Devi: Namaha

Devi (collected editions) #1

by Deepak Chopra, Shekhar Kapur

Remember the first time you saw Japanese comics? The excitement. The buzz. The sales. Here comes the next big thing - storytelling and comics from India. Devi (pronounced Day-vee) is India's first super-heroine. Tara Mehta, an unsuspecting young woman in the futuristic Indian city, Sitapur, is the Devi. She has no idea that she is about to become the centerpiece of a divine battle between the Gods of Light and the demon Lord Bala. Devi is a powerhouse of a story about a young woman battling for survival in a landscape of ancient legends, duty and fate. She walks the line between tradition, destiny and free will. Where will she fall? Between the Divine and the Diabolical there is Devi.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Science Fiction, Superheroes

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Deepak Chopra, MD serves as the Founder and Chairman of The Chopra Foundation, and Co-Founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.

As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Chopra transforms the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Known as a prolific author of eighty books books with twenty-two New York Times best sellers in both fiction and non-fiction, his works have been published in more than forty-three languages.

Chopra’s medical training is in internal medicine and endocrinology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Dr. Chopra serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, Founder of The Chopra Well on YouTube, Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Assistant Clinical Professor, in the Family and Preventive Medicine Department at the University of California, San Diego, Health Sciences, Faculty at Walt Disney Imagineering, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.

GlobeIn acknowledges Chopra as "one of top ten most influential spiritual leaders around the world." TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine."

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but so redundant

This was a cute review of the last 2 books, but from Will's point of view. Most of it was irritatingly redundant. Still cute from his perspective, but nothing mind-blowing to change things. The ending is what saved this book. Great ending to a wonderful romance.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but I just didn't. The characters were either flat, like Tara, who is kind but has no personality (she gives cricket equipment to orphans! her neighbors think she's a whore!) or cliche, like the hard-drinking detective who is at odds with his supervisor. Wow, haven't seen that before. The dialogue wavers between Whedon-esque and just ridiculous. And what are Mars and Ra doing in a book about an Indian goddess?

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the story better than the actual story itself. The main character, Tara/Devi, was seriously underdeveloped. There was not much of a back-story on her at all, so you couldn't tell what kind of a person she was before her transformation. In fact, there wasn't much about her after the transformation.
Really liked the art, though. Maybe the story line will progress with the next volume.

[Vignesh Kumar · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

Ugh. I wanted to like this but seriously, I can't.

The story and the characters was a lot more like a mixture of all Fantasy novels and comics. For example, the head God looked like Gandalf with the lightsaber. I was intrigued by the plot as it has Indian Mythology and the MC is the incarnation of Devi, War-Goddess. I thought that the Gods are all from Indian Myth but some are adapted from Greek and Egypt.

I didn't like anything in this book.

[Vikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Volume 1 Shekhar Kapur's Devi India's first Super Heroine then what was Shakti printed by Raj Comics in 2000s. Well that apart its a good start to a similar origin story here the Gods are assembled from all Myths so there is Ra from Egypt so Ares from Greece too and then some new Gods too. Tara Mehta is a girl who's is supposed to be born at the exact same moment when everything aligned and that means that Tara has to die for Devi to come in her body. So what happens next, well only Chaos where all the dark entities come to kill Tara and each other. After lot of action we finally come to the end of the first book and it was good overall now onto the next book.

I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

Waste of paper. Will just retells the first 2 books. So sad the first two books were so great and then this.....the first few pages of each chapter and the epilog were the only things worth reading.

[Kayla Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

my least favorite

This book is basically a recap of the first 2 books. It’s Will telling Lake all of his thoughts during the special moments in their lives. It is cute, but definitely not needed to end their story.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars

I was really intrigued by the premise of an Indian heroine and I loved the setting of the story, along with its hints to Indian culture. I also loved the

The story wasn't very interesting for me and I wanted to learn more about the main character, Tara. I also felt like there wasn't much to the antagonists and I didn't know enough about their motivations. I know it's the first volume in a series but it didn't really make me want to carry on with it.

This story has potential and maybe if I carry on with it, I'd enjoy following plot lines and character development. I was left wanting more, but in a bad way.

These are just my initial thoughts, and I may expand on some points in the future. I really wanted to love this, and I guess I did like it, but I can't help feeling a bit disappointed in the story.

