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priyanka_23's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really love reading various retellings of ramayanam I find it interesting how the stories may have changed and I love the new twists and turns they add to the story.
This book was a fun read. I found the beginning a bit annoying because of the various time skips I still don't understand the point of doing that. The main thing I loved in this book is they gave us so much information about about the state of Ayodhya l knew the financial condition was bad and this goes deep into those topics. I also found Ram's job in the city to maintain peace and the efforts he made was interesting.
I loved the dynamic between Ram and Lakshman also the cute moments of Ram when he met Sita ❤️. Bharat is a character I never gave much attention but after reading this book I appreciate his character so much more.
I think we should not compare this book so much to the real source and enjoy it on its own. The author did great job of comparing the situations in real life to tackle situations in society today.
In the end it was a great read I cannot wait to start the next book in the series.
This book was a fun read. I found the beginning a bit annoying because of the various time skips I still don't understand the point of doing that. The main thing I loved in this book is they gave us so much information about about the state of Ayodhya l knew the financial condition was bad and this goes deep into those topics. I also found Ram's job in the city to maintain peace and the efforts he made was interesting.
I loved the dynamic between Ram and Lakshman also the cute moments of Ram when he met Sita ❤️. Bharat is a character I never gave much attention but after reading this book I appreciate his character so much more.
I think we should not compare this book so much to the real source and enjoy it on its own. The author did great job of comparing the situations in real life to tackle situations in society today.
In the end it was a great read I cannot wait to start the next book in the series.
avengersing's review against another edition
5.0
A retelling of Ramayana. Most of all are true, but I just couldn't believe after reading how could all this is not true, every part feels so real and alive. That I now think that this is the real Ramayana that was written by Maharishi Valmiki Ji. MUST READ!
srachit's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
akki's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
caprico4's review against another edition
3.0
Amish Tripathi’s long awaited second mythological Saga’s first book, “Scion of Iksvaku”, my two cents: While I did enjoy reading it, the narrative was too similar to the Shiva trilogy, an unlikely hero on a quest to realize his destiny via explicit knowledge of a self-fulfilling prophecy, the knowledge of the prophecy making it true. The themes are almost the same, relativity of good and evil, decedent societies, flaws of ideal societies, moral ambiguity, strong female characters, characters who we thought were evil turn out to be good, etc.
The fantasy world-building, though not as extensive and comprehensive as that of Tolkein, George RR Marting or even JK Rowling, is enjoyable and believable. Now that Amish has a hit series under his belt with a strong following, he could have taken more liberties with length of the book with spending equal amount of words on weaving the world and building the characters as he spent on philosophical expositions, which at times sound a wee bit patronizing and outright boring at some places mostly because all of them make the same point. Also it was hard for me to imagine Laksman saying “take a hike” without picturing a 50s New York Italian in a silk suite and olive oil hair, there are a lot of places where the dialogue is just too contemporary for my liking. Some food descriptions would have also been nice.
Despite these nitpicks, it’s a compelling read if you can fast-read through the philosophical lectures, it keeps you turning pages and curious about the fate of the protagonist and his entourage and the end is a nice cliff-hanger, similar to The Immortals of Meluha (which was much more exciting read as it was the first time we were reading about this world). I loved the introduction of Sita, some very well written descriptive narration there. If you have loved the Shiva trilogy (as I have) then getting a copy of this title is a no-brainer.
The fantasy world-building, though not as extensive and comprehensive as that of Tolkein, George RR Marting or even JK Rowling, is enjoyable and believable. Now that Amish has a hit series under his belt with a strong following, he could have taken more liberties with length of the book with spending equal amount of words on weaving the world and building the characters as he spent on philosophical expositions, which at times sound a wee bit patronizing and outright boring at some places mostly because all of them make the same point. Also it was hard for me to imagine Laksman saying “take a hike” without picturing a 50s New York Italian in a silk suite and olive oil hair, there are a lot of places where the dialogue is just too contemporary for my liking. Some food descriptions would have also been nice.
Despite these nitpicks, it’s a compelling read if you can fast-read through the philosophical lectures, it keeps you turning pages and curious about the fate of the protagonist and his entourage and the end is a nice cliff-hanger, similar to The Immortals of Meluha (which was much more exciting read as it was the first time we were reading about this world). I loved the introduction of Sita, some very well written descriptive narration there. If you have loved the Shiva trilogy (as I have) then getting a copy of this title is a no-brainer.
sriramreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
pin2desai's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first review.
This is first book in RAM CHANDRA series.The world building is amazing.I like small references made through out the book.
Unfortunately what I don't like about this book or Amish writing in general is that he reveals too much.I mean one can predict what is going to happen.Yes, you will say that everyone knows the story but sometimes keeping readers in dark is good too.When author catches me off-guard i like that feeling.Characters feel similar to Siva trilogy and I guess they will develop further in second and third book.But this book felt bland and predictable.
I will end this review with my favorite quote from this book
'An ancient poet once remarked"when the axe entered the forest,the tree said to each other:do not worry,the handle in that axe is one of us"
This is first book in RAM CHANDRA series.The world building is amazing.I like small references made through out the book.
Unfortunately what I don't like about this book or Amish writing in general is that he reveals too much.I mean one can predict what is going to happen.Yes, you will say that everyone knows the story but sometimes keeping readers in dark is good too.When author catches me off-guard i like that feeling.Characters feel similar to Siva trilogy and I guess they will develop further in second and third book.But this book felt bland and predictable.
I will end this review with my favorite quote from this book
'An ancient poet once remarked"when the axe entered the forest,the tree said to each other:do not worry,the handle in that axe is one of us"
revathi's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
eltorothedeep's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good retelling of the classic, but not as captivating as the first book of the Shiva series. Hope the next ones are better.