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Govinda (2012)

by Krishna Udayasankar(Favorite Author)

3.17 of 5 Votes: 14

ISBN

9350094460 (ISBN13: 9789350094464)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Hachette India

series

The Aryavarta Chronicles

review 1: This is one well written page turner amongst the recent spate of mythology potboilers.Although the author has taken her own turn on events, she has taken pains to build depth in a few key characters. I really like Shikhandin'S characterization, the Govinda-Panchali angle, and the way she is portrayed. It is interesting that all Pandavas are shown to be puppets- Yudhishtir a 3D puppet, all others unidimentional puppets.The only potential logical fallacy bothering me is the way Yudhishthira claims Draupadi -despite her usual extensive research into this book, the author seems to have forgotten about the Hidimba-Bhim wedding which happened even before Draupadi entered the lives of Pandavas. She should address that angle in a future book.
review 2: I took me somet... moreime to make up my mind about this book. And I have given it two stars only because I think the author has a strong command over her language and style of writing. The descriptive verses in this book brings forth the beautiful depiction of vedic India.The plot is intriguing but somehow it failed to capture my interest. The only thing that fascinated me in this book was Yudhistra's admission to Draupadi that Duryodhana and his brothers were probably the rightful heirs of Kuru empire. This he admits because he knew that he and his brothers were no relation to Pandu as they were conceived through Niyoga. This could account for the complacent nature of Yudhistra and explain why he bowed down to his uncle's wishes all the time. And it also explains why the majority of Kings in Aryavarta at that time, allied with Duryodhana against the Pandavas.Krishna wields the political baton trying to forge alliances and strengthen the arms of his cousins to counter Jarasandha's threat. And I was shocked to read that Rukmini was kidnapped by Pradyumna. Wasn't Rukmini the wife of Krishna and Pradyumna her son. (or did I read it wrong?) As far as I know, Krishna's dynasty is well documented in Bhagavatha Purana so much so that there is no confusion as to who his son, grandson or great grandson is for that matter. So why play around with it for no purpose? Overall I think you could give this a miss unless you are keen to read another fantasy read about Mahabharata. less

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