This book has been praised over and over by the people around me. I am a big fan of Indian mythology and I love reading about Maha-Bharatha and Ramayana. So, when someone told me about the plot of this book, I felt like grabbing it right away. The journey of Shiva, born as a human, turning into a God, on the basis of his Karma, sounded extremely intriguing to me. It was also a big decision as this book is the first one in the Shiva Trilogy series, so finishing a series was equally important. What are my final thoughts on the book? Amazing plot! Disappointing content!
Let’s get to the good part first. The author, Amish Tripathi, came up with this fantastic concept and promised to take us on a mythological journey of Shiva, which he succeeds to a certain extent. The story does build up a suspense and the overall theme is commendable. The relationship between Shiva and Sati seemed shallow at first but later develops into a sweet bond. And yes, there is always the question of: what exactly is evil? So that kept me on my toes for a while.
On the other hand, the author fails to make a strong impact with his writing alone. As I kept reading, chapter after chapter, it was clear to me that the characters in the book seem superficial, lacking substance. I couldn’t feel what they felt with the same intensity that was demanded from the readers. The work felt more of an amateur writer and there was no depth to any of the characters whatsoever.
Shiva is considered to be the ultimate destroyer of evil by the people of Meluha, but the blind faith of the people in him is irksome. Once they find out that he is the Neelkanth, they blindly start following him. If an author uses modern language to describe an ancient era, it helps the readers to connect with the story better, unfortunately in this case, the author seems to have overdone it. I do not mind the use of the words ‘dammit’ and ‘bloody’ but how many times am I supposed to encounter them in the book? It would be a fun game to count the number of swear words used by the author, because they are plenty and unnecessary.
The conversations that take place between characters seem cheesy, at times. There are a few jokes in the book that are supposed to make you laugh, but they don’t. The jokes are terrible and just not-funny. The author’s sense of humor is so flat that I wanted to pull my hair out.
In the last few chapters, the author has tried to build up the suspense even more and it is supposed to make you grab the second book as soon as you finish the first one. This was not the case for me. I stopped caring about the story altogether. It shows how bad the writing is when even a to-be-continued at the end fails to impress.
Honestly, I could see so much potential in this book and only took up reading this one because I thought it would blow my mind. I do not have the courage to read the other books in the series. I might do that someday when I have enough time to waste or have the courage to do so. If I ever do, you will know. It is apt only for beginners who will love the simplicity of the language. For all other avid readers, read this at your own risk. You will either love it or hate it!
RATING: 2/5
(Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are strictly my own and in no way influenced.)
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