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Ram Chandra #4
War of Lanka
LANKA WILL BURN. DARKNESS WILL PERISH.
BUT CAN LIGHT ENDURE?
INDIA, 3400 BCE.
Greed. Rage. Grief. Love. Smouldering tinder, waiting to trigger a war.
But this war is different. This one is for Dharma. This war is for the greatest Goddess of them all.
Sita has been kidnapped. Defiantly, she dares Raavan to kill her - she'd rather die than allow Ram to surrender.
Ram is beside himself with grief and rage. He prepares for war. Fury is his fuel. Calm focus, his guide.
Raavan thought he was invincible. He thought he'd negotiate and force a surrender. Little did he know ...
The first three books of the second-fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history - the Ram Chandra Series - explore the individual journeys of Ram, Sita and Raavan. In this, the epic fourth book of the series, their narrative strands crash into each other, and explode in a slaughterous war.
Will Ram defeat the ruthless and fiendish Raavan, constrained as he is by the laws of Dharma? Will Lanka burn to a cinder or fight back like a cornered tiger? Will the terrible costs of war be worth the victory?
Most importantly, will the Vishnu rise? And will the real enemies of the land fear the Vishnu? For fear is the mother of love.
BUT CAN LIGHT ENDURE?
INDIA, 3400 BCE.
Greed. Rage. Grief. Love. Smouldering tinder, waiting to trigger a war.
But this war is different. This one is for Dharma. This war is for the greatest Goddess of them all.
Sita has been kidnapped. Defiantly, she dares Raavan to kill her - she'd rather die than allow Ram to surrender.
Ram is beside himself with grief and rage. He prepares for war. Fury is his fuel. Calm focus, his guide.
Raavan thought he was invincible. He thought he'd negotiate and force a surrender. Little did he know ...
The first three books of the second-fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history - the Ram Chandra Series - explore the individual journeys of Ram, Sita and Raavan. In this, the epic fourth book of the series, their narrative strands crash into each other, and explode in a slaughterous war.
Will Ram defeat the ruthless and fiendish Raavan, constrained as he is by the laws of Dharma? Will Lanka burn to a cinder or fight back like a cornered tiger? Will the terrible costs of war be worth the victory?
Most importantly, will the Vishnu rise? And will the real enemies of the land fear the Vishnu? For fear is the mother of love.
500 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2023
1171 people are currently reading
3493 people want to read
About the author
Amish Tripathi
68 books7,697 followersAmish is an IIM (Kolkata) educated, banker turned award-winning author. The success of his debut book, The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), encouraged him to give up a fourteen-year-old career in financial services to focus on writing. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy, finding beauty and meaning in all world religions.
His 7 books have sold over 5 million copies and been translated into 19 Indian & international languages. His Shiva Trilogy is the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history while his Ram Chandra Series is the second fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history.
In 2019, Amish was appointed to a diplomatic role as Director , The Nehru Centre in London, India's premier cultural centre abroad.
His 7 books have sold over 5 million copies and been translated into 19 Indian & international languages. His Shiva Trilogy is the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history while his Ram Chandra Series is the second fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history.
In 2019, Amish was appointed to a diplomatic role as Director , The Nehru Centre in London, India's premier cultural centre abroad.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 779 reviews
October 21, 2022
***Spoiler Alert***
Okay. Let's. Review. This. In. Amish's. Style.
Frustrating right? That's how majority of this book is written.
Seriously, what was the need to divide a single sentence into 5 smaller ones? It was terrible to read. One word sentences work when used sparingly. But this was used so often that it affected my reading experience. Please use 'commas' Amish!
Sentences and words were repeated over and over to the point that readers would feel frustrated. Tell me how many times I need to know that :
"Onguiaahra was primarily a dam and not a fort."
Or
"Sneaky weasel. But a very, very smart sneaky weasel."
Writing a sentence in different ways will not change its meaning. Stop filling up the pages with repetitive and unnecessary information.
I stopped counting how many sentences he repeats during this book.
Let's forget about the writing style and move on to the actual story and characters.
I was hoping this book would blow my mind. I really enjoyed reading Raavan and was hoping Amish would do justice to the character he crafted previously. But no.
Raavan was reduced to nothing but a pitiful character. The fact that he and Sita staged the whole war is beyond me. Total destruction of all major characters and storylines. Not only did it make Ravan look pathetic, it also made Ram look weaker. There were no stakes. No risks.
Why did you build it up so much when all you wanted to do was make it a one-sided battle? Raavan literally wanted to die and he did nothing else in the whole book. What a wasted potential.
Lets forget the magical and mystical epic we listened to or watched as a kid, because there's nothing mystical here.
Hanuman doesn't burn Lanka, Hanuman doesn't fly on his own to get sanjeevni, the whole lankan army is poisoned because of faulty engineering, and the most awaited duel between ram and raavan is just a pity because we as readers already know that raavan wants to die!!
"Like ‘All people are decent at their core’. Or ‘All religions are the same and none of them preach hatred’. Or ‘All cultures are worthy of respect’. The truth is ugly. All people are not fundamentally decent. Some are actually good, and some are actually bad. All religions are not the same, and some do preach hatred. Just read their scriptures. Some cultures are better than others. That is reality. Strip the nonsense away and have the courage to see the simple truth."
Really Amish??? That's disrespectful.
Ohh yeah, Amish learned about the word Jujutsu and tried to put it everywhere in this book.
"Jujutsu means using your enemies' strength against them"
I know Amish, you said so 20 times already. It was frustrating enough to read this and see it applied in bizarre scenarios.
And don't even get me started on dialogues. There were so many descriptions about battle strategy and fighting scenes that he forgot to write about the story. That Amish charm has gone. This book is terrible.
And I don't usually rant like this. But I really had high hopes and was disappointed.
I guess enough is said. I'm never reading another Amish book again.
Okay. Let's. Review. This. In. Amish's. Style.
Frustrating right? That's how majority of this book is written.
Seriously, what was the need to divide a single sentence into 5 smaller ones? It was terrible to read. One word sentences work when used sparingly. But this was used so often that it affected my reading experience. Please use 'commas' Amish!
Sentences and words were repeated over and over to the point that readers would feel frustrated. Tell me how many times I need to know that :
"Onguiaahra was primarily a dam and not a fort."
Or
"Sneaky weasel. But a very, very smart sneaky weasel."
Writing a sentence in different ways will not change its meaning. Stop filling up the pages with repetitive and unnecessary information.
I stopped counting how many sentences he repeats during this book.
Let's forget about the writing style and move on to the actual story and characters.
I was hoping this book would blow my mind. I really enjoyed reading Raavan and was hoping Amish would do justice to the character he crafted previously. But no.
Raavan was reduced to nothing but a pitiful character. The fact that he and Sita staged the whole war is beyond me. Total destruction of all major characters and storylines. Not only did it make Ravan look pathetic, it also made Ram look weaker. There were no stakes. No risks.
Why did you build it up so much when all you wanted to do was make it a one-sided battle? Raavan literally wanted to die and he did nothing else in the whole book. What a wasted potential.
Lets forget the magical and mystical epic we listened to or watched as a kid, because there's nothing mystical here.
Hanuman doesn't burn Lanka, Hanuman doesn't fly on his own to get sanjeevni, the whole lankan army is poisoned because of faulty engineering, and the most awaited duel between ram and raavan is just a pity because we as readers already know that raavan wants to die!!
"Like ‘All people are decent at their core’. Or ‘All religions are the same and none of them preach hatred’. Or ‘All cultures are worthy of respect’. The truth is ugly. All people are not fundamentally decent. Some are actually good, and some are actually bad. All religions are not the same, and some do preach hatred. Just read their scriptures. Some cultures are better than others. That is reality. Strip the nonsense away and have the courage to see the simple truth."
Really Amish??? That's disrespectful.
Ohh yeah, Amish learned about the word Jujutsu and tried to put it everywhere in this book.
"Jujutsu means using your enemies' strength against them"
I know Amish, you said so 20 times already. It was frustrating enough to read this and see it applied in bizarre scenarios.
And don't even get me started on dialogues. There were so many descriptions about battle strategy and fighting scenes that he forgot to write about the story. That Amish charm has gone. This book is terrible.
And I don't usually rant like this. But I really had high hopes and was disappointed.
I guess enough is said. I'm never reading another Amish book again.
October 6, 2022
Disappointing
Read Amish Tripathi's War of Lanka. Big disappointment.
It have no depth. Amish is confused on how to portray Ravan, the character work is very weak. To justify his deeds, Amish has taken away the soul of the narrative.
There are so many repetitions of same cheap lines. It looks like a 15 year old has read his previous novels and has written a parody.
Chapters are inconsistently written and doesn't seem to be authored by same person. Compulsion of twisting the facts to fit into the universe created in 'Immortals of Meluha' is very evident.
Raavan, Sita and Kumbhkaran bonding over food is just too much to digest. Unnecessary research details into how to get tusk out of elephants kills the interest.
The last novel, Ravana, was also disappointing which have reduced the mighty Raavan to a cheap bollywood mafia type character. This novel sealed the deal by making him a road side dada whose days of glory were over already.
How much the idea of moat and area between the outer and inner wall can be exploited? It seems Amish's imagination has been corrupted during the bogus series on Ramayana on Discovery+.
Bharat and Shatrughan were unnecessarily dragged into a narrative which dilutes the whole idea that Ramji has taken help of ordinary people to defeat the mighty Raavan. If a new more practical narrative was to be built, why just Bharat only, why not other kingdoms also participated.
