Scion of Ikshvaku: Ram Chandra Series, Book 1

As always, Amish has done a brilliant job in explaining the beautiful intricacies of the ancient world by logically explaining why Ram and Sita did what they did.Its an amazing journey for anyone reading with a calm mind without taking in any offense. Although at some times, it feels like Amish is trying to force the current world views to try and logically explain certain parts, they are definitely vindicated by the fact that he is only interpreting his version of ramayana. For all we know, Valmiki was only an author who interpreted his version of the true story to us.It is a piece of literary art and can be considered puttng up as our version of Ramayana instead of the old one.

The book was a good read as such but Amish could have avoided modifying historical events only for the purpose of creating an impact. For instance, replacing the plot of Sita’s Swayamvara with Arjun’s feat of shooting the Fish’s eye in Mahabharata was totally not needed. Even if he had stuck to the original plot of Ram breaking the bow, it won’t have made the story any less interesting. On the contrary, it might have made it better. One of the best things about Amish’s Shiva trilogy was that he had explained otherwise complicated and mythological events quite rationally without modifying key events from ancient history. I found that brilliance missing in this book.

​To the read​​er, the key USP of Fantasy books is to be able to visualize the author's word painting. As an author you get unbridled freedom to paint a landscape that is beyond even the wildest possible dreams. The promise of a trip to one's own wonderland is what makes people like me a sucker for fantasy genre.Amish Tripathy found the success formula in rewriting Indian mythology using a completely different set of ingredients. Humaneness, rationale, logic and a healthy dose of masala. That's what made his flawed Shiva trilogy immensely readable and that works with the SoI too.Amish maintains the narrative style and builds on some basic concepts that he had laid out in the Meluha series, such as Nagas and Vayuputras.Amish's strong points are his dialogues between his characters. They are natural and so is the language. It does not look artificial (i'm looking at you Ravi Subramaniam of the Banker series). That said, there are some spots where it does look artificial. Say when Rama or Dasaratha says 'touche' and you go 'eh'? While one could argue that if the reader finds it acceptable that the characters can converse in English, whats wrong with a french word here and there? To them, I say, well, it didn't work for me.The strong point of Amish's books are his basic principles of justice, fairness et al that get debated well and the harry poterrisque humaneness of his lead characters. In a typical potterish fashion everyone around the main character seems to be more knowledgeable and powerful than the lead. The leads strong points are his justice, fairness, decision-making skills and inspiring leadership. This is what clicks in this book too.The biggest flaw of the book is the narration itself. It seems hurried.When you have decided to rewrite the story of Rama and that too as a multi book series, one should do a thorough job of it, at least that of the key events in the book. That's one area where Amish fails and noticeably. He has totally skimped on the relationship development between Rama and Sita. As a result, the reader is not able to empathize with the chemistry between the two key characters. Their relationship turns out to be devoid of any romance or chemistry. Which is a real disappointment. This is one area where poets have relished and authors have enjoyed scripting to their own imaginations and yet Amish totally gives it a pass as though he is in a hurry to get somewhere else. Just to imagine how much pauranikas explain the single verse 'அண்ண்ணும் நொக்கினார் அவளும் நொக்கினாள்',Its sad that the author has missed such a plum opportunity.Same goes with a number of such other developments pertaining to key characters. Dasaratha's death gets mentioned as a side news and in one line. Its again disappointing.In Meluha he missed on painting a landscape of how Meluha looks. Here he does a little better with Ayodhya, just a little.The magic of Amish's book is that it works despite its noticeable flaws. Thats what will make me buy his second, third and other books of hisOne last note, you must know the base Ramayana to read this book and dont read this book if you hold Rama and co too close to your heart as gods and will be offended at libertarian characterizations.

This is a fascinating reimagination of the Ramayan. Beautiful work. Amish is so respectful of the story as he blends it with the Universe created in the Shiva trilogy.

2 instances where author tries to make it more populistic...1. the brutal end of roshni which reminds of nirbhaya case and wishful end that every common man on street wantedThe second instance is of sita's swayamvar...Amish has already used Draupadi story from mahabharat so i wonder when he writes mahabharat, how will the draupadi story come through...overall, a good read...it's still not meluha level but good to read..

This a very well written mythological/historical fiction. Amish has done a wonderful job of presenting the entire mythological story in a modern way. The war sequences are thrilling and are as good as his previous books. I wish he could have explored a little more nuances of Ramayana such as the time at gurukul, the wedding, the abduction of Sita, etc.

