SITA: WARRIOR OF MITHILA

Book Name: Sita: Warrior Of Mithila

Author: Amish Tripathi

Publisher: Westland Press

ISBN: 978-93-86224-58-3 

The worst enemy a man can ever have is the one who was once his best friend.

Plot synopsis:

During a trip Janak, the king of Mithila and his wife save an infant being protected from vulture. They adopt the child and name it as Sita. She is then sent to ashram of Guru Shvetaketu for her studies and learns about martial arts. When she is 14 years old, Maharishi Vishwamitra, head of the Malayaputra tribe who serve the next Vishnu, visits Shvetaketu’s ashram. Impressed by Sita’s skills and knowledge, he elects her as the seventh Vishnu but asks her ro keep it a secret. 

When she returns Mithila, her mother’s death leaves a deep impact. She has to take care of her younger sister Urmila and is made as Prime Minister. Rest of the story is about how she stabilizes Mithila’s financial condition, her Swayamvar with Ram and the banishment from Sapt Sindhu due to use of biological weapon, Asurastra.

The differences in society should be determined by merit. That’s all. Not birth.

My Opinion:

The whole idea of creating a character Sita where she is a warrior is refreshing. I feel the reference to this was taken from Adbhuta Ramayana. But there were many places were pages from The Scion Of Ikshvaku just copied and pasted. If the stories of Lord Ram and Lady Sita was combined in a single book, it would have been better, especially from her Swayamvar.

In a nutshell the beginning was amazing but the story lost its essence towards the end. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to read Ravana The Orphan of Aryavarta.

You must use your heart to decide the destination, but use your head to plot the journey.

THE RISE OF SIVAGAMI

Book Name: The Rise Of Sivagami

Author: Anand Neelakantan 

Publisher: Westland Press

ISBN: 978-93-86224-44-6

Good people often lost out. To come up in life, one needed to be devious and cunning.

Plot synopsis:

Sivagami is a fiery young woman. She is a perfect combination of brain and brawn. Daughter of a nobleman of Mahishmathi kingdom, Devaraya, has vowed to destroy the kingdom. 

Kattappa is honoured to have been chosen to serve Bijjaladeva, the prince of Mahishmathi.

Prince Bijjaladeva is the firstborn of Maharaja Somadev. He awaits for the moment when he will be declared as crown prince. He demands respect. He hates his brother for he is popular with the masses.

Prince Mahadeva is not a great warrior. He looks up to his father but wilts under his dominating mother. He loves his elder brother but is afraid of him.

The story revolves primarily around these characters.

Fight all you want, but you will never win. You can change a system only by being part of that system, by being part of the change.

My Opinion:

A good minister is executed. His daughter wants a revenge. There are brothers- one is good, other is bad. This gives a feeling of cliched plot. To overcome this there are 35 odd characters who fail to draw sympathy from the readers. These characters add to confusion of some scenes. The fast pace of the novel saved it. Honestly, after reading the book I am tad bit disappointed that it didn’t engross me as much as I had expected. But the cliffhanger at the end has pinned my hopes to the second book in this series.

An evil man without vices was the most dangerous of all.

IN THE NAME OF GOD

Book Name: In The Name Of God

Author: Ravi Subramanian 

Publisher: Penguin Random House India 2017

ISBN: 978-0-143-42573-1

In every religion, people are killed in the name of God.

Plot synopsis:

A dead body is found in the Padma Teertha Kulam, the divine pond. A few years ago, Aswathi Thirunal Dharmaraja Varma, the titular king of Travancore decides to assess the wealth in vaults of Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

A few weeks ago, in a high profile heist in a jewellery store at the Wafi Mall in Dubai, six store staff and a sole shopper were shot. But one masked man drops a statue of Lord Ganesha which is six hundred years old. 

Aditya had just finished in the top three in an international jewellery design competition in Amsterdam.

Nirav Choksi, one of the world’s most exclusive jewellers, was highly sentimental about his small office in Zaveri Bazaar. After a few days there were a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai.

The commander-in-chief of Dubai police meets the director of CBI. Kabir Khan, additional director of CBI is made in-charge of the case.

How these incidents are connected is what makes the story a page turner.

As he stood at the window looking out into the distance, he couldn’t help but wonder at what all people were willing to do in the name of God.

My Opinion:

This is the first book I am reading in Thriller genre. I have a habit of reading newspaper on daily basis. Naturally, I came across the news about Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple like: a gold plating machine was discovered, around 769 pots of gold were missing, whether to open the vault B. The way all these facts have been spun into a nail biting tale which is simply amazing. 

Part A starts in steady pace building the backbone of the story. The pace is quickened in Part B where a lot of mystery is building. You cannot even make a fair guess to say who is innocent and who is guilty; every page that you turn, there is a new twist. Part C is a mad rush; just when you come to know who the murderer is, there’s a twist in the story.

You don’t need a bookmark while reading this book. Though the pace was a bit fast, undoubtedly, this is one of the best books I have come across. If you want to try reading a book of Thriller genre, you must read this.

However, it seems even the Supreme Court is now scared to take a decision, that too, in the name of God.