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.
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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