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Book Review : Pralay - The Great Deluge


This book has been a long time coming; 4 months was much too much a wait, given the cliffhanger exit of the first novel of this series – Harrappa {Reviewed Here}… It closed on a point that had brought us to tenterhooks. Mr Author, when you place someone on any hooks, tenter or otherwise, do remember to take us OFF the hook. The second book just carries on from there, and continues without a pause, without a break – and stops right dang in the middle of…. ­I don’t want to give spoilers. Yes, you start on Tenterhooks, and stop on them. 5 Stars.

Vineet Bajpai


THE BOOK
This is the revenge of Vivasvan Pujari – intertwined with the rise of Vidyut Pujari in the parallel timeline of thousands of years later. The story revolves around these two primary timelines; and introduces a new segment, that of the slow rise of Manu Pujari, the son of the greviously wronged Vivaswan Pujari. In the ancient timeline, as Vivaswan Pujari takes revenge – the mysterious Matsya prophecies the coming Pralay, the extinction of Mankind… and it is here the book won my heart fully and finally, rising to the occasion… and leaving an indelible mark on my mind!

THE ANALYSIS
What won me over? I can only say this : the behaviour of all the characters, their characterization,  and their overall carriage is completely within the boundaries set in the first book; in fact, the story actually builds up the characters even deeper, with much better defined shades and etches. The book also gives a strong moral lesson, as one wronged character goes all out trying to help those who wronged him; even as another wronged person is hell-bent on revenge. In this small byplay lies a lesson – told though the story of their background, and in our minds in terms of morals and ethics. Even Shri Krushn  did the same in The Mahabharat. Any book that gives a moral lesson – howsoever small, is indeed a classic.

This is the hardest to do in a series -  ensuring the character stays within the shades, etches and boundaries set in the previous novel/s. But it is far, far harder an ask to ensure that the following book’s actually develop the character much deeper, give more defined shapes and shades. And on top of that, those shades are also in logical order and result of the previously established shades. Everything should gel : and it does. Vivaswan’s anger, Manu’s forgiveness, Vidyut’s confused reactions, all seem completely logical, their actions follow logically from their previous actions.

The pace is relentless; you are treated to a kaleidoscope of action-oriented sequences, well penned; or to emotion charged parts, or to reckless fast paced story progressions – in a nice juicy mix that keeps you glued to the book from the first page till the last one. Despite this, the character development also takes place – without any sacrifice for want of pace, unlike some other books where a character-pace trade-off happens. And language is easy, as the icing on the cake.

But above all of this, and stopping just short of the strong moral lesson I learnt in Manu’s heart-warming lesson of selflessness and compassion, is the imagination of the Author, or his superb skill in mixing several ancient histories to create one magnificent vision of an imaginary land that is at the same time completely convincing in all respects. The effortless ease in mixing many ancient stories is fun to read – if nothing else, read the book for this alone.  And if you take the time to ponder some segments, lines or statements, you are sure to find pearls of wisdom like this one – It is the greed for power and wealth that distorts great ancient wisdom into quagmires of shallow vested interests… well said, Vineet ji!

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