Also Ram is portrayed as a character who is so apologetic that he keep justifying his actions to everybody and people openly defy him. It has the hints of Yudhishthir's character from Mahabharat. ShriRam was a strong willed, leader of masses and loved & respected by even the enemies. He invoked devotion in others and people didn't feel compelled to follow him just because he was King.
Also why do anybody portray that Bali and Ravan were defeated by Ram because they wanted a good death and not because of Ram's warrior skills and ability?
Vasisht and Vishwamitra were reduced to political characters rather than the great Gurus. Also the narrative and twists are too weak to justify this big creative freedom Amish has taken.
The whole story is riddled with plot holes, the editors has done a poor job making it the worst ever novel by Amish, so far.
Read this novel just in respect of the author who gave us 'Immortals of Meluha' and first 2 novels of Ramchandra series. Not excited about any further work from Amish.
Read Amish Tripathi's War of Lanka. Big disappointment.
It have no depth. Amish is confused on how to portray Ravan, the character work is very weak. To justify his deeds, Amish has taken away the soul of the narrative.
There are so many repetitions of same cheap lines. It looks like a 15 year old has read his previous novels and has written a parody.
Chapters are inconsistently written and doesn't seem to be authored by same person. Compulsion of twisting the facts to fit into the universe created in 'Immortals of Meluha' is very evident.
Raavan, Sita and Kumbhkaran bonding over food is just too much to digest. Unnecessary research details into how to get tusk out of elephants kills the interest.
The last novel, Ravana, was also disappointing which have reduced the mighty Raavan to a cheap bollywood mafia type character. This novel sealed the deal by making him a road side dada whose days of glory were over already.
How much the idea of moat and area between the outer and inner wall can be exploited? It seems Amish's imagination has been corrupted during the bogus series on Ramayana on Discovery+.
Bharat and Shatrughan were unnecessarily dragged into a narrative which dilutes the whole idea that Ramji has taken help of ordinary people to defeat the mighty Raavan. If a new more practical narrative was to be built, why just Bharat only, why not other kingdoms also participated.
Also Ram is portrayed as a character who is so apologetic that he keep justifying his actions to everybody and people openly defy him. It has the hints of Yudhishthir's character from Mahabharat. ShriRam was a strong willed, leader of masses and loved & respected by even the enemies. He invoked devotion in others and people didn't feel compelled to follow him just because he was King.
Also why do anybody portray that Bali and Ravan were defeated by Ram because they wanted a good death and not because of Ram's warrior skills and ability?
Vasisht and Vishwamitra were reduced to political characters rather than the great Gurus. Also the narrative and twists are too weak to justify this big creative freedom Amish has taken.
The whole story is riddled with plot holes, the editors has done a poor job making it the worst ever novel by Amish, so far.
Read this novel just in respect of the author who gave us 'Immortals of Meluha' and first 2 novels of Ramchandra series. Not excited about any further work from Amish.
October 13, 2022
Fascinating read that gives a completely different perspective. Even though Amish has taken liberties in presenting the narrative from a completely different angle, the central idea of fight between dharma and adharma remains intact. And dharma here is not be confused with western term of religion but rather should be looked upon as way of life.
Spoiler alerts ahead
There are however huge deviations from the conventionally accepted narrative of Ramayan. Narad is trader from Lothal. Vedavati, incarnation of Lakshmi reborn as Sita to punish Ravan for his misdemeanours is presented as Kanyakumari and love of Ravana. Sursa , one of the twelve daughters of Daksha is love struck with Hanuman in the book. The rivalry between Vasishta and Vishwamitra over Kamdhenu is completely washed away in the book. Rather their rivalry is over who will be Vishnu-Ram or Sita. The Bali-Sugreev enmity has a very different reason in the book. The presence of all four brothers in the battle with Ravan made me wonder how much creative liberty can an author take? Even the death of Ravan in duel with Ram is completely different here
The book is a good read for someone who has not read the Critical or the Gita Press editions of Ramayan. For those who have read the book could be a huge let down. But if you ignore the difference in narratives, it comes across as a book who would love to read again and again.
Spoiler alerts ahead
There are however huge deviations from the conventionally accepted narrative of Ramayan. Narad is trader from Lothal. Vedavati, incarnation of Lakshmi reborn as Sita to punish Ravan for his misdemeanours is presented as Kanyakumari and love of Ravana. Sursa , one of the twelve daughters of Daksha is love struck with Hanuman in the book. The rivalry between Vasishta and Vishwamitra over Kamdhenu is completely washed away in the book. Rather their rivalry is over who will be Vishnu-Ram or Sita. The Bali-Sugreev enmity has a very different reason in the book. The presence of all four brothers in the battle with Ravan made me wonder how much creative liberty can an author take? Even the death of Ravan in duel with Ram is completely different here
The book is a good read for someone who has not read the Critical or the Gita Press editions of Ramayan. For those who have read the book could be a huge let down. But if you ignore the difference in narratives, it comes across as a book who would love to read again and again.
October 13, 2022
TL;DR version: This seems be written by some daily soap loving interns. The writing is cheap, full of cliches and too much repetitive. Characters do not have any depth in them. Authors didn't bother to pay attention to details at many places.
Longer version:
I read all the Shiva trilogy books and the first three books in the Ram Chandra Series. I absolutely loved all these 6 books and was a huge fan for the writing style and philosophy of Amish Tripathi.
As you can guess, I was eagerly waiting for this book. I bought the book (Kindle edition) as soon as it was released.
In the first three books, the story is told in a multi-linear way. The first book was on Ram, the second on Sita and the third one on Raavan. This is also the order in which I liked these three books.
The post now contains spoilers. You have been warned, tread carefully.
It will be best if you read the other three books of the series first if you want to read this one.
As I started reading the book, it kept disappointing me. The book was relentless in proving that this is one of the worst books I have ever read in my life.
Following were my expectations from the book:
1. Brilliant war details.
2. Brilliance of Ram, Raavan, Hanumaan, Angad and Kumbhakaran in the war.
3. I expected shifting loyalty of Arishtnemi from Vishwamitra to Ram due to his interaction with Ram during the war.
4. V vs V: More details on the issues between Vishwamitra and Vashishth.
5. Authors version of Sita's agnipariksha
6. Ram somehow deciding to go to Meluha and giving up Ayodhya due to conflict with Bharat.
Obviously the author is not writing the book based on my expectations and so I was ready to be surprised, and yes, I was SURPRISED.
So what I got from the books are the following:
1. V vs V story line felt like a joke.
2. Characters: All the character depth was gone. Everyone was like someone I could not associate with. I felt no feeling for all of them, Ram, Seeta, Raavan, Kumbhakaran, Hanumaan, Bharat, etc.
3. It was like the last season of Game of Thrones, where the directors thought the audience is due to the special effects, than due to the story.
4. The useless drama was like daily soup, stupid and useless. Full of cliches, hyper emotions (which you don't connect with).
5. There were so many useless details that bored me to no end. I read them all thinking something useful will come out of it. In end, they were completely useless. Just to give an example, the details of "Ram setu" is so useless. It felt as if these details are given to cover up the lack of substance in the story.
6. The other missing point was that two people can be correct and still oppose each other. For example, the difference of opinion in case of Ram and Bharat. It used to be a feature of Amish's book which was completely missing in this one.
7. There are many departures from Amish's style of writing in this book. For example, many useless characters are given names unnecessarily. Some authors do that, some don't, but at least they are consistent. It was not clear why the side characters were given names in this book. One of the useless character is named Gajaraj, then Giriraj and back to Gajaraj again.
8. The sentence formation in this book is absolutely pathetic at places with many sentences consisting of 1-3 words, literally.
9. Vishwamitra intended Ram to use Daivi Astra again. What happened? Will it happen in the next book?
10. It felt as if the Mara character will reappear again in this book as it was mentioned in the character details, but no.
11. The repetition in this book is so irritating. Again, it felt as a sign of over compensation due to the lack of quality.
12. The war details are pathetic. It is not clear why a brilliant strategist such as Raavan will not have scouts all over his own country. Can you imagine 100s of elephants reached their gates through ocean without Raavan knowing it? This is compounded by the fact that Raavan knew that Ram is coming through ocean route and then through road to their capital city.
13. If I have to use one word to describe this novel, it will be "Cheap". Like a cheap item you purchase which makes you want to kill yourself everyday you use it, this is what the quality of novel felt like. One example from the book "Deepankar held the bottom of the ladder steady, ensuring that the base didn't slip back."
14. Good warriors do not show contempt towards others for being less skilled. But surprise, Hanumaan and Kumbhakaran were not so honourable. Hanumaan showed (with disdain) less skilled archers how to shoot. Surprise, surprise, they became expert just by watching Hanumaan once. Why he didn't prepare those useless souls before bringing them to such a critical mission?
15. There is no dearth of useless and irritating details. It was so irritating to know how brilliantly Hanumaan could wistle.
The last part of the book was a bit better, but that is no reason to read this book. If you are a fan of Amish Tripathi, do not read this book.
Longer version:
I read all the Shiva trilogy books and the first three books in the Ram Chandra Series. I absolutely loved all these 6 books and was a huge fan for the writing style and philosophy of Amish Tripathi.
As you can guess, I was eagerly waiting for this book. I bought the book (Kindle edition) as soon as it was released.
