters' voices but also their goals and actions, which are convincing and believable

- SAURABH SHARMA

In 398, Peruma City finds itself at the cusp of revolution. It's the 'Day of the Barricades'. Director Purul, along with her secretary Milana Maran, is heading to meet the Council in Low Town. When they're "side by side on the edge of the (Unity) Bridge", they sense an unusual tension in the air. Soon, the "ground bursts open", felling the director and the secretary. Through the smoke, two "feet away, blotting out the sun, stood a man", Jagat R, the director's assassin, a martyr in the eyes of the Commune. His last words: In the name of the Commune, unborn, die.

Thus begins Gautam Bhatia's meticulously structured speculative fiction, The Sentence. Its gripping prologue is followed by a crisp timeline of the Peruman Empire to the day of the Revolution. The story, however, begins in 498 in the 'Chapterhouse of the Free and Equal Confederation of the Guardians of Peruma'-the "Fortress Drab". Its atmosphere signals an anticipation of a verdict: Whether the Mandalium Agreement (a "revenue-sharing formula") must die? The Executive Committee wants to divide the Guardians into two six-member teams-one for the Commune and one for the Council-to ensure everlasting peace in Peruma City.