Book Review : The Immortals of Meluha (By Amish Tripathi)

        The book The Immortals of Meluha is the first part of the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi. It is a fictional novel which connects its roots to Indian mythology. The plot of the story takes us in the ancient India during the Indus valley civilization. It depicts a tale of the good and the evil. The civilization in the land of the seven rivers or 'the Sapt-Sindhu' as they mention it is majorly divided into two empires. The people are thus classified as 'the Suryavanshis' and 'the Chandravanshis' according to their empires. Both the empires  have constant conflicts and clashes among themselves and consider each other as the evil. The empires believe in the legend of 'the Neelkanth' a man with a blue throat, who will eventually appear when the evil has risen and destroy it. Both the empires believe in him as their saviour and are highly devoted towards him. This book depicts the perception of Shiva, his journey of finding the evil and the efforts he takes to live up to the legend.

       What amazes every reader is the world building of this book. The plot is described in such a detailed manner that it makes the reader believe in it. It makes the reader fascinate and appreciate the rules, history, culture, people, structure, moral and ethics of the land created by the author. The author has been diligent in explaining why certain things happen in the empire and thus encoding a puzzle in the reader's mind. The cities are meticulously described focusing on its structure, government, people and their way of living, culture and its grandeur.

       The story is very intriguing and develops a mystery with each chapter. All the characters have a strong foundation and their emotions are described effectively. The story is slow and detailed yet fast paced and action packed. The language is lucid and way of writing develops a feeling of interest.