In the first three books, the story is told in a multi-linear way. The first book was on Ram, the second on Sita and the third one on Raavan. This is also the order in which I liked these three books.
The post now contains spoilers. You have been warned, tread carefully.
It will be best if you read the other three books of the series first if you want to read this one.
As I started reading the book, it kept disappointing me. The book was relentless in proving that this is one of the worst books I have ever read in my life.
Following were my expectations from the book:
1. Brilliant war details.
2. Brilliance of Ram, Raavan, Hanumaan, Angad and Kumbhakaran in the war.
3. I expected shifting loyalty of Arishtnemi from Vishwamitra to Ram due to his interaction with Ram during the war.
4. V vs V: More details on the issues between Vishwamitra and Vashishth.
5. Authors version of Sita's agnipariksha
6. Ram somehow deciding to go to Meluha and giving up Ayodhya due to conflict with Bharat.
Obviously the author is not writing the book based on my expectations and so I was ready to be surprised, and yes, I was SURPRISED.
So what I got from the books are the following:
1. V vs V story line felt like a joke.
2. Characters: All the character depth was gone. Everyone was like someone I could not associate with. I felt no feeling for all of them, Ram, Seeta, Raavan, Kumbhakaran, Hanumaan, Bharat, etc.
3. It was like the last season of Game of Thrones, where the directors thought the audience is due to the special effects, than due to the story.
4. The useless drama was like daily soup, stupid and useless. Full of cliches, hyper emotions (which you don't connect with).
5. There were so many useless details that bored me to no end. I read them all thinking something useful will come out of it. In end, they were completely useless. Just to give an example, the details of "Ram setu" is so useless. It felt as if these details are given to cover up the lack of substance in the story.
6. The other missing point was that two people can be correct and still oppose each other. For example, the difference of opinion in case of Ram and Bharat. It used to be a feature of Amish's book which was completely missing in this one.
7. There are many departures from Amish's style of writing in this book. For example, many useless characters are given names unnecessarily. Some authors do that, some don't, but at least they are consistent. It was not clear why the side characters were given names in this book. One of the useless character is named Gajaraj, then Giriraj and back to Gajaraj again.
8. The sentence formation in this book is absolutely pathetic at places with many sentences consisting of 1-3 words, literally.
9. Vishwamitra intended Ram to use Daivi Astra again. What happened? Will it happen in the next book?
10. It felt as if the Mara character will reappear again in this book as it was mentioned in the character details, but no.
11. The repetition in this book is so irritating. Again, it felt as a sign of over compensation due to the lack of quality.
12. The war details are pathetic. It is not clear why a brilliant strategist such as Raavan will not have scouts all over his own country. Can you imagine 100s of elephants reached their gates through ocean without Raavan knowing it? This is compounded by the fact that Raavan knew that Ram is coming through ocean route and then through road to their capital city.
13. If I have to use one word to describe this novel, it will be "Cheap". Like a cheap item you purchase which makes you want to kill yourself everyday you use it, this is what the quality of novel felt like. One example from the book "Deepankar held the bottom of the ladder steady, ensuring that the base didn't slip back."
14. Good warriors do not show contempt towards others for being less skilled. But surprise, Hanumaan and Kumbhakaran were not so honourable. Hanumaan showed (with disdain) less skilled archers how to shoot. Surprise, surprise, they became expert just by watching Hanumaan once. Why he didn't prepare those useless souls before bringing them to such a critical mission?
15. There is no dearth of useless and irritating details. It was so irritating to know how brilliantly Hanumaan could wistle.
The last part of the book was a bit better, but that is no reason to read this book. If you are a fan of Amish Tripathi, do not read this book.
October 15, 2022
Extremely disappointed with how things turned out. Shiva Trilogy was a masterpiece , most likely due to the fact that Amish had a blank, white canvas on which he painted the magnificent land of Meluha with all its infinite details. However, THIS time, with the Ram Chandra series, he was bound by the Ramayana, compelled to do justice to all the characters and sub-plots existing within the Epic that we all grew up reading, watching and loving, resulting in a hurried and uninspired finale to an otherwise decent series.
I absolutely enjoyed reading the first 3 books of the series, however War of Lanka was a colossal disappointment. It felt rushed. Lacked depth. The dialogues between characters were cringeworthy. Usage of Gen Z slangs made it awkward given that the story is set in ancient India.
The scenic descriptions, war strategies, etc were great. Amish definitely revels in such writing, but he failed to help us connect with the characters.
The war, in itself was just a political move, nothing but a spat between Vashistha and Vishwamithra, on who gets to be the Vishnu - Ram or Sita.
Raavan was just reduced to a mere tool. A means to an end. So out of character. What was even the purpose of kidnapping Sita ? Just to trigger a war? ( From V and V's PoV ) or to get closure on his past love? ( Raavan's PoV ) ?
There is no relation between the Raavan from his own book and the Raavan we see in War of Lanka. a master strategist and general, despite having an extensive spy network, failed to notice the massive Ayodhyan army march across the sea? Or even before that, build a bridge ? Pathetic!. Sure there was a diversion, but you stay on a damn island Raavan. Its not that hard to have 360' surveillance when you are 3/4th surrounded by sea and the only piece of land that you actually have to be worried about is the gigantic subcontinent of India. ( Sure, this issue was present in Valmikis Ramayana as well, but i believe Raavan chose to stay put and wage war, hence allowing Ram to cross over).
Indrajit's death was such a cliche. His chapter was closed in such a hurry. Indrajit mortally wounds Lakshman, but because Bharat happens to be a main character, suddenly gets superhuman speed and unwavering focus and accuracy and…despite the shock of seeing Lakshman get arrowed in the chest… is able to spear and kill Indrajit …….who's atop the Pushpak Viman……at a much higher altitude…….within like 20 seconds……. after constantly reminding us that soldiers mounted on the elephants have height advantage and therefore hard to target.
Very poorly executed Amish. You built up Indrajit's plan of using the Viman so much, only to end it all within like 1 page. The main characters are literally written like cliche cartoon superheroes. They face no adversities AT all. They are always ahead of the enemy. It’s as if they’ve used cheat codes. They dont take damage, they always know the enemy’s plans, conveniently find enemy traitors. Sheesh! Stop it already man. Ram gets super annoying after a point, because as soon as he gets news of his plan failing, he just smiles and then IMMEDIATELY mitigates the situation. Sure, it’s impressive a couple of times, but EVERY damn time ? As I said, cheat codes.
So many glaring issues with this book, that i can go on writing. There are no stakes whatsoever. Hard to stay engaged and read on.
Regardless, Amish is a great writer, Shiva Trilogy was simply brilliant, wont say the same for the Ram Chandra Series. Hope he comes with better ones in the future.
I absolutely enjoyed reading the first 3 books of the series, however War of Lanka was a colossal disappointment. It felt rushed. Lacked depth. The dialogues between characters were cringeworthy. Usage of Gen Z slangs made it awkward given that the story is set in ancient India.
The scenic descriptions, war strategies, etc were great. Amish definitely revels in such writing, but he failed to help us connect with the characters.
The war, in itself was just a political move, nothing but a spat between Vashistha and Vishwamithra, on who gets to be the Vishnu - Ram or Sita.
Raavan was just reduced to a mere tool. A means to an end. So out of character. What was even the purpose of kidnapping Sita ? Just to trigger a war? ( From V and V's PoV ) or to get closure on his past love? ( Raavan's PoV ) ?
There is no relation between the Raavan from his own book and the Raavan we see in War of Lanka. a master strategist and general, despite having an extensive spy network, failed to notice the massive Ayodhyan army march across the sea? Or even before that, build a bridge ? Pathetic!. Sure there was a diversion, but you stay on a damn island Raavan. Its not that hard to have 360' surveillance when you are 3/4th surrounded by sea and the only piece of land that you actually have to be worried about is the gigantic subcontinent of India. ( Sure, this issue was present in Valmikis Ramayana as well, but i believe Raavan chose to stay put and wage war, hence allowing Ram to cross over).
Indrajit's death was such a cliche. His chapter was closed in such a hurry. Indrajit mortally wounds Lakshman, but because Bharat happens to be a main character, suddenly gets superhuman speed and unwavering focus and accuracy and…despite the shock of seeing Lakshman get arrowed in the chest… is able to spear and kill Indrajit …….who's atop the Pushpak Viman……at a much higher altitude…….within like 20 seconds……. after constantly reminding us that soldiers mounted on the elephants have height advantage and therefore hard to target.
Very poorly executed Amish. You built up Indrajit's plan of using the Viman so much, only to end it all within like 1 page. The main characters are literally written like cliche cartoon superheroes. They face no adversities AT all. They are always ahead of the enemy. It’s as if they’ve used cheat codes. They dont take damage, they always know the enemy’s plans, conveniently find enemy traitors. Sheesh! Stop it already man. Ram gets super annoying after a point, because as soon as he gets news of his plan failing, he just smiles and then IMMEDIATELY mitigates the situation. Sure, it’s impressive a couple of times, but EVERY damn time ? As I said, cheat codes.
So many glaring issues with this book, that i can go on writing. There are no stakes whatsoever. Hard to stay engaged and read on.
Regardless, Amish is a great writer, Shiva Trilogy was simply brilliant, wont say the same for the Ram Chandra Series. Hope he comes with better ones in the future.