Easy read- definitely got me interested to buy the next one. But not as intriguing as Shiva as of now

Notwithstanding the contemporary politics that has been embedded into the book rather crudely, the story is still delightful and leaves you in awe of the Scion of Ikshvaku, Prabhu Shri Ram.

O livro é bastante divertido. Pra quem já leu a primeira trilogia ( Shiva's Trilogy ) algumas passagens são repetitivas mas são bem poucas por isso vale a pena.

Having read the Shiva trilogy, I was hoping for a good fictional read. This book, Ram-Scion if Ikshvaku is nothing but a big disappointment.Neither the imaginative story of Ram nor the way it has been written makes it for an interesting read.

First & foremost I've to mention that my review is going to be long. Now now, don't get upset because the things I'm going to mention in detail is definitely gonna help the readers attain perfection, salvation & seek resolution. One thing that comes to my mind after finishing this book is Lord 'Rama'.Jai Shri RamDashrath nandanThe will definitely turn out to be a great movie. Trust me on this, very few books resonate with the experience with gives you a feeling that lingers in your throat & mind the moment you reach midway across the book.I felt the same way while reading this. Though a fiction, there have been lots of traces that leads to stark reality accompanied with deep research & explanations.The way it has been written & the climax which gives a feeling that, the story will make a refined series will undoubtedly touch your hearts.Moreover, the humor content adds exuberance to the overall book.Cover is enthralling. It's beautiful, refined & well defined with the plot at hand. I've read both the editions, old & new one & trust me it was worth it. The trident picturesque clearly explains the fantasy & dream aspects that are going to be presented in the book. The way Lord ram carries his bow & shots an arrow is worth watching. The fathom less war & battle cry depicted is just amazing. The soft touch adds another feather to the cap.At first, the title maynot sound appealing to the ears, but trust me folks never judge a book by its title. Just like the folklore goes, 'never judge a book by its cover.'The similarity goes undefined in this context as well.The title goes in apt with the story in hand, well defined with the story written in detail, the explanations given across every segment of the book. Even the minutest detail has been explained with the figment of imagination satiating the curiosity of the readers goes in par excellence of the mature writing exhibited in this book.Theme consists of gameplay, politics, mystery, suspense, copious amount of humour, change in society, friendship, love, happiness, joy, sadness, war, suffering, humanity, gods, angels, demons, mystical weapons, universal power all inhibited with many other aspects making this book a complete surprise to the new readers.Story consists of a couple of warriors along with a traction who's none other than the avatar of vishnu who wishes to bring change to the society via waging a full scale war. Fate brought them under strange circumstances when never in their wildest dreams they decided to opt for politics or lust for kingdom . The fate of the humanity rests upon their hands. However, reason being the same the never-ending zeel to bring happiness to others, freeing them from the clutches of evil.Little did they knew their lives are gonna change because they've been living in an illusion. Because things are not always what we perceive themselves to be. What came next was beyond their feeble imagination.The book talks about a mysterious mystical epic war. A battle between angels & demons, God & Satan himself, good versus evil, heaven versus hell and so on.All in the pretext of a common goal to be achieved at a set duration of time. The game may very well change the fate of the world, as it lies in the mere pawns of the game created by nature itself. The embodiment & manifestation of weapons talked about is what makes it all the more interesting to read!Language is excellent. The choice of words, vocabulary selected in contemporary & in conjunction with the setting. Some touches of American, Britain accent has been retained in some places.Next comes narration, now here I'm succumbed to loss of words. No words can define the amount of depth, perseverance, research, patience has been entailed in this book that compels the readers to go to the very end to know what happens. The plethora of pain that has been taken to narrate such long epic tale is riveting, retelling & making the readers realise the true meaning of life is worth commending upon. No less that I expect from a debut book to make such an impression & leave such foretelling remark on the mind & soul.The story of Lord Ram is absolutely amazing.If you're a fiction lover, sci-fi reader, one who loves being an mythological adventures, watches ramayana then you're simply in for a treat of a lifetime.Procrastination of the sequel is a sheer torture.It is a sheer pain to be kept waiting for the next one!The writer should be tortured and jailed for keeping the readers waiting for second part.The anticlimactic ending was well anticipated for a sequel to come in the distant future.Just go for it!

Amazing novel, delivered on time in great quality. Really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend this series.