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Sons Of Sita (2000)

by Ashok K. Banker(Favorite Author)

3.45 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

AKB

series

Ramayana

review 1: I had assumed this one to be a part of the Ramayana series, even though the title says Sons of Sita. I was expecting to see more of Rama, of understanding what he went through after exiling Sita. But Banker does not write emotional dramas. It maybe part of the overall story, but now that I think of it, war scenes have dominated all his earlier books in the series. Only, since most of the wars were familiar to me at least in intent if not content, it caused no occasion to remark on it. But the Uttarakhanda is always shown as a period of crying and pining. Not so Sons of Sita. This one is also all about war.Rama does not come out in good light. To some, it may not be surprising. But I am referring to the context here. Ram Rajya has always been the model that Indians want emu... morelated, but in Sons of Sita, it borders on to despotism - Adharma even. I cannot relate to this Rama who, in fact, does not make a direct appearance till page 88, and that too, in a bizarre scene where Bharata and Shatrughna are brought before him as prisoners, where Lakshmana and Hanuman seem distant figures with no influence on the man they fought shoulder-to-shoulder with. After having been a hero for six books or so, he is but a shadowy figure here, completely under the influence of two tyrannical ministers of whose rising influence, there is no explanation. No, Rama's character does not sit well because it is not in keeping with the character we have read so far in Banker's Ramayana series. Also, the characters around Rama still talk of him well even when acknowledging that Ayodhya had become unlivable!Then there is the conspiracy that is not cleared fully. What is the role of the King's Guards? Why did they go on a killing spree without provocation? You can only guess at the purpose, but it seems contrived.Also, characters who were in the periphery suddenly become central figures but hardly contribute to getting a clearer picture of the story.What redeems the book are the depiction of the war scenes, the gripping story telling, the intrigue that holds promise and the end (though an unexplained element of fantasy is weaved into this tale. And, maybe, the hope that we would understand a little more of this hardened Rama. But that hope is dashed in the end.
review 2: The final book in Ashok Banker's Ramayana series. It is also the concluding part of the Uttara Kaanda, and is set a decade after Rama banished Sita. Luv and Kush, her sons, grow up in the hermitage of Valmiki, and from the first page, set out, unwittingly, on a collision course with their father. The author departs from the various versions I have read and puts a new spin on the events leading to the family reunion. I can't be sure, but it would seem as though Banker's version of Ayodhya is modeled after a superpower, complete with a political group called Republicans! Its acts of aggression, citing necessities that would seem selfish to an objective viewer, are easily comparable to what the US has been doing. Rama is portrayed as a king who takes on the mantle of an emperor on advice from a set of people motivated by their own vested interests. His relationship with his brothers has moved away from one of affection to more between that of a monarch and his vassals. While all of this sets up the book very well, I found the narrative pace very inconsistent. At some points, Banker would describe the entire forest ecosystem from grass to humans, quite obviously in love with his own prose, and in other sections, he would set an excellent pace. The explanation for the change in Rama's character also seemed very sketchy to me. I can't be sure but I think Banker has also gone a bit overboard in making the language used by Luv-Kush a little too familiar and close to modern day parlance. Not the great Amish levels, but an influence - quite likely! Having read the entire series, I'd say that I found the first few a great effort. The author then seemed to get into a churn-out-a-zillion books mission, which took a lot away from the narrative flow as well as being true to what is largely considered the original version. This book itself is some sort of connection to four more that have been mentioned in the Afterword. While all that is the author's prerogative, the hopes I had - for a set of books that would do justice to the mythology I'm familiar with - didn't really work out, and that's a bit sad. less

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