The Oath of the Vayuputras
-- Amish
After reading the first 2 parts (The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of Nagas), I have been eagerly waiting for the last part of Shiva Trilogy and pre-booked it at the first opportunity. And, it doesn't disappoint.
The best part of the series is Amish's excellent narrative style. He picked up quite a few characters from Indian Mythology (maintaining similar relation among them) and created his own story around them. He dedicated significant amount of the first book to just create the stage, as the story deserves it, and exploited all that in the second book. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the third part, I felt narration of war has turned out to be a bit too long and repetitive.
A complaint that I heard from some of my friends is, the take away is not new. Well, as always, it depends on readers. If one is looking for a beautiful reading experience that keeps up one's imagination through out, one wouldn't get disappointed. Instead, if one is asking for something new, which has never been told, yes, there is not much; Except that, good and evil are just different sides of the same coin. One eventually turns into another, as it gets abused.
I particularly enjoyed the conversations between Shiva (the Hero) and the Vasudev pandits (his mentors). I found the conversations to be abstract, philosophical and profound.
Another thing that I liked a lot about the book (and the series, in general) is, except for the ability of Maharshi Brighu (a powerful ascetic saint, and mentor of emperor of India) to read minds of others by looking at their eyes, the author didn't need the help of super nature (and the God hypothesis :-) ) to make such a story interesting. Everything is perfectly rational. The kings and citizens do follow the rules set by Lord Rudra and Lord Ram (considered by many in India today, as 2 of tri-murti's who are responsible for Srishti-creation, Stithi-maintenance and Laya-dissolution), but, they are just great kings who lived exemplary lives, and formalized good governance and dictated rules for citizens to lead peaceful life. Nothing beyond.
I would highly recommend it for those who are looking for light reads, and craving for the reading experience (similar to http://www.chandamama.com/) that they parted ways with, since their childhood.
-- Amish
After reading the first 2 parts (The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of Nagas), I have been eagerly waiting for the last part of Shiva Trilogy and pre-booked it at the first opportunity. And, it doesn't disappoint.
The best part of the series is Amish's excellent narrative style. He picked up quite a few characters from Indian Mythology (maintaining similar relation among them) and created his own story around them. He dedicated significant amount of the first book to just create the stage, as the story deserves it, and exploited all that in the second book. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the third part, I felt narration of war has turned out to be a bit too long and repetitive.
A complaint that I heard from some of my friends is, the take away is not new. Well, as always, it depends on readers. If one is looking for a beautiful reading experience that keeps up one's imagination through out, one wouldn't get disappointed. Instead, if one is asking for something new, which has never been told, yes, there is not much; Except that, good and evil are just different sides of the same coin. One eventually turns into another, as it gets abused.
I particularly enjoyed the conversations between Shiva (the Hero) and the Vasudev pandits (his mentors). I found the conversations to be abstract, philosophical and profound.
Another thing that I liked a lot about the book (and the series, in general) is, except for the ability of Maharshi Brighu (a powerful ascetic saint, and mentor of emperor of India) to read minds of others by looking at their eyes, the author didn't need the help of super nature (and the God hypothesis :-) ) to make such a story interesting. Everything is perfectly rational. The kings and citizens do follow the rules set by Lord Rudra and Lord Ram (considered by many in India today, as 2 of tri-murti's who are responsible for Srishti-creation, Stithi-maintenance and Laya-dissolution), but, they are just great kings who lived exemplary lives, and formalized good governance and dictated rules for citizens to lead peaceful life. Nothing beyond.
I would highly recommend it for those who are looking for light reads, and craving for the reading experience (similar to http://www.chandamama.com/) that they parted ways with, since their childhood.
