The Secret of the Nagas - Book Review

The Secret of the Nagas – one of my most awaited books. Since Harry Potter I have not waited for a book sequel this bad and never for one from an Indian writer. The Immortals of Meluha – the prequel to this book by Amish Tripathi had blown away my mind with a tale within the tale that we all know and so Nagas was completed within two days!

The book starts off exactly from where the prequel ended. Sati is attacked by a Naga and Shiva is in pursuit of the Naga. Shiva and Sati give the Naga a tough chase but he escapes but leaves behind a gold coin that leads Shiva to the kingdom of Branga, situated in eastern India at the confluence of rivers Brahmaputra and Ganga. The kingdom of Branga being somewhat hostile to Ayodhya, Shiva and Sati go to Kashi, which has a reputation of being a patient city to all people and thus houses a colony of Branga’s too.  While they are in Kashi, a mini riot breaks out against the Branga’s and Parvateshwar (Shiva’s army chief from Meluha) is mortally injured trying to pacify the mob. Ayurvati tries her best to revive him fails, as the wounds were deep. Divodas, the chieftain of the Branga’s in Kashi as a thanksgiving for saving his people gives a medicine to Ayurvati, which has miraculous effects, and Parvateshwar is revived and starts recovering well. Ayurvati informs Shiva that the medicine had herbs that are only found in Panchavati, the capital of Nagas. Divodas informs Shiva that the Branga’s are yearlong affected by plague and need medicines that only the Nagas make to keep alive and that is why Branga’s and Nagas are ally’s. In his quest to reach the Nagas, Shiva decides to go to Branga. While Shiva is waiting for the special ships that will take him to Branga (as you cannot enter Branga just like that because of their advanced technological fortifications on the rivers) to be built, his and Sati’s son – Kartik is born. After which Shiva leaves for Branga with his team and Sati stays back in Kashi to help the king fight against lion killings in the kingdom. On reaching Branga, Shiva finds out that the Branga’s are in alliance with the Nagas for the sake of the medicine and till Branga is not able to make that medicine on its own the alliance will have to continue. He also gets to know that apart from the Nagas only one man can make those medicines - a Bandit by the name of Parashuram, who kills anyone who tries to come near his part of the jungle. Shiva’s entourage after much bloodshed wins over Parashuram’s army and he readily surrenders the medicine recipe to Shiva when he learns that HE IS the Neelkanth.  Shiva also learns that Parashuram is a Vasudev pandit (shiva’s guides and philosophers) and his story from a pandit to a bandit is what changes Shiva’s perception about the Nagas. While in Kashi, Sati goes to fight the pride of lions that were killing villagers with a group of soldiers. While there she miscalculates the number of lions in the pride and she is nearly killed under the attack when a group of Nagas come to her rescue. After the rescue operation the leaders of the Nagas a women who looked exactly like sati but with deformations and a man, again deformed claim to be related to her.

Sati related to Nagas while Shiva believes that he will find evil when he reaches the Nagas!

And the man is the one who Shiva believes killed his brother-friend Brahaspati!

Their revelation points out that Meluha after all is not as perfect as it seems!

Author Amish spins another tale of fascination and shifting beliefs. For someone who has grown up on Indian Mythology the Shiva trilogy is a path breaker. Whenever a new character is introduced the story that you grew up on comes to the mind and then the connection between the characters in your mind and the book comes up. The book is racy, intelligent and notion breaker. As an individual book it is excellent but comparison with the prequel will dim its glory. The Nagas lacks the punch of Meluha. You will like it if you are a mythology fiction fan but you will love it only because you are a Shiva Trilogy fan.

p.s.  Though I think it is good as a stand alone book but you will enjoy it fully only if you have read the prequel, else you will find more mysteries than there actually are.

iVerdict: A page turner. Must read for a Mythology Fiction or Historical Fiction fan.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Lake of Dreams - Book Review

A bundle of old letters tucked away. A rumbling family house by the lakeside. Cathedral glass windows with a distant and possibly family connection. And a protagonist running away from unpleasant, teary and mysterious memories.