October 29, 2022
I have no idea what happened to Amish since the Shiva Trilogy, but this ain't it! The Shiva Trilogy was an enjoyable read, even though I felt The Oath of the Vayuputras was far too long. In hindsight, those were the first signs of an author becoming too engrossed and enamoured by his own writing, to the extent that it starts hindering the story itself.
The War of Lanka reveals an author who has been on that path for quite some time now. The story should have been a tightly woven conclusion to the first three parts of the much -touted multi-linear narrative, focussing on Ram, Sita and Raavan. Instead, it becomes a lumbering tale bogged down by sudden deep-dives into Amish's philosophical lessons.
As a result, characters start talking in ways which no regular human being would do, as they discuss the brilliance of Amish's philosophical thought. It's a self-masturbatory journey into his mind, where every philosophical thought and battle strategy (no doubt devised /researched by Amish) is touted as Brilliant, Epic, Genius etc. It becomes quite tiresome after the 1st 100 pages in a 450 page novel.
Another gripe I kept having with the novel was its language. I always get the feeling that indian authors who try to cater to the masses suffer massively in the use of English in terms of vocabulary, flow, eloquence etc. Amish displays this fully here, as the sentence, dialogues and action sequences come across as clunky, and lacking any real-world flow to the events.
Also, the fact that characters in the Ramayan go around calling each other Bro, Hanu Bhaiya / Hans (for Hanuman), oafs etc. was more than enough to take me out of the book, and cringe hard!
Overall, if this book weren't part of a larger series, it would be easy to give it a complete miss. It's indistinguishable from the other 100 books around mythological retellings that have flooded the market in the last decade.
If you're like me and cannot not complete a series, then best make it a quick read, like ripping off a band-aid.
The War of Lanka reveals an author who has been on that path for quite some time now. The story should have been a tightly woven conclusion to the first three parts of the much -touted multi-linear narrative, focussing on Ram, Sita and Raavan. Instead, it becomes a lumbering tale bogged down by sudden deep-dives into Amish's philosophical lessons.
As a result, characters start talking in ways which no regular human being would do, as they discuss the brilliance of Amish's philosophical thought. It's a self-masturbatory journey into his mind, where every philosophical thought and battle strategy (no doubt devised /researched by Amish) is touted as Brilliant, Epic, Genius etc. It becomes quite tiresome after the 1st 100 pages in a 450 page novel.
Another gripe I kept having with the novel was its language. I always get the feeling that indian authors who try to cater to the masses suffer massively in the use of English in terms of vocabulary, flow, eloquence etc. Amish displays this fully here, as the sentence, dialogues and action sequences come across as clunky, and lacking any real-world flow to the events.
Also, the fact that characters in the Ramayan go around calling each other Bro, Hanu Bhaiya / Hans (for Hanuman), oafs etc. was more than enough to take me out of the book, and cringe hard!
Overall, if this book weren't part of a larger series, it would be easy to give it a complete miss. It's indistinguishable from the other 100 books around mythological retellings that have flooded the market in the last decade.
If you're like me and cannot not complete a series, then best make it a quick read, like ripping off a band-aid.
November 25, 2022
—-25 Nov Edit ——
Forgot the most important part!
Something that I grapple with is differentiating between the act and the person. There are times when it’s quite a struggle for me to condemn the act and simultaneously continue to respect the person for the(ir) rest. Amish has subtly and deftly shown how one can do so and be so. Am I making sense? This book throughout was a beautiful, beautiful, example of how one can condemn an act and continue to love that person, or atleast not villainise that person as a whole. Something that I am guilty of at times. I mean in one of my recent notes here, I called a person evil. Clearly this book gave me a lot to think about.
—— Original Note——
To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the book in the beginning. I picked this up immediately after finishing the one on Raavana, and found quite a few bits repetitive. To add to that, I just couldn’t warm up to the writing style. Moreover, the liberty that has been taken to twist certain story lines/tracks within the Ramayana is something that didn’t appeal to me. If you would have asked me to rate the book at that point, I would have probably said ‘not more than a star’.
So what changed? It was the strong underlying dharmic philosophy throughout. I got sucked in despite my feelings about everything else. Specially, that chapter that has the conversation between Vishwamitra, Valmiki, and …. I strongly believe that this is something that every Hindu should read. I couldn’t help think about what is currently happening in the society as I was reading that part. Absolutely thought-provoking and gave me a perspective on the big picture of what’s taking place or rather what’s ailing the society.
Some of the philosophical bits towards the end moved me so much that I teared up, this probably has to do more with my emotional state than anything else. Nevertheless, that I got so moved despite not warming up to the storyline and the writing, says quite a bit about the author’s skills or rather his grasp on (Hindu) philosophy.
I will definitely pick up his non-fiction works at some point or the other, and his future fiction works for all the reasons I mentioned above.
So, there you go. 4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Forgot the most important part!
Something that I grapple with is differentiating between the act and the person. There are times when it’s quite a struggle for me to condemn the act and simultaneously continue to respect the person for the(ir) rest. Amish has subtly and deftly shown how one can do so and be so. Am I making sense? This book throughout was a beautiful, beautiful, example of how one can condemn an act and continue to love that person, or atleast not villainise that person as a whole. Something that I am guilty of at times. I mean in one of my recent notes here, I called a person evil. Clearly this book gave me a lot to think about.
—— Original Note——
To be honest, I didn’t enjoy the book in the beginning. I picked this up immediately after finishing the one on Raavana, and found quite a few bits repetitive. To add to that, I just couldn’t warm up to the writing style. Moreover, the liberty that has been taken to twist certain story lines/tracks within the Ramayana is something that didn’t appeal to me. If you would have asked me to rate the book at that point, I would have probably said ‘not more than a star’.
So what changed? It was the strong underlying dharmic philosophy throughout. I got sucked in despite my feelings about everything else. Specially, that chapter that has the conversation between Vishwamitra, Valmiki, and …. I strongly believe that this is something that every Hindu should read. I couldn’t help think about what is currently happening in the society as I was reading that part. Absolutely thought-provoking and gave me a perspective on the big picture of what’s taking place or rather what’s ailing the society.
Some of the philosophical bits towards the end moved me so much that I teared up, this probably has to do more with my emotional state than anything else. Nevertheless, that I got so moved despite not warming up to the storyline and the writing, says quite a bit about the author’s skills or rather his grasp on (Hindu) philosophy.
I will definitely pick up his non-fiction works at some point or the other, and his future fiction works for all the reasons I mentioned above.
So, there you go. 4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
November 19, 2022
Mythology is a tricky genre to nail. To take an already familiar story and add a new spin to it, all the while trying to keep the essence of the story intact requires great skill. My introduction to mythology novel was through Amish’s Shiva trilogy. I devoured them back in college, his words conjuring up images of Shiva and Sati so vividly that it felt like I was watching a movie. The thing with venturing into mythology genre is that there is absolutely no scope for the author to let their guard down. The benchmark they set becomes so high that only they can shatter it. Unfortunately, it is in this regard that War of Lanka has failed terribly.
The biggest flaw of this book was its writing. It seemed amateurish, with all signs of his previous work nowhere in sight. The characters lacked depth with even Raavan being portrayed as a slightly dim man. As I read, I kept waiting for Amish to redeem this story at some point but to my utter dismay, it never happened. The novel was hurried with little to no attention to detail, no strong storyline and terrible sentence formations. Compared to the Shiva trilogy, this book has quite a lot of loopholes. It was such a shame to see powerful characters like Sita and Ravana himself being reduced to half of their original potential.
Although the previous books were decent, this was a miss. Perhaps he wasn’t ready to bring this story to life yet. Editing most certainly needs polishing and I personally felt that this was a completely rushed attempt at publishing a novel that needed more work to be done on it.
I do hope that his next book is well researched and executed.
The biggest flaw of this book was its writing. It seemed amateurish, with all signs of his previous work nowhere in sight. The characters lacked depth with even Raavan being portrayed as a slightly dim man. As I read, I kept waiting for Amish to redeem this story at some point but to my utter dismay, it never happened. The novel was hurried with little to no attention to detail, no strong storyline and terrible sentence formations. Compared to the Shiva trilogy, this book has quite a lot of loopholes. It was such a shame to see powerful characters like Sita and Ravana himself being reduced to half of their original potential.
Although the previous books were decent, this was a miss. Perhaps he wasn’t ready to bring this story to life yet. Editing most certainly needs polishing and I personally felt that this was a completely rushed attempt at publishing a novel that needed more work to be done on it.
I do hope that his next book is well researched and executed.
October 24, 2022
I am aghast; what a poor project this was and an utter waste of time and wait.
The mighty characters that should have come out are laid to the ground and neutralised.
With this series I was seeing the characters in a new light but with this book the author went too far.
I don’t write negative reviews specially putting words to the negatives, but I’m obliged to as I did suggest this series to colleagues and friends.
The mighty characters that should have come out are laid to the ground and neutralised.
With this series I was seeing the characters in a new light but with this book the author went too far.
I don’t write negative reviews specially putting words to the negatives, but I’m obliged to as I did suggest this series to colleagues and friends.
December 12, 2022
This one has to count as the joy of giving up on a book. It was so bad — lazy writing, shoddy character work, and wannabe philosophy, what an unholy combination! If the incessant wail about women being equal to men (despite the story constantly saying otherwise) wasn’t bad enough, Mr Tripathi had to go and insert both the Harappan Civilisation and the pandemic in the plot. Talk of a waste of time 🤷🏻♀️
November 22, 2022
The characters in this book quote Seneca, Schopenhauer and Fontaine (time travel much?). There are detailed descriptions of how ants can be used for torture, and of individual muscles in the human body. Ravan and Sita enjoy a nostalgic chat over poha and idli-sambar (I kid you not).
