Book Review – The Immortals of Meluha

The “Big Day sales” of Flipkart and Amazon are a boon for book lovers. We get the books priced at huge discounts, and cheaper than that of book stores. And ordering is quite easy and fast, though it doesn’t equate to the happiness of flipping through the pages and smelling them. The Immortals of Meluha was such a steal. Having read already Ashwin Sanghi, now the remaining one among the popular is Devadutt Patnaik, which will be added to my reading list soon.

The first of the trilogy series by Amish Tripathi, The Immortals of Meluha, is a gripping book from start to finish. The book mainly depicts the enmity and war between two neighbouring countries, Meluha and Swadeep ruled by Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis respectively. The main protagonist is the Shiva, a Tibetan tribe leader, who is considered as the Neelkanth, the destroyer of evil, by the Suryavanshis. The whole story moves forward with his transformation and acceptance of himself as the “Mahadev”, the God of Gods, though the love story of Shiva and Sati also covers a huge portion of it.

The terrorist attacks by Nagas, and the behaviour of the two opposing countries, reminds me of the present state India and Pakistan. The role of Sati and her equal presence in the whole journey of Shiva symbolises the power of women, but it would be more appreciated, if instead of just a single woman, they were uplifted as whole. The character of Daksha is commendable, with a slight selfish trait, as part of being a regular human being. The recurring tormented thoughts of Shiva with himself and his past also makes us eager to know more. Not much was explored about the intention or history of Nagas and why the terrorist attacks happened, though I expect it to be covered in the next book of the series, “The Secret of Nagas“.

In short, there are many leads or related stories which become loose ends and are not at all explained enough to help the reader draw conclusions of his own. It would have been better to quench the thirst first and then tempt for more, rather than spilling few drops here and there. It’s the only thing I disliked; the book doesn’t end properly, which is against my expectations. A proper closure is required even if its temporary and doesn’t answer the questions and completes the links formed in your mind. Maybe the author was trying it as a new experiment which did not go well with me.

The war descriptions and description of fights gives a complete picture and the pace is apt, not so fast, and not so slow. There is a map given on the book cover, which helps us to understand clearly, the directions and locations of the places mentioned in the book. There are many power packed statements which are also quite philosophical.

“His burden didn’t feel any lighter. but he felt strong enough to carry it”.

“There are many realities. There are many versions of what may appear obvious. Whatever appears as the unshakeable truth, its exact opposite may also be true in another context. After all, one’s reality is but perception, viewed through various prisms of context.”

Towards the end, the questions related to karma and the motive of life, the differentiation between good and evil is beautifully portrayed in the form of conversations. The serene effect of temples, and its spiritual aspects have a soothing effect for the reader’s mind.

All in all, a good start to the trilogy, tempting the reader to grab the next book, addictive as in a TV serial or a movie thriller.

Rating: 4/5