Warning: If you are a rabid fan, stop reading this now. If you haven't read the books yet, Spoiler Alert!
I heard about The Immortals of Meluha (Part One of this trilogy) when I was in tenth. Later, I met some friends who were mad about the books and kept telling me to read them. However, my earlier skirmishes with ex-IIM authors *coughChetanBhagatcough* were rather unpleasant, so I went into reading this series with a good dollop of skepticism.
A quick overview:
These books tell the story of Shiva, the Hindu god, as though he was a human and not a divine being. Along the way you meet plenty of your favorite mythological characters from stories we've all heard as children from our grandparents.
The stuff I liked:
The concept blew me away. Amazing idea, and matching this story to the legends we've heard throughout our lives (like Ganesh being a Naga) is an adventure. I liked the feminist portrayal of women, especially Sati. Daksha's descent into madness was one of my favorite plotlines. The philosphical conversations between Shiva and the Vasudevs were what I looked forward to.
The stuff I didn't like:
The writing style was just too unrefined. Now, I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, with people saying "English isn't our first language! Simple writing encourages Indians to read English!" etc etc but would a little more description hurt anyone?! Some of the sentences were just downright childish, and I cringed at every fully capitalised dialogue. Writing "He shouted" is sufficient. In the Internet age, that is particularly disturbing. Also, the author's obsession with explaining every Sanskrit term is a little wearing. Either a glossary or footnotes would have worked much better than trying to fit the definition into the same sentence as the word.
This lack of elaboration meant that I didn't connect with any of the characters. By the end of it, I didn't identify with, idolise or even pity any of them.
I have more fundamental problems with the characters too, though. For all the hype about portraying Shiva as "human", I don't see him ever being in the wrong. Nothing he does, from changing the law to marry Sati, to suddenly deciding the Somras is evil, to using the Pashupatiastra to destroy a city, nothing is questioned. He never makes a mistake in his judgement, never faces the consequences of his actions. He is apparently uncomfortable in his role as the Neelkanth, but abuses that power throughout.
Overall, The Shiva Trilogy gets away with having a great concept and plotline. However, the simplistic writing style ruins it. The story had immense potential. A little more time and effort would have made it better. It's a promising beginning to this new genre (I don't know what to call it! Mythological fiction?) and I'd like to see more authors trying it out.
2.5 stars out of 5.
I heard about The Immortals of Meluha (Part One of this trilogy) when I was in tenth. Later, I met some friends who were mad about the books and kept telling me to read them. However, my earlier skirmishes with ex-IIM authors *coughChetanBhagatcough* were rather unpleasant, so I went into reading this series with a good dollop of skepticism.
A quick overview:
These books tell the story of Shiva, the Hindu god, as though he was a human and not a divine being. Along the way you meet plenty of your favorite mythological characters from stories we've all heard as children from our grandparents.
The stuff I liked:
The concept blew me away. Amazing idea, and matching this story to the legends we've heard throughout our lives (like Ganesh being a Naga) is an adventure. I liked the feminist portrayal of women, especially Sati. Daksha's descent into madness was one of my favorite plotlines. The philosphical conversations between Shiva and the Vasudevs were what I looked forward to.
The stuff I didn't like:
The writing style was just too unrefined. Now, I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this, with people saying "English isn't our first language! Simple writing encourages Indians to read English!" etc etc but would a little more description hurt anyone?! Some of the sentences were just downright childish, and I cringed at every fully capitalised dialogue. Writing "He shouted" is sufficient. In the Internet age, that is particularly disturbing. Also, the author's obsession with explaining every Sanskrit term is a little wearing. Either a glossary or footnotes would have worked much better than trying to fit the definition into the same sentence as the word.
This lack of elaboration meant that I didn't connect with any of the characters. By the end of it, I didn't identify with, idolise or even pity any of them.
I have more fundamental problems with the characters too, though. For all the hype about portraying Shiva as "human", I don't see him ever being in the wrong. Nothing he does, from changing the law to marry Sati, to suddenly deciding the Somras is evil, to using the Pashupatiastra to destroy a city, nothing is questioned. He never makes a mistake in his judgement, never faces the consequences of his actions. He is apparently uncomfortable in his role as the Neelkanth, but abuses that power throughout.
Overall, The Shiva Trilogy gets away with having a great concept and plotline. However, the simplistic writing style ruins it. The story had immense potential. A little more time and effort would have made it better. It's a promising beginning to this new genre (I don't know what to call it! Mythological fiction?) and I'd like to see more authors trying it out.
2.5 stars out of 5.
