Review of The Immortals of Meluha

Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post. It had been a long time since I had read any fiction books and the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi caught my eye. I decided to get the first book as when I read the first few pages of it in the store I knew that this was going to be worth it. SPOILER WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The story is fiction backed up by facts. The story follows Shiva the chief of his tribe the Gunas living his life in Mount Kailash which is not luxurious but sustainable. He is visited by Nandi who hails from Meluha and wants to offer them shelter in Meluha providing them with better means of living and jobs to work. Shiva decides to take up the offer and travels to Meluha remembering his uncle’s words ‘Your destiny is greater than these mountains but in order to achieve it you will have to cross these very same mountains’. On their first night there Shiva’s family is given the Somras ‘The Drink of the Gods’ and they fall ill. Shiva’s body however starts healing a thing that the Somras should not have been able to do. Shiva feels his throat go cold and is asked by the head doctor Auryvati to take a bath and change into other clothes but when Auryvati sees what is causing Shiva’s throat to go cold she understands that a saviour has descended and that Shiva is not any ordinary immigrant. Shiva is addressed as the lord by any Meluhan who sees his blue throat and gains an audience with the Emperor and without his knowledge saves the princess from a Naga attack. Shiva falls in love with Sati the princess and tries his best to impress her despite seeing it clearly that they cannot be together. The story progresses with Shiva gaining a deeper understanding of Meluhan culture and where he fits in it.

Gradually Shiva learns about his place as a Neelkanth and is at first reluctant to accept it due to past trauma but later embraces it and decides to lead the people of Meluha while some people respect Shiva for just being the Neelkanth some people Shiva needs to prove himself to and gradually he also accepts himself as a Mahadev. He learns the ways of Lord Ram and his deeds and how he as the Neelkanth needs to destroy the greatest evil. He meets the Vasudevs and learns more about the world of Meluha and most importantly his role and becomes wiser. The best quote from this book was : ‘The deeds of a person do not earn him a title but he must do deeds because he has a title.’

The books description of Meluha and all other places is so deep. I could almost imagine the city and its people in front of me. The book also has humor at some points which is a nice release from all the action. The book does not make Shiva an immortal God but a normal human who has the skills necessary for the task at hand. Shiva’s swordsmanship and fighting skills come from his time as a chief of his clan. Shiva is also a genius strategist which is shown in many instances. He is observant and likes a challenge. The Nagas are very cleverly introduced and made a part of the story an important one that too. There are also illustrations given in the book to help better understand some images though through Amish’s description you can already get a clear picture. Sati is also shown as a true warrior Suryavanshi and not like a Damsel in distress.

The way in which Amish connects the real legend to this piece of fiction is amazing he makes sure that all the character are included and not one is left out. The character of Nandi was one which was so brilliantly put in while also keeping the legend intact. I had severe doubts as to how other characters would be introduced but turns out I had nothing to fear. What separates this book from the dozens of others which popped up after Amish’s book hit the shelves is that he makes sure that he can put in as much of the legend as possible and introduce new elements of his own and making sure there are no inconsistencies in the story.

The book is not just fiction the philosophy is also deep though it sometimes does not make sense. Amish establishes a timeline and sticks to it not changing facts establishes in the past books. The philosophy is also great playing with basic knowledge which really gets you into thinking mode for example when asked about a colour of a leaf and being told the principals of light reflecting Shiva is asked whether the leaf is green or every colour but green. Thus teaching him a lesson that all is not as it looks. This really got me thinking and I was impressed by this clever play. I always looked forward to conversations between The Vasudevs and Shiva because their talk provide a different kind of pace a break from the usual pace.

The first book is really all about getting us used to the characters and making sure we know all the teachings and legends as Shiva for if you look at it we are indirectly an outside like Shiva who learns the customs and culture of Meluha. The ending is a cliff-hanger after which I immediately ran to the store to get the other 2 books. I knew I needed to finish the books no matter what. The book is overall a must read is you love fiction or are just a newbie reader. I will post the reviews of the next 2 books later.

So that is it for this post guys hope you got some value from this. Thank you guys for reading to the end hit me up on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn with your thoughts and if you have any ideas which I should write about. Thank you again and I’ll see you all next week.