The Ramchandra Series: Scion of Ikshvaku

A book review, finally!
The excessive delay is because I've not read anything lately that I felt like writing about.
But, of course, only Amish could change my mind.
It's been a while since I read this one, so pardon any nuances I might miss.
I'm doing this purely out of memory.

Amish is one of my favorite Indian authors.
He has a way of connecting the mortal with the immortal and I truly believe that's a gift.
How many writers can make Gods seem like real people? Not many I know.
Of the ones I've read, authors can decipher, interpret at best, but not flesh out a character so well that it seems real, and yet maintain a surreal quality about it.
Needless to say, I'm a big fan of exactly this trait of Amish's writing.
Which is why, The Immortals of Meluha was such a hit with me.
I did not know much about Lord Shiva or his clan until Amish wrote this book. So, the story of Shiva was also high on mysticism for me.

Having established how big a fan I really am. I'll go on ahead about his latest release - The Ramchandra Series: Scion of Ikshvaku. I cannot, unfortunately, say the same things about this one.
The familiar story line, I would say, was a major setback for this book.

We all know Ramayana. Have grown up hearing stories about it.
So when Amish tells this story differently, something doesn't ring a bell.
I didn't feel wow-ed by it. Instead, something felt amiss.

The good part though, is the beautiful amalgamation of context. The 'somras', 'nagas', 'suryavanshis', 'chandravanshis' and many such concepts have already been explained in his previous books. So the follow through in this series is very well executed.

However, I'd have liked to see a different treatment of the narrative. For instance, revelations of important pieces of information, explanations for various ideologies and the inclusion of maps to better explain the (changed) landscape. Little details like these would've added to the imagery and perhaps set the book slightly apart from the well-known trilogy.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of things, maybe he has something wonderful planned for the next two sequels. I, for one, can only anticipate.

My recommendation: Fans will read irrespective of any reviews. But if you're yet to pick up an Amish novel, I'd suggest you grab the Immortals of Meluha first.


Comments

Unknown said…
I certainly need to catch up on this series. Your review only accentuates that feeling. A lot more is known about Lord Rama from our mythology and hence the conflict. In case of Shiva there was only imagination which got a direction with Amish's narration. Perhaps that's the difference. As you rightly put it the next in the series will probably make it more interesting.
21 August 2015 at 14:47
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