I love mysteries and this one seemed to just have that. The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards, who also wrote the bestseller The Memory Keeper’s daughter, is filled with a lot of twisting mysteries. This is my first Kim book and she is definitely an effortless, free flow writer. The book takes the reader through the journey of Lucy Jarrett – who after trotting the world, secreting running away from a guilt filled incidental death at home, returns to the place that she is running way from – the house by the lake. There is where all the other attachments in her life come alive – the relationship with her brother, her ex-flame’s reappearance, her mother’s love interest, long distance relationship with her boyfriend and missing link in the family which leads to a Nancy Drew styled search and uncovering.

The book is interesting and pregnant with worthy details to a certain extent but does get lengthy towards the end. Why is the book still on is a question that did come to my mind towards the climax of the book. The pace consistency is missing and lags in certain parts of the book.  Interesting twists if you can handle a bit of lag.

iVerdict: Good. Can be read.

Rating: 2.5/5

Cuckold - Book Review

This book has above anything else added a word to my vocabulary – Cuckold, I had no cue what that meant till I googled it after a few pages into the book. A 16^th century rajput prince with a 21^st century thought process – that is Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar for you.

Cuckold takes the reader through the systems, traditions, conventions, politics, mind games and social behaviourals via the narrative of the heir apparent of the kingdom of Mewar in 16^th Century Hindustan – the Maharaj Kumar. It subtly conveys messages though out the narrative that appearances can be deceptive about the intelligence that lies beneath, that the forces of change – social or political can exist anywhere, even within the system and that still waters mostly run really deep.  

The beauty in the narration is that it is the story of a kingdom wrapped in the personal story of the king-in-waiting. The protagonist the Maharaj Kumar - he has his blemishes, he has his righteousness, he is not perfect and he is human. The reader keeps falling into trances of liking, sympathising, disliking, empathising, distrusting, hating and even loving him. It is a roller coaster ride for the characters as well as the reader and the fact that the characters, though familiar to most of the Indians, remain just characters till the end of the narrative give the story a fresh feel. The reader in no way is prejudiced by what they already know of the characters. 

Cuckold though a 600+ page narrative is paced well, the flow is excellent and the interwoven web of more than 30 characters is just correct, intriguing but not confusing.  Love history, you will love this one.

iVerdict: Excellent. Recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

Chanakya's Chant - Book Review

Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi is his second book and my first by Ashwin. Honestly I had not heard of the book and just picked it up randomly at Crossword just for the love of history in stories. And am I happy that I did.

The book is at the core about the politics of power. Acquiring it, implementing it and retaining it. It is like reading two stories simultaneously and is written so tactically well that the element of curiosity is kept alive while not confusing the reader with too many boomerang switches between two stories separated by 2300 years. It beautifully and effortlessly conveys the bare fact that human beings at the core have not evolved nor changed, only our systems, technologies and comforts have evolved and changed. At the core we remain as we were ages ago - insecure, vulnerable and manipulative. 

The story takes the reader through the raw kingmaker abilities of the central characters Vishnugupta alias Chanakya and Pandit Gangasagar Mishra. Though living their  lives centuries apart they are conjoined by a secret ancient mantra - a power mantra. It is the tale of the sheer intellectual brilliance why which they plan, manipulate and maneuver their proteges Chandragupta Maurya and Chandini Gupta to the pinnacle of power and become the power behind the power. 

Chanakya's Chant is a book you would just not put down and would want to rush to its final pages but you will dare not skip any page in between. It is racy, saucy and leaves you vulnerable. Its a guarantee that after you read the book you just cannot look at people the way you looked at them before you started the book least there is a greater Chanakya in you before hand.

The only complaint to the publishers is that it is such a beautiful piece to have in your collection, that the cover and pages quality could have be better. 

iVerdict: Outstanding. Recommended. 

Rating: 4/5