Amish is a condescending author, and this reflects in his writing and in his characters. Every character is detached and all-knowing, and yet has a forced Gunda-like (huehuehue) peculiarity which exists simply to keep the story going. In a failed attempt to rationalize the story, he has stripped it bare of the philosophical subtleties. The story does not make sense even if read by keeping the Ramayan aside.
While I enjoyed 'The Immortals of Meluha', it has been a downhill journey ever since. And it ends in this trainwreck.
Amish is a condescending author, and this reflects in his writing and in his characters. Every character is detached and all-knowing, and yet has a forced Gunda-like (huehuehue) peculiarity which exists simply to keep the story going. In a failed attempt to rationalize the story, he has stripped it bare of the philosophical subtleties. The story does not make sense even if read by keeping the Ramayan aside.
While I enjoyed 'The Immortals of Meluha', it has been a downhill journey ever since. And it ends in this trainwreck.
October 24, 2022
I have read previous books of Amish Tripathi and I can undoubtedly say that Amish was the author who introduced me to Indian Mythological fiction and with time, piqued my interest in this genre. Shiva Trilogy remains to be one of my favorites till date and certainly the most favourite trilogy of all time. I read the first three books of Ram trilogy with the sole reason that I believed Amish would provide a new perspective to the orthodox beliefs of Hindu religion about Ramayana, just as he had done with Shiva Trilogy, mixing widely believed facts with fascinating fiction backed up by undefiable science. And he was the first author who introduced many Indian readers to the writing style called 'Multi Linear narrative' in which a connection brings many characters together at the end of the plot, while each character explores their own world individually and simultaneously, and heads towards a common endpoint. This writing style, as I later explored, was famously used by other Indian authors in mythological fiction genre such as Kevin Missal with his Kalki Trilogy (honestly, no other novel could explore this writing style better because there are not many trilogies in the world of Indian Mythological fiction and this style of writing needs nothing short of a trilogy at the least). While reading the Ram Chandra series by Amish, true to my expectation, the writing style was multi-linear narrative just like the Shiva Trilogy and I was excited to relive Ramayana from a new perspective. All the three books of this series had me hooked to the seat because there were so many minute details in every character and every page of the book which are not explored in a traditional TV series. And since I read the Raavan book in 2020, I have been eagerly waiting for the fourth installment of this series because finally all the complex characters of Ramayana will meet the final ground while continuing to display their complex characters to the fullest extremes.
However, my disappointment after reading 'War of Lanka' is profound and beyond words. Before I begin with my speculations about why this book turned out to be a disappointment, let me point out the flaws. The fine complexity in each character that was carefully established in the previous three books was not utilized to the fullest extent. Ram remains to be the forlorn husband, pining at the loss of her wife and attempting every means to free her from the clutches of evil Raavan. He is portrayed as just, dutiful and dharmic who loves his brothers and is loved back by them in equal measure. Doesn't every Indian who has read or watched Ramayana at least once know these three traits of Ram? Where are other character traits of Ram that were staged in the first book? Sita is shown as a nimble, fragile woman trapped in Lanka who is besotted with the story of her birth mother narrated by Raavan and in turn is attached implicitly to Raavan whom she sees as a vulnerable soft hearted human. All that is fine but where is the warrior Sita that was introduced in the second book? Why is she reduced to only a powerless, love struck woman waiting for her husband who she believes to be the next Vishnu. What about the prophecy where she was believed and accepted as the Vishnu and not Ram? Finally, Raavan was introduced as a multi-layered, complex, raw human in the third book, someone who was betrayed by fate and has only met hardships which made him stronger with time. Why was his character reduced to a mere besotted old man whose aim was only to narrate the story of his beloved to Sita and willingly accept his death in the hands of Ram even before he walked into Lanka with his army? Was Raavan nothing but a petty human who gave up without putting up a fight? This is in stark contrast to everything that our traditional Ramayana teaches us about the character of Raavan. Although I believed that Raavan cannot be simply reduced to an embodiment of evil, but had complex characteristics, this final book reduced him to a mere stupidity, a fool. And there were many such characters that were left unexplored such as Hanuman, Vali, Sugreev, Vibhishan, Angad, to name a few. The list becomes endless if I begin to point out at all the unexplored territories of the book which could have framed the plot more subtly, keeping the reader hooked till the very end.
The entire book felt like a narration of war, of the preparations that go into the war, of the strategies, emotion and pointless conversations. True to its name, the book only talks about war and everything involved in it, such as the dimensions of a fort, the design of a bridge, the secret tunnel and the hills surrounding it. These details can be visually entertaining but to a normal reader, these details are immaterial as they are hard to imagine. Instead what a reader would love to read is the interesting revelations in the plot, the twists and turns and the unfolding of the story. None of that existed and each chapter was predictable beyond measure.
I have never preferred Ramayana over Mahabharata, purely from a reader's standpoint because Ramayana has a linear storyline with linear characters that gives a simple message of victory of good over evil, while Mahabharata has complex characters displaying multitude of emotions and traits while the story unfolds with each chapter. True to this reason, you will find more mythological fiction books on Mahabharata than Ramayana. But I believed that if any author could write about Ramayana in a way that captivates the readers and can showcase the complexity of each character involved, although limited, it had to be Amish. But with the disappointment that has overtook me after reading this book, I am forced to wonder if Ramayana truly is extremely linear and unsuitable for writing complex, intriguing novels unlike Mahabharata. I also cannot undeniably question the declining writing style of Amish and I hope, for all the goodness of the reading world, that he finds the old writer in him who knew when to write about the forts, rivers, bridges and when to stick to story to avoid sounding like a history teacher.
However, my disappointment after reading 'War of Lanka' is profound and beyond words. Before I begin with my speculations about why this book turned out to be a disappointment, let me point out the flaws. The fine complexity in each character that was carefully established in the previous three books was not utilized to the fullest extent. Ram remains to be the forlorn husband, pining at the loss of her wife and attempting every means to free her from the clutches of evil Raavan. He is portrayed as just, dutiful and dharmic who loves his brothers and is loved back by them in equal measure. Doesn't every Indian who has read or watched Ramayana at least once know these three traits of Ram? Where are other character traits of Ram that were staged in the first book? Sita is shown as a nimble, fragile woman trapped in Lanka who is besotted with the story of her birth mother narrated by Raavan and in turn is attached implicitly to Raavan whom she sees as a vulnerable soft hearted human. All that is fine but where is the warrior Sita that was introduced in the second book? Why is she reduced to only a powerless, love struck woman waiting for her husband who she believes to be the next Vishnu. What about the prophecy where she was believed and accepted as the Vishnu and not Ram? Finally, Raavan was introduced as a multi-layered, complex, raw human in the third book, someone who was betrayed by fate and has only met hardships which made him stronger with time. Why was his character reduced to a mere besotted old man whose aim was only to narrate the story of his beloved to Sita and willingly accept his death in the hands of Ram even before he walked into Lanka with his army? Was Raavan nothing but a petty human who gave up without putting up a fight? This is in stark contrast to everything that our traditional Ramayana teaches us about the character of Raavan. Although I believed that Raavan cannot be simply reduced to an embodiment of evil, but had complex characteristics, this final book reduced him to a mere stupidity, a fool. And there were many such characters that were left unexplored such as Hanuman, Vali, Sugreev, Vibhishan, Angad, to name a few. The list becomes endless if I begin to point out at all the unexplored territories of the book which could have framed the plot more subtly, keeping the reader hooked till the very end.
The entire book felt like a narration of war, of the preparations that go into the war, of the strategies, emotion and pointless conversations. True to its name, the book only talks about war and everything involved in it, such as the dimensions of a fort, the design of a bridge, the secret tunnel and the hills surrounding it. These details can be visually entertaining but to a normal reader, these details are immaterial as they are hard to imagine. Instead what a reader would love to read is the interesting revelations in the plot, the twists and turns and the unfolding of the story. None of that existed and each chapter was predictable beyond measure.
I have never preferred Ramayana over Mahabharata, purely from a reader's standpoint because Ramayana has a linear storyline with linear characters that gives a simple message of victory of good over evil, while Mahabharata has complex characters displaying multitude of emotions and traits while the story unfolds with each chapter. True to this reason, you will find more mythological fiction books on Mahabharata than Ramayana. But I believed that if any author could write about Ramayana in a way that captivates the readers and can showcase the complexity of each character involved, although limited, it had to be Amish. But with the disappointment that has overtook me after reading this book, I am forced to wonder if Ramayana truly is extremely linear and unsuitable for writing complex, intriguing novels unlike Mahabharata. I also cannot undeniably question the declining writing style of Amish and I hope, for all the goodness of the reading world, that he finds the old writer in him who knew when to write about the forts, rivers, bridges and when to stick to story to avoid sounding like a history teacher.
October 17, 2022
Quite a disappointing read. This doesn't seem like Amish's work.
While we all know the story of Ramayan, the reason we like reading Amish's books is because he makes the journey interesting.
Sadly, that is not the case with this book.
Honestly, I feel a different author has written this book. The writing is inconsistent. There is no conflict in this story. There is a battle between someone who knows he is going to win and someone who knows he's going to lose. There's where I lost the interest.
