The war of Lanka by Amish Tripathi

The war of Lanka by Amish Tripathi

Ebook and Paperback

Reading time 3-4 hours

Fictional retelling of the classic Epic

Rating 3/5 for the characters, 4/5 for the war scenes and description
3.5/5 overall

Simple straightforward grammar which doesn’t tax your brain and a familiar story makes it easy to read and enjoy!

I am a big critic of remix and hate them to the core so a remix of Ramayana is difficult to digest even otherwise! But then like the sapta Swaras; Ramayana is a story which can be inspirational to many stories now and in the future so if you read this story as an original retelling then you can tolerate it like me!

This of course is not the first retelling of the epic since the popular Asura by Anand Nilketan is also there among others. Anand had written his story in the perspective of Ravan and lost himself and the story and the point he was making in another character!

Now coming to this final (I am assuming this since there is a conclusion and the story is not left midway like the other books in the series!); the treatment of Ravan and especially Indrajeet and Kumbhakarna is better and more humane! So much so that you almost feel bad for them when they meet their fate! ( This is of course not a spoiler since any retelling of Ramayan has to have these fixed end points!)

An additional story of Ravan and Vedavati which has been explored even in some other Ramayans and in Anand’s book has been extended here. This is the lateral story which gives the reader a modern twist to the whole Ravan and Sita conflict.

There are lots of side stories and mentions of Vishnu and Rudra which could be the seeds for new stories in the future!

There is also the famous rivalry of Vishwamitra and Vasishta which has been done to the zenith! And then some!

The building of Ram Setu was a good idea and the involvement of a new character who is totally not involved in the war may raise some eyebrows but it’s a good effort indeed!

Then what could have been the highlight of the novel; the Pushpak Viman and the adventure of getting the Sanjeevini started with a big only to end in a very sudden side note! That was anti climactic! I thought that I have skipped a few pages there!

The one prickly thorn in the novel is the treatment of two younger brothers; namely Sugreev and Vibheeshan who both went against their cruel elder brothers and chose the right path. But somehow Amit has not personally liked this! So while Sugreev story in the book has been relegated to nothing, Vibheeshan is shown to be cunning and selfish and having no love for his brother! This cannot be more farther from truth! In fact he is so good that he is Chiranjeevi! When you base your story on this epic you can play around with the characters but you cannot change their basic operating system so to speak!

Then another issue about these retelling is extra space given to non essentials in the original like the warrior Akampana and one more lady warrior who has been shown to be in love with Hanuman! That’s just not done!
Believe me, you have lots of area to play around with characters without making alterations in ur basic tenet of the epic!

This of course is only my personal opinion and may be the general population may still like this treatment!

The other famous stories like of the burning of lanka and the ashok Vatika visit by hanuman has been completely revamped into something new and difficult to digest (for me only! You may still like the imagination!)

Even though the story is known, it is definitely not the same! In spite of all the reservations you may have, once you start then it is an interesting read! You really turn the pages in anticipation and enjoy the novel especially the battle and escape scenes!

All in all a good effort which is more mature than the Shiva trilogy though I still prefer that because it was new and fresh!

Definitely read if you have read the first three books and get your closure ( for now at least!)

Jai Sri Ram!