The Immortals of Meluha

Can be considered as an alternative mythology, the novel tries to define the mythological and divine characters in the light of logic and philosophy with slight defects being in choice of curses like ‘Goddammit’ etc. and adjectives like ‘electrifying’ and the likes which is not proper when the backdrop is a civilization, maybe the most ancient in Indian history. Referring to dates in BC and using the names like India (?) seems also poor choice in the novel.

But besides these I will say that Indian readers will find an appealing anecdote of the philosophy of evil and the good in the beginner of the Shiva trilogy. On the verge when evil seems to engulf the souls of the tribes a saviour is hoped to rise to deliver the people to the righteous path. As the Suryavanshis try to protect their river Saraswati from being encroached by Chandravanshis, it seems all depends on Shiva, leader of the Guna tribe, hailing from the northern mountains of Tibet. The Nagas too seems to be involved in the plot. The deformed but skilled warriors in the Nagas are more worrisome due to their shadowy tactics. But curiously the apparently cursed Vikarmas of Meluha proves to be another strong force for whom Shiva restore reverence and from these people he curbs out a robust force for the Suryavanshis on their battle against their enemies. But tragedy strikes more than once as the secret of the Nagas are never revealed. A raging war cannot be prevented but the aftermath does not seem what It was hoped to be. The author has excelled not only in the description of the battles or the elaboration of the perspectives of the Good and Evil, but in explaining the Indus Valley civilization whose architectural rationale seemed only to be contained in books of history and archaeology so far. The narrative ends with the Pandits of the Vasudeva tribe whispering wisdom to Shiva and telling him of Lord Rudra, the first Mahadev while evil lurks just a short distance ahead thus continuing with the excitement till the next part.