I recently finished reading - The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish Tripathi. I have read the earlier 2 books - The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of the Nagas and was eagerly awaiting the release of the last book in the series. However, this last book has left me feeling quite disappointed.
Trying to put up my views about the book with as little spoilers as possible:-
The Oath of the Vayuputras is written in a simple manner so you can really concentrate whole and soul on the main story. The story is longer in this last part with many things happening but it drags after a point in time. It all becomes predictable. The entire series is based on mythology but the last book weaves in too many things from the Ahura Mazda to the set up of a Tibetan monastery with the secrets of the somras. I mean give me a break!
Then, there is the amazingly stupid Sati - who must feel guilty for the death of soldiers who did not follow her orders in the first place and got themselves and their friends killed. The way Sati dies in the book is quite different from the life of Sati and Shiv and there is no mention of Parvati at all anywhere in the book. Actually the book is quite a good read till the time Vidyunmalli escapes. It is this particular event that changes the entire book for me. From here onwards, all I see are implausible explanations. The biggest blow is dealt when Shiva succumbs to anger and uses pashupati astra. The entire series builds the character of Shiva from a person who is just a simple human being to a person who is a living God and, with one fall from grace, the entire character is destroyed.
There is no future, he is just an old ageing man later. What's the point of it all? Wasn't the focus of the story to show how any man can be akin to God if he follows the right principles, or was it to depict a tragic love story where vengeance is the driving force for each and every action?
Coming to the title of the book, I have absolutely no idea why its called - The Oath of the Vayuputras. There is a miniscule section on the vayuputras, and his uncle and why Shiva was timed perfectly to be the Neelkanth. So, unlike the other parts in the series, this book doesn't really go with the title.
Overall, I am quite disappointed with the book and somehow I didn't get the kind of closure I expected with this series :(
Additional Details:-
- Price: 350 INR
- Pages: 600
- Publisher: Westland Books Pvt Ltd
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9789382618348
Honestly, the entire series is not good. The story may be good, but the writing is at the best mediocre. I couldn't bring myself to read beyond the first few chapters and left the first book half read. This type of writing makes you miss the Ruskin Bonds and Vikram Seths of the world.
ReplyDeleteHey Souvanik, I couldn't agree more especially after reading the last book. It was such a big let down! Overall, yes, he is no where close to the Ruskin Bonds and Vikram Seths but the series was appreciated due to the novelle concept of interpreting Indian mythology. Although, I think so far the best work for this type of genre by an Indian author has been The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Anyways, Amish has a bagged an awesome deal, lets hope his future works are better!
ReplyDeleteI had been trying to start reading and thought of picking this up.Do I need to re consider my decision ? By the way , well written review :)
ReplyDelete@Deepak honestly I felt let down after reading the book, as I didn't get a perfect closure I was expecting after following the entire series.
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