The Immortals of Meluha

Nice concept, well written and some daring ideas- they very well summarise this book. The language is simple and lucid. You get a feeling like you are reading a comic. This is not a history book, some of the ideas are really daring and cannot stand the scrutiny of penetrating historians. I, especially liked the idea of the meaning of "Har Har Mahadev". In short, I think the book is immensely readable and the writer can really go a long way. BUT, I would like to suggest something to Amish. By writing a trilogy, I hope he knows what he's doing. A new writer, his first book.....and incomplete. Asking your readers to keep waiting for the next episode----isn't it a bit too much to ask for, Mr. Amish. So I suggest the next book be complete in itself. The trilogy can very well be in sequels rather than episodes. Good luck!

This book has a great concept, no doubt, but absolutely drab, flat and ordinary writing. It is like reading an essay written by a child in school. I am a big fan of fantasy novels and especially those that are based on Indian mythology and thats why I had picked up this book early 2010 itself. Sadly, all my excitement died out after only the first chapter when I had figured out already what the quality of writing was. The one necessary element in any fantasy writing is strong profiles of the characters, especially the leading ones, since characters in fantasy stories are always larger than life. Another crucial element in fantasy novels is the creation of a sense of grandeur of the environment, the civilizations and races and also the characters' interactions with them. However, in this book, the author gets so engrossed in moving the story forward that he forgets to create an image of any of the characters or of the fantasy world they live in. While reading this novel, you get little idea that you are actually reading the story of a Grand character like Shiva Himself, who is on his way to become a God -not just any God but one of the Trinity- and also that the story revolves around a four thousand year old civilization whose aim is to create a near perfect society. Simply put, if you replace Shiva with any ordinary modern day protagonist in any modern day society, you will have the exact same story. In fact, half way through the book, I didn't care if Shiva lived or died or if the civilization he was protecting perished or thrived. I just wanted to get to the end of the book and finish it since I had paid money and bought it.
Clearly, this book had great potential but like most things aimed towards the mass market, it is just ordinary and over hyped. If you really wish to read good fantasy based on Indian mythology then try out Ashok Banker's Ramyana series. Remember, good fantasy -especially one based on existing mythology- doesn't come easy. It takes extensive research, effort, a strong grip on descriptive writing and of course a vivid imagination to create a ground breaking novel that's coherent, vivid and moreover transports the reader into a dream world of grand proportions with superhuman characters in it. This novel, sadly, is not even close. Don't waste your time on it. Read a proper fantasy novel instead.

what i felt after reading the novel was -'' it was a very mediocre story which uses mythology rather distorting the mythology to gain popularity.'' neither history nor mythology supports any of the shockingly scientific explanations given, for example tamil sangam , it is well known, did not exit before Indus Valley Civilization. then chandravansh, suryavansh is all so pathetic especially in the backdrop of non existence of any proof of existence of any ancient civilization in Eastern India. auther shows existence of Varna system in the Indus civilization which is incorrect. from all available sources it is understood that it was a system managed by Vaniks (Business persons). Rama is, beyond doubt an Aryan God, and does not find any mention in any Vedas so is understood to be a creation of much later period.
there are many other debatable points and this is what makes this book attractive.
this works well, for minnows who have hardly any knowledge about either history or about mythology, to get such scientifically explained information about godly characters and i am afraid of their using this book for understanding the history and mythology which will be a travesty. it is like the vinci code but not so interesting and not so factual.

A well written book that uses familiar mythological events and characters in a more human setting. Despite some silly references I still found myself unable to put the book down. Will definitely read the sequels coming out soon. Give this book a shot. If you like fantasy you will not regret it

Amish Tripathi weaves a splendid but totally fictional & fantasised account of Shiva's traivails.

For the folks looking for Lord Shiva's mythologicaly accurate chronical would feel frustrated. This book is certainly not for the purists; they should explore authetic SHIVA PURAN for that goal.

This is a fabricated, but very well conceptualised story, weaving together the history(Indus Valley Civilization), geaography ( North Indian plains above the Vindhayas) & mythology; it still is a fantasy neverthless! The publishers should have added an asterix with a disclaimer somewhere, else many readers might feel cheated, like me.

The writer deserves kuddos for coming up with such creative story-plot, however the quality of writing is very pedestrain. This belongs to those beginners English students, for whom Amitava Ghosh's brillaiance maybe too much to comprehend.

Chetan Bhaghat's audience is the target here, so serious Anglo-bibiliofiles beware; the 10th stanadard writing style would leave you unhappy. The story however holds enough content to keep you turning the pages.

I wish the editors would have helped the author to rise to mthe ocassion & it could have been our desi reply to Eragon & twilight-saga!