The background
The Secret of the Nagas (Westland, pp.396, Rs.295) is the second book in the Shiva Trilogy by Amish. The Trilogy is based on the premise that Shiva was not a mythical God, but an ordinary human being who became a God because of his karma. The 3 books in the Trilogy trace the journey of Shiva from a human being to that of a God.
The Immortals of Meluha is the first book in the series. It follows the journey of Shiva from his beginnings as a Tibetan tribal leader to that of an immigrant to Meluha (the area that we now know was the site of the great Indus Valley Civilization) to becoming aware of the extraordinary destiny that awaits him and his first attempts at fulfilling that destiny. For more on the first book, you can read my review right here.
The story
The second book begins in Ayodhya with yet another skirmish between Shiva and Sati, and the Naga, who Shiva suspects was responsible for the death of his friend, Brihaspati. Yet again, the Naga escapes. By now Shiva is obsessed with hunting down the Nagas (an ostracised community of deformed beings with extraordinary skills, power and strength), and particularly that one specific Naga.
Shiva, Sati and their entourage decide to leave for Varanasi, which has a large settlement of Banglas Brangas, people from the eastern part of the country and the only people who have dealings with the Nagas. Since Sati has a baby (Kartik) while in Varanasi, Shiva leaves her behind in the holy city and travels with the rest of his entourage to the land of the Brangas. He discovers that though the Brangas, too, believe in the legend of the Neelkanth and are delighted on his arrival, they are not going to reveal the whereabouts of the Nagas in a hurry. The reason is that the Nagas supply life-saving medicines to the Brangas every year, and unless Shiva can guarantee uninterrupted supply of the same they are not going to help him.
In the mean time, in Varanasi, Sati is on a discovery spree. She finds out that she is related to two of the Nagas. The first one is Kali, Queen of the Nagas, who turns out to be her twin sister. Because she was born with an extra pair of hands, she was deemed to be a Naga. The second Naga is Ganesh, who turns out to be Sati’s son from a previous marriage. Ganesh was born with facial deformities (which made him look like an elephant) and was, therefore, deemed a Naga. While Sati never knew about the existence of a twin sister, she had been told that her child was stillborn. The decision to abandon both Kali and Ganesh was taken by Daksha to avoid stigmatization.
The rest of the story moves on to the confrontation with Daksha by a devastated Sati; Shiva finding the legendary Parashuram, returning to Varanasi with him; and then discovering and (rather unhappily) reconciling to Ganesh and Kali. After some twists and turns, the entire entourage travels to the land of the Nagas, where a huge surprise awaits everyone, especially for Shiva.
The review
The blurb of The Secret of the Nagas promises that “Fierce battles will be fought. Surprising alliances will be forged. Unbelievable secrets will be revealed…” Yes, the book does deliver all that.
But in the process, the author of this book also seems to have run out of creativity in characterisation. For example, the Prime Minister of Branga wears a lot of gold jewellery. I know, there is nothing wrong with anybody wearing a lot of gold jewellery. But wait till you hear his name. It is Bappiraj (p.186). Poor Bappi Lahiri. Caricatures of him have been done to death and it is passé now to feature him in any form. Dear Amish, is this your creative best for the Prime Minister of Branga, and did you think that nobody would notice?
Not all creativity in the book jarred; I rather liked this creative curse 🙂
May the fleas of a thousand dogs infest … [your] armpits. (p.10)
But not this bit of inspired creativity—camel racing, a cruel sport which is popular in some gulf countries metamorphoses into buffalo racing in this book. But the mechanism of finding child jockeys for this sport remains the same: they are either sold by poor families for a price or are kidnapped (pp. 37-38).
There is definite improvement in the language and narrative as compared to the first book in the series. It still retains its everyday, simple Indian English, but is unfortunately, marred by proofing and editing errors, as well as unnecessary use of italics. I just wish that whoever had edited this book had cracked a whip; it would have resulted in a leaner, meaner book.
The verdict
To be honest, if I did not have to review this book, I would not have read The Secret of the Nagas, because I did not like the first book of the trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha, at all. But that would have been an injustice to this book, as The Secret … is a better book than its prequel. Though tedious at times, I liked the way Shiva’s realisation that the world cannot be seen in only black and white, and that there are layers to everything that we see and comprehend comes about. Very subtly, the book does deliver a larger deeper message.
The tantalising end of the book has also ensured that I am now waiting for the third book in the series, The Oath of the Vayuputras. But before that, I would strongly recommend that the publishers, editors and author go through a Manual of Style (there are many of them) before work on the production of the 3rd book of the Shiva Trilogy begins.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
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Nice to learn about Secret of the Nagas mythical triology. Got to read it leisurely.
