The Immortals of Meluha
Summary:
The Immortals of Meluha is the first book of the 'Shiva Trilogy' by Amish Tripathi. What makes this book, and the following two, a good read is the simplicity of language and an easy and racy narrative style. The plot hardly ever slows down enough for the reader to lose interest as one event leads to another. Though the other two books are still to follow, the first book has shown enough promise to attract readers from all walks of life.The story unfolds the odyssey of a person called Shiva. He is like a clan leader, a patriarch, to be more specific, who came down from his home territory (i.e somewhere in Tibet) to Meluha (Somewhere in Sindh) in search of safety and shelter. Shiva, had to abandon his native place as it was frequently attacked by neighboring ethnic groups. Here for the first time we meet Nandi, who according to legends is a close follower of lord Shiva; but, here he has a different identity. He was an outsider who came from Meluha and offered Shiva a safe passage to their land. Shiva accepted it only to save his men and women from the barbarians. Shiva's arrival in Meluha started his journey of becoming Neelkanth - or the man with 'blue throat'. Shiva’s throat turned azure as soon as he drank Somras – a very famous bacchanalian energy drink. The Meluhans who call themselves Suryavanshi (a clan that follows Solar calendar), were a staunch believer in the Neelkantha legends and they believed that he would lead them to triumph over the Evil of Chandravanshi ( a clan that follows lunar calendar). Shiva, without knowing the implications of such a forced title and the honor attached to it, took the occurrence as a mere accident. But he was gleefully accepted by the king Daksha and his prime minister. Only his lieutenant, Parvatraj, had doubts. The lieutenant was a follower of Lord Rama, the virtous king and the law-giver, and was not ready to accept the supremacy of an outsider, taken for granted only because he had had a blue throat. Fair call! The drama in the story takes new twist with the introduction of Sati - the name which reflects divinity in its female form. Sati is the daughter of king Daksha which truly has a mythical base. On the other hand, she is the god-daughter of lieutenant Parvatraj and legend says that Sati is often called Parvati as she is a descendant of parvatraaj Himalaya. The romance of Shiva-Sati and their marriage serves the subplot where the main plot revolves round the battle between two kingdoms. The terrorist strikes by the ferocious Nagas also add new dimension to the buildup suspense.
Info:
Tripathi had initially decided to write a book on the philosophy of evil, but was dissuaded by his family members, so he decided to write a book on Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods. He decided to base his story on a radical idea that all Gods were once human beings; it was their deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods. After finishing writing The Immortals of Meluha, Tripathi faced rejection from many publication houses. Ultimately when his agent decided to publish the book himself, Tripathi embarked on a promotional campaign. It included posting a live-action video on YouTube, and making the first chapter of the book available as a free digital download, to entice readers.
Ultimately, when the book was published in February 2010, it went on to become a huge commercial success. It had to be reprinted a number of times to keep up with the demand. Tripathi even changed his publisher and hosted a big launch for the book in Delhi. It was critically appreciated by some Indian reviewers, others noted that Tripathi's writing tended to lose focus at some parts of the story. With the launch of the third installment, titled The Oath of the Vayuputras, on February 2013, the Shiva Trilogy has become the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing, with two million copies in print and over INR50 crore (US$8.3 million) in sales.
Summary:
The Immortals of Meluha is the first book of the 'Shiva Trilogy' by Amish Tripathi. What makes this book, and the following two, a good read is the simplicity of language and an easy and racy narrative style. The plot hardly ever slows down enough for the reader to lose interest as one event leads to another. Though the other two books are still to follow, the first book has shown enough promise to attract readers from all walks of life.The story unfolds the odyssey of a person called Shiva. He is like a clan leader, a patriarch, to be more specific, who came down from his home territory (i.e somewhere in Tibet) to Meluha (Somewhere in Sindh) in search of safety and shelter. Shiva, had to abandon his native place as it was frequently attacked by neighboring ethnic groups. Here for the first time we meet Nandi, who according to legends is a close follower of lord Shiva; but, here he has a different identity. He was an outsider who came from Meluha and offered Shiva a safe passage to their land. Shiva accepted it only to save his men and women from the barbarians. Shiva's arrival in Meluha started his journey of becoming Neelkanth - or the man with 'blue throat'. Shiva’s throat turned azure as soon as he drank Somras – a very famous bacchanalian energy drink. The Meluhans who call themselves Suryavanshi (a clan that follows Solar calendar), were a staunch believer in the Neelkantha legends and they believed that he would lead them to triumph over the Evil of Chandravanshi ( a clan that follows lunar calendar). Shiva, without knowing the implications of such a forced title and the honor attached to it, took the occurrence as a mere accident. But he was gleefully accepted by the king Daksha and his prime minister. Only his lieutenant, Parvatraj, had doubts. The lieutenant was a follower of Lord Rama, the virtous king and the law-giver, and was not ready to accept the supremacy of an outsider, taken for granted only because he had had a blue throat. Fair call! The drama in the story takes new twist with the introduction of Sati - the name which reflects divinity in its female form. Sati is the daughter of king Daksha which truly has a mythical base. On the other hand, she is the god-daughter of lieutenant Parvatraj and legend says that Sati is often called Parvati as she is a descendant of parvatraaj Himalaya. The romance of Shiva-Sati and their marriage serves the subplot where the main plot revolves round the battle between two kingdoms. The terrorist strikes by the ferocious Nagas also add new dimension to the buildup suspense.
Info:
Tripathi had initially decided to write a book on the philosophy of evil, but was dissuaded by his family members, so he decided to write a book on Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods. He decided to base his story on a radical idea that all Gods were once human beings; it was their deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods. After finishing writing The Immortals of Meluha, Tripathi faced rejection from many publication houses. Ultimately when his agent decided to publish the book himself, Tripathi embarked on a promotional campaign. It included posting a live-action video on YouTube, and making the first chapter of the book available as a free digital download, to entice readers.
Ultimately, when the book was published in February 2010, it went on to become a huge commercial success. It had to be reprinted a number of times to keep up with the demand. Tripathi even changed his publisher and hosted a big launch for the book in Delhi. It was critically appreciated by some Indian reviewers, others noted that Tripathi's writing tended to lose focus at some parts of the story. With the launch of the third installment, titled The Oath of the Vayuputras, on February 2013, the Shiva Trilogy has become the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing, with two million copies in print and over INR50 crore (US$8.3 million) in sales.
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