Indian authors rarely take the risk of writing a sequel, and when a sequel is out, they usually don’t come up to expectation. But Secrets Of The Nagas, the sequel to the ‘No. 1 National best seller Immortals Of Meluha, is a book that does not fall into the above category of sequels. All the Amish fans can rejoice, because he has not disappointed you with this sequel. Secret of the Nagas is the perfect sequel to the Immortals Of Meluha. Right mix of fiction and myth has made the Secret Of The Nagas even better than its prequel. The Secret Of The Nagas brings more characters to the plot. Filled with suspense till the end the reader won’t be able to put the book down.
Plot and summary
The novel is set in Swadweep, Kashi, Branga,Panchavati and Meluha. Shiva, the Tibetan immigrant, is looking for the killer of his brother Brihaspathi. They decide to go to Branga to find the Naga Lord of the people. On their way, they decide to stay in Kashi for some years, because Shiva wants his son, Karthik to be born in Kashi. After the birth of Karthik, Shiva leaves for Branga, which seems to be a
city closely allied with the Nagas. The Brangas are the only people who know the way to Panchavati, other than the bandit Parashuram. When Shiva reaches Branga nothing is what it seems. Eventhough Branga is a rich country; it seems to be affected by a plague. The Nagas are the only people who have the solution to their sorrow. So the Brangas are not ready to risk their children’s’ lives and show Shiva the way to Panchavati. At last Shiva finds a way and reaches Panchavati, the place where a secret awaits him. A secret that makes all his assumptions come wrong.
Apart from Shiva, the Secrets Of The Nagas also tells the story of a father who abandoned his children, a Vasudev, whom fate turned into a bandit, and a love story between Anandhamayi and Parvetashwar.
Conclusion
The climax even though is a bit surprising, hasn’t come upto expectations. We are kept engaged throughout the book, in the expectation that a big secret is awaiting us in the end. But only in the end we realize that, only a tip of the secret is revealed, and the remaining is to be revealed in the next book of the trilogy. Anyone who has read the review of The Oath Of The Vayuputras can predict what the (tip of the) secret is. So my advice is don’t read the review of The Oath Of The Vayuputras before reading the Secrets Of The Nagas.
Apart from the little disappointment in the climax, the book is an awesome read. And anyone who has liked the Immortals Of Meluha is sure to like this too.
There are books which are written for reading and then there are books which are written for movie making. This one falls in the latter category. Reads like a movie script.
ReplyDeleteA far better work could have been written when your central character is one of the strongest characters in Hindu mythology. The author takes Lord Shiva and reduces him to the level of a hollywood movie actor or even worse.
If you think chetan bhagat deserves a man booker award then you may recommend this for a nobel in literature. Otherwise this is not a book that you will want to read a second time.