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Reader’s discretion is advised 🙂 !
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I have actually found his books to be more hilarious when he starts using modern day language and themes to describe mythological characters. But at the same time, he manages to create a thriller.
http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/
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That is actually, and I think unfortunately, the USP of the book and books that belong to genre, which I call the quick lit. I find the books laughable all right, what is ridiculous is that everybody from Shiva to Daksha to Nandi speak the same way.
Welcome to my blog, pkg, and thank you for stopping by and commenting. I do hope that you will keep visiting.
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ha ha ha. So you are hooked to the series… now? 🙂
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The second book is definitely an improvement on the first book, but has its share and then more of problems. The end in the second book is pretty tantalising and I do want to know what happens. 🙂
But I will never buy the book, though (*rubbing hands with evil glee*) reviewing it is another matter all together. 😛
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Hey, I got a blogadda book too and will be posting the review soon. Do check out my review too on the first book. I think I share your sentiments largely although I wouldn’t say it wasn’t entertaining enough for a one time read.
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I will certainly read your review, Richa. I do like the basic premise of the book, but it is let down by the narrative, very badly let down. I am still not able to understand how the book sold so many copies.
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Not my kind of book at all. Shiva is one of my favourite Gods and I love his humility and wisdom… for religious reasons if not more, I do not really find appeal in this kind of fiction. But the review is very well written… and the quote you have chosen is creative indeed! 😀
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I can understand this gentre not being everybody’s cup..er.. type of book. But the premise is certainly interesting, which the poor narrative certainly negates. I just wish the author’s creativity had entended to other parts of the book too, except that rather creative curse, which I have now taken to muttering under my breath while travelling by public transport in Mumbai 😀
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Loved this review. Now i can speak about this book even when i haven’t read it ! Ha..what a wonderful perspective. I am getting all confused as to why versions and versions of what is essentially mythology keep surfacing..isn’t there a world to write about beyond it all..? Thank goodness, no religious sect decided to take offense, else it would have been yet another story..!
But i love the way you write Sudha…
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Well, I’m glad that the review at least served that purpose 😀 I don’t have a problem with a new version of mythology surfacing, just look around at the many versions of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana around. But I do have a problem with a badly written version of mythology of which this series, particularly the first book, is a prime example.
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Hi there! Enjoyed reading your review. It’s always fun to see how two people can respond so differently to the same book. I reviewed both these books for an essay I did for the Asian Review of Books – you can read it at
http://the-long-walk-home.blogspot.com/2011/10/amish-tripathis-shiva-trilogy-and-rise.html
What do you think of the Chetan Bhagat books? Would be interesting to read your thoughts 🙂
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Yes, it is interesting how two people respond to the same book, isn’t it? I just visited Though our approach is different, I think that we are essentially saying the same thing. I liked yor analysis of the phenomenon of books like this.
I am not a fan of Chetan Bhagat. I find his books (I have read only two) trite and boring, not to mention horrendously written. But apparently such books sell, if sales figues, the publishers andBhagat himself are to be believed. For me to like a book, it is important that the characters are well defined and fleshed out, the narrative compelling and the language reflecting the setting. An Indian need not speak the Queen’s English, but it is difficult for me to believe that both a car owner and his driver will spout the same dialogue, “Excuse me, sir. May I know the time please?”
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Aww Sudha. You exposed the suspense of the Nagas’ identity here 😦
Well, I may not have the ability to delve into detail as much as you, but I simply loved the book. And I was hooked onto it. I read the book in 2 sittings; the 1st one lasted 3 hours and the next a marathon 7 hours… I can’t wait to lay my hands on the Oath of The Vayuputra… 🙂
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Sorry 🙂
There is no doubt that the story is interesting, Vishal. But in my opinion, the bad writing, characterisation and loose narrative kills it.
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So is this the Chetan Bhagat of Mythology ?
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Hmmm… let the third book come out and then I’ll decide. 🙂
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As an American, I probably have a different starting point for viewing these books but with all their faults, I did enjoy them. I especially valued their gentle and subtle critical commentary on so many aspects of Indian life that include the caste system, the situation of widows, women’s rights and racism etc. For these reasons alone, I believe these two books are important, especially since their readability make them so accessible to the average, literate person.
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the first person i know who feel the same way as i do about The Shiva Trilogy
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went through the entire trilogy in two days.I realized i was dealing with an amateur when i got to the Bappiraj part. why Amish why?? And i was expecting to learn more about the snake coiled around shiva’s neck.
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You finished the trilogy? I couldn’t go beyond the first 20 pages of the Oath of the Vayuputras.
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