Legend of the Queen Warrior  (English, Paperback, Dr Sanjeev Prasad)

The narrative is set in Vedic times many millennia ago. The civilization evolved and prospered over time, guided by concepts of right actions (‘dharma’) as professed in their holy scriptures. The story is inspired by life of Bispala a young queen warrior, who finds mention in the Rig Veda. It revolves around three prosperous kingdoms who share deep bonds. A rival king, torn by feelings of jealousy, schemes to capture the mineral rich land and forest in one of these kingdoms. His army springs a surprise attack to fulfil their ambition. The protagonist, a warrior with great martial skills finds her life entangled amidst the warring kingdoms. The battles go unabated and losses to herself and her family leave her devastated. One such battle left her crippled in the leg. Skill of the surgeons saved her from an infected leg. Metallurgy used in making prosthesis helped her come back to her feet. Her brother was still under the effect of poison. She would not take things lying down A carefully charted out counter attack, vanquished the enemy. Winning also meant losing very important kins in the battle. So did the warrior queen. The task of rebuilding the kingdom and its people from the vagaries of war would set her on a new mission.