Amish
The first of the Shiva trilogy. The book takes a historical view of Hindu mythology and looks at the Hindu God Shiva as a human who through this actions got elevated to the pedestal of Mahadev – the God of Gods. Set from 1900 BC onwards, it tracks Shiva’s journey from Mount Kailash in Tibet to the land of the Sapt Sindhu inhabited by the Meluhans, who see him as ‘Neelkanth’, the incarnation that will help them triumph over evil. ‘Evil’ to them are their neighbours, the people of ‘Swadeep’.
The book is very fast paced and tells a good story. It also has a sprinkling of philosophy, especially towards the end that lends it some (relative) gravitas. Though the book shows no dearth of imagination in bringing a reality perspective to a lot of things we consider myth, what I felt it lacked was a certain finesse of prose, a factor that made it seem corny at regular intervals. But that won’t stop me from picking up the other two books, and that sense of intrigue is what makes the book a good read.
I loved the book and I was surprised he didn’t go as far as ‘Yo homie’ or ‘dude wassap’. He was almost there with some of the dialogues. =D
True. The second is slightly better in that respect. Only slightly 🙂
Hi Manu,
Although I did like the concept and uniqueness of the plot, somehow Amish really needs to get a grip on his “casual” style of writing. It might be all good to “connect” with your readers but I think he went a little too far with his “connectivity” 😛
I’ve written a review of the book on my blog as well..Do check it out when you get time
http://hornokayplease.com/the-immortals-of-meluha-book-review/
Ah well, like I said he has become relatively better in the second book.