Scion of Ikshvaku : Amish Tripathi

Amish Tripathi is famous for his book Shiva Trilogy in which he has given a new way of retelling mythology. Scion of Ikshvaku is the first book in the Ram Chandra Series which can be seen a prelude to Shiva Trilogy as both of the series are drawn in the same world and we can see the root of ideologies and way of living of Meluha people is coming from this series.

In this book Amish has told the story with Ram as the main protagonist. In other books of the same series, the protagonist has been changed from Sita to Ravaan. The story begins with the birth of Ram which also marks the defeat of undefeated Dashrath in a war with Ravaan for which the newborn is blamed. The story progresses how Ram got his education along with brothers and develop a character under the care of his guru Vashistha. The story highlights the great comradeship among the brothers even though their mother is divided among themselves due to their political ambitions. And with the course of events Ram met Sita and won her hand in swayamwar. However to save the people of Mithila from Ravaan, Ram has to break a law of Lord Rudra for which he is banished from his state for 14 years. Bharat becomes the reagent king and Ram along with Sita and Lakshman went for vanvaas where Sita was abducted by Ravaan. The story is left on this point to be continued in other books of the series.

So, as one can see that even though the plot of the book is same as the Ramayana, Amish has taken his creative liberties and has really added a new flavor to the story. So, if you are a big fan of Ramayana and like the stories as it is I would urge you to read this book with an open mind. There are lot of philosophical and political discussions in the book which might be heavy for few. Although the story is fast moving I still fell that some parts of story is stretched and was not needed especially the story of Roshni seems a little bit forced in the plot. All in all the book has failed to create the magic of Shiva trilogy. However I have read great reviews about the second book of the series told from Sita’s perspective, so I am still hopeful for the series.