Smastrus was meant to be a perfect human-being, with all the eight attributes (rasas) of a remarkable personality. But at the age of fourteen, his existence is so burdened with poverty and persecution that the quality of his life is little better than an animal's.

He knows nothing about his absent father. His broken-spirited mother is half mad. And then there is Smast's cousin, Pintu — a privileged boy with a flair for devising novel ways of inflicting pain and humiliation on the weak and the defenceless.

Smast's first-ever act of defiance shatters two things simultaneously: a couple of Pintu's front teeth and Smast's entire world. He falls upon the mercy of a merciless woman — Sona, Pintu's enigmatic, evil mother.

What could be easier than fully crushing someone who has already been beaten to a pulp? But a mysterious power is awakening in Smast, and the battle between Sona and Smast will not be so unequal after all.

Long-buried secrets will crawl out of their watery graves, illusions will overpower and distort reality, and an unforgettable hero will embark on an incredible quest.

About the Little Lantern Trilogy: Just as sprawling trees come from tiny seeds, Smast's pleasure trip (after the events of Book I) will birth an epic journey spanning several years and hundreds of miles.

From being almost-lynched for a soul-scarring horror to forging an unlikely bond with a downcast princess, from being abducted by a devilish dwarf to being accused of a monstrous policeman's murder, Smast will have enough mind-bending adventures to last many lifetimes, but everything is just a prelude to the ancient magic awaiting him in a faraway, breathtaking Himalayan valley...

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