Amish Tripathi has created a magnificently crafted historical and mythological fantasy that's decadent, passionate, wondrous, and full of lore. A real page-turner!
The Immortals of Meluha tells of the adventures of one Shiva circa 1900BC in the region known then as the Sapt Sindhu, "The land of the Indus, Saraswati, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu, Brahmaputra and Narmada...", meaning the seven rivers that meander across from India and Kashmir that Hindu lore has given great importance to.
We follow him as he rises from the lowly stature of a foreign barbarian chief of a mountain tribe to a charismatic Lord Shiva that's been destined and prophesied to be Meluha's god of gods, the ultimate Philosopher King.
The Kingdom of Meluha, the greatest Empire in the known world, was founded millennia ago and comprised a society of immortals and a strictly hierarchical caste system form of community and governance set up centuries earlier by the august Lord Ram. However, all is not as it seems. Something is slowly eating away at its prosperity, chipping off at its tightly held belief and caste systems and rotting away this seeming utopia's foundation. It's now up to Lord Shiva to rise above Shiva, the man, and transform into Lord Shiva, the god of gods!
To fulfill his duty to Meluha, he'll have to overhaul existing belief systems and create a new and modern interpretation of their most cherished cultural bias.
Expertly researched and written, containing flawless characters with all the necessary self-doubt and superhuman insights, a terrific and gripping plotline combined with a vividly constructed world, The Immortals of Meluha is a beautifully done piece of mythological fantasy interweaving elements of history, geography, myth, legends, and modern science, philosophy of morals and governance in an all-encompassing tale.
I really enjoyed The Immortals of Meluha, and I can't wait to continue this series and the rest of the author's works. I highly recommend it!
