The Unifier: Book Review
Author: Rajkumar Victor

James Oinam *

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Title: The Unifier
Author: Rajkumar Victor
Publisher: Self-Published
Printer: Nest Advertising & Marketing Pvt. Ltd.
Year: 2018
Price: Rs 150 (Hardback)
Pages: 40

The Unifier is a small demi-sized fictional story book. It can be called first of its kind in Manipur. One can read through within half an hour. However, I feel 40 pages is good enough to understand the strengths and potential areas for improvement of the book.

Strengths

Unlike many books of Manipur, the language and spellings are impeccable—as if it has gone through copyediting process.

There are 14 full-page black and white illustrations which are stylistically consistent. Every other page of the book has a fitting illustration. The drawings reflect local traditions and cultures. The image of dragon is the typical image used in Hollywood.

The feeling of oddness of the dragon comes from the fact that typical Manipuri literary and artistic works are confined to few genres only, I think. The illustrations are of top-notch quality.

The storyline is original and weaves local flavor into it beautifully. Reference section at the end of the book explains few key terms used in the book.

Although a publisher is lacking, the book has an ISBN. This shows that either the printer or the author has taken pains to register the book with the authorities. Many locally published books do not have an ISBN.

Suggested Areas for Improvement

The number of pages is too small for any book. Either the story could have been enlarged by including more plots or details. The “time gaps” between events could have been filled with more stories. The characters could have been described in detail so that each could have distinctively identifiable personality.

One or two paragraphs that jarred the flow of the story was the talk about “inventions and discoveries” in “medicine” etc. I can understand the author wanted to bring in the moral of the story and was swayed by the it. But as the story is about kings and magical dragons, it is a different world, not the world of “discoveries and inventions”.

Progressive thoughts and behaviors could have been portrayed or phrased in a manner befitting the environ of the story.

All said and done, the author shows the capability to produce graphic novels of world-class standard. With patience and perseverance I wish the author would produce more books in future that may lure the budding new generations of Manipur.