Mad Sisters of Esi is a fantasy novel written by Tashan Mehta, published by DAW Books. A book that it's difficult to characterize, which plays with the concept of metafiction while inviting the reader to join into an emotional journey that will be shown in a cyclical way, partly like a matrioshka; a really creative novel that hides many worlds under its cover.

A novel that starts following two sisters, Myung and Laleh, who live in the small world that is the whale of Babel, traversing from chamber to chamber and keeping its records; however, Myung has more questions about the origin and how they appeared. Questions that don't allow her to rest, but that doesn't bother Laleh; Myung takes a determination, leaving the whale and her sister in the search for answers.
A journey that takes both to a new place, Ojda, where they learn a story similar to theirs: the Mad Sisters of Esi. A story that will reveal more about sisterhood, love and creation, pointing the sisters again in the quest to find each other.

Mehta has crafted a complicated book: one that has a lot of storytelling and that jumps between timelines, notes, metaphors and diary entries; it demands the reader's attention, as there are many small dots to connect, all while they are aching for a re-encounter between the sisters, eventually leading to what we could call the meta-cycle that is formed by the Mad Sisters of Esi.

There's also a huge amount of worldbuilding, but it is kept encompassed by the own nature of this world: ethereal and prone to change. Mehta's prose is simply outstanding, creating beauty through her words.
In terms of pacing, it is a relatively slow proposal; but the nature of this journey requires the reader to advance with patience, so it fits.

Mad Sisters of Esi is an excellent novel, one that rewards the attentive reader with a emotional experience that also tells much about fiction, love and sisterhood; a difficult to tag proposal, but one that fully shows how of a talented writer Tashan Mehta is.