Scion of Ikshvaku, by Amish - Review

Scion of Ikshvaku

This book is based on the Ramayana. It is the first book in a series. It goes up to the part when Sita is abducted. It is a fictional retelling of the Ramayana not the actual story. There are many types of retellings. This book is a type of retelling in which the basic idea remains the same but there are a few twists, changes and additions that make a huge difference to the book. Let me just warn you that before you plunge into the review there are few minor spoilers here and there. Well, here goes.

There are many instances in which there are a lot of changes because it is a fictional retelling. Let me tell you about some of them.

Spoilers and more!
The story starts from before the birth of Rama. It starts with the important battle between Dasharatha and Ravan. The battle is not mentioned in most of the books on the Ramayana that I have read. It could have been an addition but I’m not that sure. The battle was important because it was crucial in affecting the lives and relationship of Dasharatha and Rama. This is one of the biggest changes that Amish has added in the book, but I won’t tell you what it is.

Guess, guess, guess!

Lanka's Princess, by Kavita Kane

Lanka's Princess, by Kavita Kane

This book is about Surpanakha, also called Lanka’s princess. Surpanakha means hard as nails. She is the sister of Ravan. Ravan is an asura and the villain of the great epic the Ramayana. The first opinion that forms in your head, if you have read the Ramayana, is that Surpanakha is an evil shape-shifting monster. She had tried to kill Sita, but had her nose and ears sliced of by Lakshmana, brother of Ram. If you are hearing about the Ramayana for the first time, then after reading this, you too would have formed a bad opinion about her.

Now, the question is, was Surpanakha evil? Or was it because of some event or tragedy she turned evil. Let’s find out.

Sita's Sister, by Kavita Kane

Sita's Sister, by Kavita Kane

This book is about Urmila. She is a character from the Ramayana who we don’t know much about. Urmila is most commonly mentioned when Lakshman decides to go for exile with Ram. Sometimes we wonder why didn’t Urmila go for exile with Lakshman. She chose to be separated from her husband for fourteen years, rather than to go with him. The Ramayana never really does talk about Urmila. Every time I read the Ramayana, it talks about Ram, Lakshman, Sita, Ravan, Dasharatha, Kaikeyi etc. It never specifically tells us how did Urmila bear these years of separation, and how did she feel when Lakshman decided to go to the forest, leaving her behind. I think Urmila, also known as Sita’s sister was an exceptionally brave woman to bear this separation.

Saraswati's Intelligence, by Vamsee Juluri - Review

Saraswati's Intelligence: Book 1 of the Kishkindha Chronicles, by Vamsee Juluri

The first thought that comes to your mind, when you see the cover page of this book is Hanuman. For, a picture of a monkey is drawn on it. When we think of Hanuman we also think of Ram, because Hanuman was a great devotee of Ram.

Now, the surprising thing is that this book does not even touch the subject of Ram. It is solely based on the childhood life of Hanuman. This book talks about his childhood which is not even mentioned in most Ramayana versions. When you read this book, you understand what really happened in Hanuman’s life before he encountered Ram.

The book goes slow at first but picks up pace as it moves on.

Hanuman was born to Kesari and Anjana while Vali and Sugriva were born to sister of Kesari, Riksharaja in Kishkindha. Vali, Sugriva and Hanuman were fast and steady friends. One day while the three of them were having a race when Sugriva slipped. Hanuman was shocked because Sugriva had committed a “param dharma apachara”. You must be wondering what is a ‘param dharma apachara’? In Kishkindha spilling even a drop of blood was called param dharma apachara. A drop of blood was made of the sunlight of 108 leaves. It was considered a sacrilege to spill blood. Hanuman tried to clean Sugriva’s wound. In the meanwhile, Vali had lied to Kesari by telling him that Hanuman had jumped first when it was Sugriva. Hanuman and Sugriva were exiled from Kishkindha for touching blood.

Both started wandering from place to place and on their way, they met the great sage Vishwamitra. All the three of them together went to the land of the Ganeshas.

Vishwamitra sensed that something was wrong in the far north. Then, one day a group of northern Ganas had come. A Ganesha chief went out to receive them but none of the Northern Ganeshas even answered. What happens next is a big surprise.

The rest of the book talks about their adventures, how Vali went after the creature inside a cave. Sugriva went to help Vali. Sugriva came back alone. He announced that Vali had been led into a cave and would come out only after defeating the monster. The creatures had been defeated. Sugriva was crowned king in Vali’s absence.

This book has a suspense ending. The book is also one of the books in a trilogy and makes you want to read the other 2 books. So far, this has been the summary of the book. Now, I am going to tell my views.

The book concentrates more on the culture and habits of the Kishkindhan people. I found it very interesting it did not lead to the subject of Ram. The book leaves each chapter in suspense so if you want to know more you have to read the whole book. In the ending of this book I felt like I had to know what would happen in the 2nd book.

The style of writing attracts you. At the starting it was slow and I was not interested but, as I read more I got interested and that resulted in reading the whole book. It has been a nice experience reading this book and I hope the other two books in the trilogy give the same experience.

If you want to know more read this fantastic book By Vamsee Juluri to find out.

Book info:
ISBN-10: 9386224267
ISBN-13: 978-9386224262
Publisher: Westland
Buy the book: Amazon India, Kindle India, Amazon US, Kindle US, Flipkart
Excerpt:


© 2017, Anika Agarwal. All rights reserved.