Also, at one instant Ravan wants to send his son to safety on the other instant he doesn't object when his son joins the war. What happened to the father who was worried about his son? Who wanted his son to be the King of Lanka after his death?
Amish's trademark was the amalgamation of philosophy with the story at hand. That's what made Shiva trilogy a big hit. That is something missing in this book.
Also why would you add words like "surgical strike"??
At One point, Amish brings out the bollywoodbuff inside him and almost writes - Picture Abhi Baaki hai mere dost... why???
I understand that Amish is doing 4 jobs...it becomes tough but I would love to see the original Amish back in the final installment of this series.
While we all know the story of Ramayan, the reason we like reading Amish's books is because he makes the journey interesting.
Sadly, that is not the case with this book.
Honestly, I feel a different author has written this book. The writing is inconsistent. There is no conflict in this story. There is a battle between someone who knows he is going to win and someone who knows he's going to lose. There's where I lost the interest.
Also, at one instant Ravan wants to send his son to safety on the other instant he doesn't object when his son joins the war. What happened to the father who was worried about his son? Who wanted his son to be the King of Lanka after his death?
Amish's trademark was the amalgamation of philosophy with the story at hand. That's what made Shiva trilogy a big hit. That is something missing in this book.
Also why would you add words like "surgical strike"??
At One point, Amish brings out the bollywoodbuff inside him and almost writes - Picture Abhi Baaki hai mere dost... why???
I understand that Amish is doing 4 jobs...it becomes tough but I would love to see the original Amish back in the final installment of this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2022
I had been eagerly waiting for this book for years. Though I am satisfied with the storyline, this is the first book where I did not like Amish writing style. Many places, it felt like repetitive. Things were getting repeated too many times. Ram had been linked with dharma many times than I can count. Though in earlier books, he had been liked with rules again and again, it was not this much repetitive.
Somehow, though I like Ram story (Ramayana in general) better, I liked his writing style (and felt it was better) in Shiva trilogy, which was so good comparatively.
Somehow, though I like Ram story (Ramayana in general) better, I liked his writing style (and felt it was better) in Shiva trilogy, which was so good comparatively.
October 16, 2022
Definitely below par it's predecessors.
Well, Amish had the script pre-ready and he had to just mold the instances into the pseudo-scientific logics he has built in. Still the story drags with unnecessary attempts to force fit things.
I appreciate Amish, Chetan etc to bring reading to the masses. But horrible writing needs to be called out.
I will just say in the words used by Amish' Sita: "Woah".
Well, Amish had the script pre-ready and he had to just mold the instances into the pseudo-scientific logics he has built in. Still the story drags with unnecessary attempts to force fit things.
I appreciate Amish, Chetan etc to bring reading to the masses. But horrible writing needs to be called out.
I will just say in the words used by Amish' Sita: "Woah".
October 10, 2022
4.5/5 This was the best book of Amish’s writing career for me. The philosophical depth at times floored me. He worked hard on making the battles interesting (unlike the lazy movie PS-1). And he confidently made interesting changes to the story and characters. To history-buffs, the connections to Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation (and his own Shiva Trilogy too) will be delightful. All made for an engrossing and satisfying read.
Having said that there were some flaws :-
A) The changes to Raavan’s character arc made war seemed a bit forced. Like me, most readers will be reading this 2-3 years after the prev book “Raavan” and perhaps he needed to add a couple of events involving Raavan in the beginning here to make it convincing.
B) The use of the term “Mother India” repeatedly by the characters was bizarre for a story set in 3400 BC . So were the references to Seneca and Bhas who lived a few thousand years later. Easily avoidable mistakes.
Overall, I loved it and finished it in a couple of days.
Having said that there were some flaws :-
A) The changes to Raavan’s character arc made war seemed a bit forced. Like me, most readers will be reading this 2-3 years after the prev book “Raavan” and perhaps he needed to add a couple of events involving Raavan in the beginning here to make it convincing.
B) The use of the term “Mother India” repeatedly by the characters was bizarre for a story set in 3400 BC . So were the references to Seneca and Bhas who lived a few thousand years later. Easily avoidable mistakes.
Overall, I loved it and finished it in a couple of days.
January 15, 2023
This was a fast read, mostly because it has no parts where I had to pause and think or wonder or marvel. Also I have so many questions! Most of them are “whyyyyy?!” And “WHAT?!!”
I’ve read and heard many versions of Ramayana including the original, many takes on it, but this one was a little hard to digest. The first three books in the series were still ok, but War on Lanka seemed forced, like Amish Tripathi just wanted to get it over with. 🫤
I’ve read and heard many versions of Ramayana including the original, many takes on it, but this one was a little hard to digest. The first three books in the series were still ok, but War on Lanka seemed forced, like Amish Tripathi just wanted to get it over with. 🫤
November 6, 2022
Being a fan of Amish, the Ramchandra series has given me absolute glee by portraying the stories we have heard as a child through a scientific lens.
Also, with Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta ending with an absolute banger, the 4th book of the series had gathered attention even before Amish could even finish it.
But were all my expectations got fulfilled? was the hype worth it? -- NO!!!
Of course, Amish never misses out his subtle way of explaining intricate details, and when he does it, the whole scene becomes a treat for a reader.
The book is packed with few of those scenes were Amish apart from addressing nuance details, tried to break the 4th wall.
Yet, i personally felt the book was not meeting the expectations because of the following,
1. With the previous book developing Raavan's character to a great level, this one just reduced him to a mere normie wanting to die in hands of Ram
2. The repetition of lines caused a tint of irritation - "That Vibhishan may be a sneaky weasel, but a very smart sneaky weasel" (yeah dude u told me that a dozen times already!!)
3. The luck factor always being on the side of Ayodhyan forces throughout the book made Ram and his associates look weaker
in a nutshell, despite his style of rendering a knitting tale of mythology and science, war of Lanka missed to utilize the potential it had. The result being just another story for acquiescence
Also, with Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta ending with an absolute banger, the 4th book of the series had gathered attention even before Amish could even finish it.
But were all my expectations got fulfilled? was the hype worth it? -- NO!!!
Of course, Amish never misses out his subtle way of explaining intricate details, and when he does it, the whole scene becomes a treat for a reader.
The book is packed with few of those scenes were Amish apart from addressing nuance details, tried to break the 4th wall.
Yet, i personally felt the book was not meeting the expectations because of the following,
1. With the previous book developing Raavan's character to a great level, this one just reduced him to a mere normie wanting to die in hands of Ram
2. The repetition of lines caused a tint of irritation - "That Vibhishan may be a sneaky weasel, but a very smart sneaky weasel" (yeah dude u told me that a dozen times already!!)
3. The luck factor always being on the side of Ayodhyan forces throughout the book made Ram and his associates look weaker
in a nutshell, despite his style of rendering a knitting tale of mythology and science, war of Lanka missed to utilize the potential it had. The result being just another story for acquiescence
October 17, 2022
The end of a genre(?) - War of Lanka tries to bank on the same revivalistic tones of earlier work but what it's predecessors had and it doesn't is the exploration of various aspects of "character", often tying people into rigid personas.
The book itself is shoddily researched and haphazardly strung together with reinvented theology. Amish delves deep into the orgy of naming and Sanskrit phrase-throwing without giving readers a page worth of emotion or connection to the characters.
The historical quotations from philosophers from 3rd century BCE Greece or 18th century Germany break the flow and placement of the story and at the same time destroying the end "connect" to Meluha that the author attempts
Various aspects of warfare are incorrectly imagined and repeated multiple times showing a simple and cursory understanding of medieval warfare at best. Postulating arrows flying off accurately from a modern day helicopter-like-vehicle (Pushpak Vimaan) is just more shoddy writing.
Disappointed.
The book itself is shoddily researched and haphazardly strung together with reinvented theology. Amish delves deep into the orgy of naming and Sanskrit phrase-throwing without giving readers a page worth of emotion or connection to the characters.
The historical quotations from philosophers from 3rd century BCE Greece or 18th century Germany break the flow and placement of the story and at the same time destroying the end "connect" to Meluha that the author attempts
Various aspects of warfare are incorrectly imagined and repeated multiple times showing a simple and cursory understanding of medieval warfare at best. Postulating arrows flying off accurately from a modern day helicopter-like-vehicle (Pushpak Vimaan) is just more shoddy writing.
Disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2022
This did not feel like reading Amish Tripathi at all. I missed his earlier writing style of the the Shiva Trilogy. The book is too long and could be at least a 100 pages shorter. Also, too much space is given for details which end up reducing the impact of the story, for example, almost 10-15 pages are spent on the engineering details of bridge building. The character of Hanuman is not given the importance it had in the original story.
I had high expectations from this book, but sadly those were not fulfilled. Hopefully, the next book will be better.
I had high expectations from this book, but sadly those were not fulfilled. Hopefully, the next book will be better.
May 9, 2025
ngl i was so excited for this and then...this entire book happened.
no for real i'm so mad. like the first three books had me invested, i was just waiting to see what was gonna happen next i mean i knew what was gonna happen next cause this is based off an indian epic but like the plot purposes and storytelling is a thing okay
im so disappointed. i expected so much more. where's the drama. where's the action. this entire story felt like the reading equivalent of chewing on a piece of untoasted plain white bread.
no seriously, actual sawdust, idk if i even wanna read the next book anymore (i think there is one? i'm not invested enough to check)
no for real i'm so mad. like the first three books had me invested, i was just waiting to see what was gonna happen next
im so disappointed. i expected so much more. where's the drama. where's the action. this entire story felt like the reading equivalent of chewing on a piece of untoasted plain white bread.
no seriously, actual sawdust, idk if i even wanna read the next book anymore (i think there is one? i'm not invested enough to check)
November 5, 2022
While a book having a majority of its story describing a war should have been glorious, I felt that this book seemed more like an information dump than telling the war story. All of the characters seemed one-dimensional.
