Book Review - Ram Chandra Series - Scion of Ikshvaku

Before I begin let me clear this was not a review copy. I actually bought it within the first month of release and I have received author signed steel bookmark with the book as well.

Book Blurb

Ram Rajya. The Perfect Land. But perfection has a price. He paid that price.

3400 BCE. INDIA

Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracised prince. A prince they tried to break. A prince called Ram.

He loves his country, even when his countrymen torment him. He stands alone for the law. His band of brothers, his Sita, and he, against the darkness of chaos.

Will Ram rise above the taint that others heap on him? Will his love for Sita sustain him through his struggle? Will he defeat the demon Lord Raavan who destroyed his childhood? Will he fulfil the destiny of the Vishnu?

Begin an epic journey with Amish’s latest: the Ram Chandra Series.

Now coming to the author, Amish Tripathi, I had three spans in last 15 years in which I was drawn towards reading. The first one was due to the Harry Potter series and that span continued for 2-3 months. Next two spans started with Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy. And It is till date in my favorite top five book series. The series is also my wife's favorite. We have two sets of the trilogy. So it was obvious that we will buy the next series of Amrish. I know I am 3 years late to review the book.

"Scion of Ikshvaku" is the story of Rama, one of the most prayed gods among Hindus. Well like Shiva Trilogy the story is not plain Ramayana. Amrish has used his magical touch to repaint it. Just like Shiva from Meluha, Rama is also shown as a mere human. Amrish has shown how a human was got the title of a God. Timeline of the story is around 3500 BC when the old order of Malayputras (previous Vishnu) and Vayuputra's (previous Mahadeva) were maintaining harmony. Dashratha was the supreme leader of Bharatvarsha. He lost to Kubera and his general Ravana. Treaty cost Ayodhya and whole Bharatvarsh heavily. Rama and his three brothers were being trained and educated by Vashistha (an ex-Malayputra) Vashishta wanted to bring new Vishnu to the society, he found the qualities of ideal Vishnu in Rama and he trained Rama thoroughly. Rama wedded Sita, a strong character who hold an equal ground with Rama in all situation.

Talking about comparisons, similar to Shiva Trilogy, the same concept of society rebuilding, law and order discussed in the book. You can think of this book as a prequel to the timeline. The author has wonderfully shown the importance of the law-abiding. The way Amrish has shown male and female nature of society and its ruling is fundamental and realistic. The book is not up to the mark compared to Shiva Trilogy, but if you want to dwell in the world of ancient modern India, similar to Meluha then there is nothing better than this book.

Talking about ratings

1. Cover -4.5/5
2. Characters - 4/5
3. Concept - 4/5
4. Content - 3/5 (I felt the charm was missing)
5. Overall - 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon and Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads