Insanity Saga
The Insanity Saga is a fantasy series written by twin teenage novelists Suresh Guptara and Jyoti Guptara.
Book One in this saga is Conspiracy of Calaspia, the first draft of which the Guptara twins penned at the age of eleven. It was published when the authors were 17 and became a bestseller. Suresh and Jyoti Guptara have finished writing Book Two (German title: Der Schwertkodex, publication March 2008; English title to be confirmed) and have finished Book Three.
Insanity
In the Guptara Twins' fantasy world, Calaspia, Insanity is a corrupting force both internal and cosmically external. Jyoti says the idea of Insanity came to him because his family "was always calling me crazy (and still is)". Also quoted as a source of inspiration is Nebuchadnezzar, who in the Book of Daniel was smitten with seven years of insanity for rejecting God, until he learned that for all the material power he possessed, even he was subject to the Most High.
Excerpts on Insanity from Book One:
"Insanity always leads to destruction. Some say it blesses with its own creativity, but it is only capable of warping what is good and whole." - Thybil (Conspiracy of Calaspia, p.170)
"Bryn couldn’t help thinking that the powers of Insanity had stolen over the land, leaving the appearance of life in a sallow imitation but killing the spirit; preserving the shell and corrupting the substance." (Conspiracy of Calaspia, p.177)
Symbol of Insanity
The Symbol of Insanity consists of a candle (whose flame sucks light from its surroundings rather than giving off light, effectively giving off darkness) within a five-pointed star within an incomplete circle (reminiscent of a pentagram). It features prominently on the front cover of Conspiracy of Calaspia. The Star of Insanity is rich in symbolism that has been interpreted by readers in many ways. It is popularly thought that the flame stands for apparent truth that turns out to be wrong for it breeds spiritual darkness - the heart of Insanity. (Thybil hints at this when he says "Once you reject the truth and embrace the uncountable half-truths, lies, that appear to make so much sense to the lightless mind, then you begin a slow and steady descent into the abyss." (Conspiracy of Calaspia, p.171)
Story
Structure
Insanity Saga will be written in sub-series, of which Bryn is one that potentially spans four books but will form at least a trilogy. The series will not be in chronological order, though the consecutive volumes of the sub-series will be. Rather, the books will follow "according to the characters' and readers' knowledge of Insanity."
It is said the series will be complete at between six and eight books. Jyoti told the BBC World Service in an interview in December 2006 that the saga would probably have six volumes, but figures even given by the Guptara Twins themselves vary. "It depends on how much back story unfolds in the sequels," Jyoti explains.
Universe
The Insanity Saga is set almost exclusively in Calaspia, an alternate universe akin to Tolkien's Middle-earth in that it is similar to our Earth and set in an antiquated world.
In Calaspia, magic is considered science. There are five branches of magic. There are two branches of real, supernatural magic (magick), but this is forbidden by the Order of Itrim. One of these forbidden branches is Insanity.
Themes
The Insanity Saga deals with a number of themes, repeatedly playing with perspective and truth, body and soul, illusion and reality.