I'm hoping the next book makes up for it with the cunning and strategic manoeuvres that was somehow missed here.
I'm hoping the next book makes up for it with the cunning and strategic manoeuvres that was somehow missed here.
October 6, 2022
This is 4th book in the series and I am not very impressed by the book due for many reasons.
The first and foremost reason is the characterization of Ravan, From the start to the end, it showed as Ravan already knew as in he just showed little to no interest to fight back. That makes the whole war thing kind of a planned and dull act only, He never had a range of emotions like rage or vengeance even though his brother and son died. he moment at any war situation one side kind of surrenders, the story is never able to hold you for the big thing or any big reveal or any big planning.
Second, the much-anticipated saga of Vashishta and Vishwamitra, Which kind of being set up in the last book, has Never been utilized fully, They just have a glimpse here and there. In the last part, this duo was set up as the mastermind behind all these conflicts and they know how this will go, In this book, both are just there and both were not able to do any significant influence in the war.
The third and last thing I didn't like is, the WAR setup takes a long time which is understandable but WAR seems to be in such a hurry, that it seems like the author is in too hurry to complete all the important and significant things from Ramayana and make it done asap.
But above all, as we all know Ramayana and how it goes. the author's attempts to rewrite the saga are praiseworthy. Writing is easy.
The first and foremost reason is the characterization of Ravan, From the start to the end, it showed as Ravan already knew as in he just showed little to no interest to fight back. That makes the whole war thing kind of a planned and dull act only, He never had a range of emotions like rage or vengeance even though his brother and son died. he moment at any war situation one side kind of surrenders, the story is never able to hold you for the big thing or any big reveal or any big planning.
Second, the much-anticipated saga of Vashishta and Vishwamitra, Which kind of being set up in the last book, has Never been utilized fully, They just have a glimpse here and there. In the last part, this duo was set up as the mastermind behind all these conflicts and they know how this will go, In this book, both are just there and both were not able to do any significant influence in the war.
The third and last thing I didn't like is, the WAR setup takes a long time which is understandable but WAR seems to be in such a hurry, that it seems like the author is in too hurry to complete all the important and significant things from Ramayana and make it done asap.
But above all, as we all know Ramayana and how it goes. the author's attempts to rewrite the saga are praiseworthy. Writing is easy.
February 5, 2025
Is it just me or has Amish's writing style deteriorated exponentially over time? I have so many issues with this book but I will just mention the major one in this review. "Myth Retelling" and "REWRITING the Myth" are two completely different things. One is a good way to get the newer generation into reading and understanding myth and the other is disrespecting the canon. The way Amish wrote "Immortals of Meluha" and "Secret of the Nagas" ("Oath of the Vayuputras" to a certain extent) was great. Humanizing the Gods that are revered in our community, giving a scientific explanation to the mythical and magical elements of the epics, it was refreshing to read. But with the Ram Chandra series, it is just Amish taking up the basic plot of Ramayana and rewriting the tale in a way that suits him. Extremely, extremely disappointed.
March 5, 2023
Context:
I had always been a fan of Amish’s work. Since I read the first of his Shiva Trilogy, I always had pre-ordered new releases. Not necessary to mention, I was looking forward to the War of Lanka since long. I waited eagerly for whooping 3 years! For the revisit, I had to go through YouTube videos to remember the previous books’ storylines. After having revised the previous mighty stories, I was excited to read this book.
Diving deep:
The first 5 chapters, precisely, were excellent. Had me remember all the old-time stories, and the way I loved Amish’s work. They were very intriguing and engaging. The real problem, in my opinion, started from Chapter 6 onwards. It was when Ravan ‘Ji’ and Kumbhkaran ‘Ji’ had so-called deep conversations with Sita in her quarters, where they kept her after kidnapping. I started loosing interest, to know that Ravan ‘Ji’ is willing to fight a war only for the sake of making a hero. I was confused and baffled to know where the storyline was going. There were multiple face-palm moments henceforth. I wish it were written differently. I wished Amish didn’t ruin the beloved series for me! I personally liked the philosophical conversations in Amish's books. But here, I was taken aback by the conversations between Sita and Ravan ‘Ji’, where Ravan ‘Ji’ made no sense at all. All his empire, all his wealth, all his life, all his family (at least the ones he loved - Indrajeet & Kumbhakaran), all his pride, all his achievements, all his creativity, precisely his everything - gone. For what? To make Ram the next Vishnu. It looked more like a forced Vishnu to me.
Everything from then on looked like a bias towards our hero, Ram. Another example, when king Bali demanded combat. Towards the end of battle, it was obvious, the hero would win, but this too was dragged and was on purpose. Bali died intentionally! Such a waste of talent! Reason: He wanted to have a dignified death after knowing the truth about his son. It was pure suicide. Double face-palm. Why would you make a storyline such that you’d build the character strong only to make them appear weak... and ready to die for some funny reasons?
Sita, in her quarters, looked like a side character, which was one of my favorites in the past books of the series. She would just give in to the arguments. She didn’t look like wanting to win any debate. She would just sit there, admire her husband, Ram, for his battle tactics. She refuses to go with either Hanuman ‘Ji’ or Arishthnemi ‘Ji’ and was convinced for a war. The war that could have been avoided. The war that could have saved a lot of innocent lives. But how could she then make her husband a (forced) Vishnu?
The conversation between Ravan/Kumbhkaran and Sita (where they try to convince Sita for a baseless war), the conversation between Hanuman/Arishtnemi and Sita (where they try to convince her to go back with them to avoid a baseless war) - were not convincing. The whole story of war could have been avoided. The plot in itself needed to be stronger. 'Amish's writing style' stronger. It looked more like a typical Desi daily soap drama.
Over-emphasize many aspects, which happened as many times, as to give cringe. Sita admiring Ram a bit too much; mention of how Ram’s army was ethical a bit too much; Ravan adamant to fight and loose it on purpose a bit too much; Kumbhkaran admiring his brother a bit too much.
According to Ram, the definition of Dharma and Adharma changes according to convenience. Killing the civilians - Adharma, but burning the crops so that they couldn’t survive - Dharma! Providing the flu medicines to Lankans - Dharma, but using their own against them (Vibhishan) - Dharma!
I literally had to skim over the last few chapters, because the battle looked useless to me. It eventually made me fade my interest in the story and I became numb to the story!
Writing style:
I always admired Amish’s writing. I liked the way he would give conversation sentences at the start of chapters, and give the background to the point of this conversation hence. But at places, he tried to make it more modern, with the latest terminologies used at many places. This doesn't look like the medieval era! ‘Good policeman, bad policeman’. 'Surgical strike’. I was a bit paranoid about nonusage of Oxford comma, which hasn’t been used throughout the book. At many places in-chapter separations were missing. This was the worst one, and I quote - “checking done in less than you took to read the two paragraph above”. When I read a book, I usually see myself getting fully indulged in it. Something like these break the momentum, forces me to take a break, take a deep breadth, and remind myself not to feel cringe, and continue further.
Good part:
I liked fruitful conversations with intelligent and mature debate amongst the characters. Vashishth and Vishwamitra’s past conversations were good. It constantly kept the interest going, to know as to what happened to these both, they were so close! I liked Ayodhyan’s brothers love and respect towards each other. The fighting scenes were good. Love and respect amongst Kumbhkaran and Ravan was admirable. The fighting scene was nicely written and narrated - Kumbhakaran vs Elephants; the torture of Ayodhyan soldier gave me chills; Lakshman vs Indrajeet was superb;
TL/DR:
On one hand, I respected the series way too much to be able to leave the book in between. On the other hand, I wish I could unread this. The review is with a very heavy heart, as it comes from an aficionado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2022
It was an interesting read and I liked reading fiction after a long time. It's true that we Indians can never get bored of Ramayana and are ready to go through so many retellings and interpretations. I still feel the story can be developed bit more. I feel the 3rd book in this ram chandra series was probably the best and that still continues to be the case. The character arc of ravaan could have been explored more but that's just my view. Overall it's a nice read and one can sit with the whole series.
October 11, 2022
Serious letdown
Having read all of Amish's title, this one was a real disappointment. Weak plot, weak characterization and a book without any thrills. Utterly boring. Tough to finish.
Having read all of Amish's title, this one was a real disappointment. Weak plot, weak characterization and a book without any thrills. Utterly boring. Tough to finish.
January 2, 2023
The first three books built up to what was sure to be an epic war after which we were supposed to get Ram and Sita working together to build the perfect society - Meluha tying into the Shiva Trilogy. I think that much was a given looking at how the story beats closely followed the Ramayana.
Boy, was it a let down! In a 500 paged book titled War of Lanka, barely 150 pages in, one of the central character remarks something to the effect of, We will easily beat Ravan, the real war will come after.
And if one was to think Ravan would be the epic villain we all know and love from our childhood, he has been emasculated and made into a whiner who just wants to die. An arc he shares with Vali. Sugreev and the Vaanars are nowhere relevant in the story (I understand it's a fictional retelling with huge artistic freedoms taken, but as a South Indian, I can't help but take it a wee bit personally)
Also in a story with Malayaputras as a tribe, Sabarimalai (Shabarimala in this text) is erroneously transliterated as and to the String of Shabari (What?) nonchalantly sidelining the real translation as a local misinterpretation and pushing a homophone in Sanskrit as the true meaning.
Ayodhya and Bharat take centrestage in the war and the Vanars, the architects of the Rama Setu, the burning of Lanka, the Sanjeevani adventure all are either absent or severely corrupted.
There's enough and more about the story beats not landing anywhere close to where they should but the narrative style if passable before is atrocious now. While describing Vibhishan's ingenuity in building a tunnel in a fort, Amish through Lakshman describes him as a smart sneaky weasel, a very smart sneaky weasel, a very, very smart sneaky weasel, a bloody smart sneaky weasel, a genius sneaky weasel and if there was more, I don't and don't want to remember it...
The repetition of "that was his/her Gurukul name" or the constant reminder of a character being a Naga and the description of their deformity may increase the word count but annoy the reader to the core. Informing the reader is one thing, irritating is a whole different one.
In a desparate bid to seem relavant, Amish has done it yet again... The previous book had Sabarimalai much earlier that it should have and this one has pandemics and surgical strikes, just because...
For all its demerits, the book does have some saving graces. Amish has a flair for introducing a bit of philosophy in his books, infact I have found his columns and speeches to be quite insightful although I might not agree with all of them, and this book has some too. He is a little bolder while stating them though and leaves a lot to interpretation, I am sure, to the chagrin of those it ruffles the wrong way. The battle scenes are written fairly well and it doesn't get too boring. The war could have been longer though, you don't build to the war through three and quarter books and almost a decade only to say the real war is later and finish this one off in less than a few dozen pages and literally 2 days in story time...
Oh, I guess we're back to dissing the book again! Why. Does. He. Write. Like. This? It's annoying, it's weird, it completely renders the comma useless, and most importantly, it's how children write! And what's with Bro in every other line!?
Before I lose my mind over this further, I think I'll call it a close to (in a first) my spoiler filled review (more of a rant) of the War of Lanka.
The 2 stars have more to do with the nostalgia trip and what could come next (I don't know why I'm still hoping) than anything this one had...
Boy, was it a let down! In a 500 paged book titled War of Lanka, barely 150 pages in, one of the central character remarks something to the effect of, We will easily beat Ravan, the real war will come after.
And if one was to think Ravan would be the epic villain we all know and love from our childhood, he has been emasculated and made into a whiner who just wants to die. An arc he shares with Vali. Sugreev and the Vaanars are nowhere relevant in the story (I understand it's a fictional retelling with huge artistic freedoms taken, but as a South Indian, I can't help but take it a wee bit personally)
Also in a story with Malayaputras as a tribe, Sabarimalai (Shabarimala in this text) is erroneously transliterated as and to the String of Shabari (What?) nonchalantly sidelining the real translation as a local misinterpretation and pushing a homophone in Sanskrit as the true meaning.
Ayodhya and Bharat take centrestage in the war and the Vanars, the architects of the Rama Setu, the burning of Lanka, the Sanjeevani adventure all are either absent or severely corrupted.
There's enough and more about the story beats not landing anywhere close to where they should but the narrative style if passable before is atrocious now. While describing Vibhishan's ingenuity in building a tunnel in a fort, Amish through Lakshman describes him as a smart sneaky weasel, a very smart sneaky weasel, a very, very smart sneaky weasel, a bloody smart sneaky weasel, a genius sneaky weasel and if there was more, I don't and don't want to remember it...
The repetition of "that was his/her Gurukul name" or the constant reminder of a character being a Naga and the description of their deformity may increase the word count but annoy the reader to the core. Informing the reader is one thing, irritating is a whole different one.
In a desparate bid to seem relavant, Amish has done it yet again... The previous book had Sabarimalai much earlier that it should have and this one has pandemics and surgical strikes, just because...
For all its demerits, the book does have some saving graces. Amish has a flair for introducing a bit of philosophy in his books, infact I have found his columns and speeches to be quite insightful although I might not agree with all of them, and this book has some too. He is a little bolder while stating them though and leaves a lot to interpretation, I am sure, to the chagrin of those it ruffles the wrong way. The battle scenes are written fairly well and it doesn't get too boring. The war could have been longer though, you don't build to the war through three and quarter books and almost a decade only to say the real war is later and finish this one off in less than a few dozen pages and literally 2 days in story time...
Oh, I guess we're back to dissing the book again! Why. Does. He. Write. Like. This? It's annoying, it's weird, it completely renders the comma useless, and most importantly, it's how children write! And what's with Bro in every other line!?
Before I lose my mind over this further, I think I'll call it a close to (in a first) my spoiler filled review (more of a rant) of the War of Lanka.
The 2 stars have more to do with the nostalgia trip and what could come next (I don't know why I'm still hoping) than anything this one had...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2022
Magnificent....
The best thing in Amish books that it blend science so well in the writings. The making of Ramsetu, war strategies, pushpak viman and many other things are a perfect blend of science and history and the genius brain of author.
It is written so well that even Ravan's death will bring tears in the eyes of readers.
The humors, the emotions everything feels so real.
The feeling that you want to know the coming things so eagerly and at same time not to end story or finish the book, is kind of best feeling that a reader can have. And this is one such story.
And yes I wait eagerly for the Rise of Meluha.
The best thing in Amish books that it blend science so well in the writings. The making of Ramsetu, war strategies, pushpak viman and many other things are a perfect blend of science and history and the genius brain of author.
It is written so well that even Ravan's death will bring tears in the eyes of readers.
The humors, the emotions everything feels so real.
The feeling that you want to know the coming things so eagerly and at same time not to end story or finish the book, is kind of best feeling that a reader can have. And this is one such story.
And yes I wait eagerly for the Rise of Meluha.
November 12, 2022
How many of you in India got this book only because of Amish's name on the cover?
If you bought this, hopefully, you would have read the previous 3 books in the Ram Chandra series as well. How did you find this book (and the previous ones)?
Well, having read the Shiva trilogy and now the Ram Chandra series, one thing I have understood is that Amish does really great starting with the first book of the series but with each subsequent book, the storyline and narration just start degrading. It happened with the Shiva trilogy and has happened with the Ram Chandra series too.
While I like Amish's way of reimagining and explaining Hindu mythologies and mythological characters from a more practical and logical point of view which seems more believable, it hurts to see the original storyline of the great epics being changed and degraded in an attempt of being creative and making the book more saleable and ready for being adopted on the screen.
In the last book of Ram Chandra Series, War of Lanka, if we just try to ignore the above, one can't ignore irritatingly funny dialogues where Sita addresses Ravan as "Ravan Ji" and Hanuman as "Hanu bhaia"? And someone else who has a crush on Hanuman calls him "Hans". Really? That's not the kind of dialogue we expect in the retelling of great epics like Ramayana. Well, one could justify that "Ravan Ji" or "Hans" is in line with the story that Amish is narrating, but that's where he went wrong. He just changed the crux of a great epic in an attempt to re-imagining things. Just imagine Sita and Ravan having a hearty talk in Ashok Vatika and all the above will be justified :)
Let us ignore even this. How can one ignore the extremely slow pace and the poor narration which is just unable to hold the reader glued to the book? I literally struggled (thinking several times to DNF) and breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the last page. Amish, where did your magic go?
While this book did not click well with me, I have seen some great reviews coming in as well from fellow bloggers. Probably this book was just not meant for me. If you have already bought this book, let me know how you find it. If you have read the previous 3 books in this series, go ahead and conclude the story in this last book and let me know if you feel the same as I felt.
If you bought this, hopefully, you would have read the previous 3 books in the Ram Chandra series as well. How did you find this book (and the previous ones)?
Well, having read the Shiva trilogy and now the Ram Chandra series, one thing I have understood is that Amish does really great starting with the first book of the series but with each subsequent book, the storyline and narration just start degrading. It happened with the Shiva trilogy and has happened with the Ram Chandra series too.
While I like Amish's way of reimagining and explaining Hindu mythologies and mythological characters from a more practical and logical point of view which seems more believable, it hurts to see the original storyline of the great epics being changed and degraded in an attempt of being creative and making the book more saleable and ready for being adopted on the screen.
In the last book of Ram Chandra Series, War of Lanka, if we just try to ignore the above, one can't ignore irritatingly funny dialogues where Sita addresses Ravan as "Ravan Ji" and Hanuman as "Hanu bhaia"? And someone else who has a crush on Hanuman calls him "Hans". Really? That's not the kind of dialogue we expect in the retelling of great epics like Ramayana. Well, one could justify that "Ravan Ji" or "Hans" is in line with the story that Amish is narrating, but that's where he went wrong. He just changed the crux of a great epic in an attempt to re-imagining things. Just imagine Sita and Ravan having a hearty talk in Ashok Vatika and all the above will be justified :)
Let us ignore even this. How can one ignore the extremely slow pace and the poor narration which is just unable to hold the reader glued to the book? I literally struggled (thinking several times to DNF) and breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the last page. Amish, where did your magic go?
While this book did not click well with me, I have seen some great reviews coming in as well from fellow bloggers. Probably this book was just not meant for me. If you have already bought this book, let me know how you find it. If you have read the previous 3 books in this series, go ahead and conclude the story in this last book and let me know if you feel the same as I felt.
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