[Di OBRIEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect conclusion to this trilogy 💔💞💕💝

I wouldn’t rate this a strong four star like books 1 and 2 of this trilogy were, but it certainly is deserving of more than just a three star rating. Slammed, Book 1, was told entirely from Layken’s POV, and this book is basically the same, only this time told from Will’s POV. Despite knowing the story from Book 1, it was nice to learn Will’s thoughts and feelings, and there were some additions as well that were previously unknown. With it’s beautiful and perfect ending, This Girl is a must read to conclude the Slammed trilogy.

[J Robin Harris Szabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Hoover book but not my least favorite book

I like happily ever after as much as the next person but I also enjoy a little excitement, possibly a twist or a bit of mystery. This installment lacked anything resembling that. It was a bit boring IMO but it brings the story to a close so if you’ve made it this far in the series, you might as well finish it.

[Lisa Huffaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rehash of the first two books

I enjoyed the first two books in the slammed series, but this one was nothing but a rehash of the first two books. The only new information was in the epilogue! I can’t believe an author could get away with this with their publisher!

[Ginny West · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a almost word for word re- write. Total money grab!

Hoover and her publisher should be ashamed to sell this book. Extremely disappointed. I've read all but maybe 3 of all her books and am skeptical to buy any more

[Michelle Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not normally one for point of view books but this one was great. Thanks colleen for another awesome read

[Sohini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good artwork. But so inspired by other, popular figures.

[Pratiksha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Death by male gaze.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Girl

Excellent third book in the series. Thank you for complete I g the story of Lake and Will. Or should I say beginning the story of Lake and Will.

[Lisa Cortez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg so good

It's the best conclusion for this series. U will look back and recap the best and worst of these lovebirds relationship. Another great book.

[Cathy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

this girl

Young adult genre or not, this is a great written book!!! I can’t wait for more… this 67 year old is now a yiung adult!

[M Catherine Clark]

Amazing Trilogy

This trilogy is AMAZING!!!! It has all the feels!! I’m sad it’s over. I would recommend these books to anyone who loves a good love story!!

[Kimberly King]

So weird. I didn’t read this book I read This Girl by Colleen Hoover. Looks like there’s some glitch or error with these 2 books.

[Michael Burnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing!

I read all three of the books in the Slammed series in 2 1/2 days. They will definitely make my best of 2023 list to be read again in 2024.

[gwen rutkowski]

I did not read this book.

[DC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, not as good as the first 2 in series

Waste of time. The first two books were better. Basically this was just a review from Will's side of things.

[Court P · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for “This Girl” by Colleen Hoover. Not sure why it is ringing up under this title. Strange. Sorry to give it 2 stars lol it’s for Colleen Hoover.

[Jennifer Smith nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

love

Love the story❤️❤️ the best of the books !!! The perfect Ending to the story and you can write more about the characters and stories

[Milliebot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review and others posted over at my blog.

Tara Mehta, a social worker in Sitapur, India, has no idea that she is about to become imbued with powers from all the gods and goddesses and inherit the mantle of Devi, protector of light. But the evil Lord Bala has his own plans and hopes to stop Devi’s reincarnation by taking Tara’s life, so he sends his own super powered henchmen after her.

I picked this up for $1.00 when I was on vacation and visiting my favorite used bookstore, Wonderbooks. I liked the cover art style (which is, sadly, the most important part of a comic for me) and was interested in the concept of a modern goddess with Indian influences.

In the beginning, we see Devi battling Bala alongside an army of what appeared to be monks. Bala is defeated and imprisoned and then we’re brought into modern times. I’m not sure what happened to the previous Devi, but now the group of monks – the Durapasya – have kidnapped Tara and plan begin the ceremony to infuse her with various powers from different gods and goddesses who gave their gifts to help stop Bala.

There’s a little montage showing some of the gods talking about what powers they are bestowing on Tara and I thought that was cute. My favorite was the techno-esque goddess that gave Tara the “coolest catchphrases” and good press – it made me laugh.

Tara is a little flat in this first volume, as the story focuses on the characters trying to help or hinder her in becoming the next Devi. I did enjoy that she was upset about her newfound powers because she never consented to them and I think that rebellion will strengthen her in future issues. I was also a little confused about what type of world Tara inhabits, as there seem to be plenty of people with superpowers. I wasn’t sure if that was the norm, or if these characters were hidden from normal society. There was a lot going on in this first volume, so I ended up with a lot of questions.

I do think I’ll enjoy the relationship with Devi and her cop buddy, Rahul, in future volumes, if I can get my hands on them. They seem to be a little scarce (at least on the sites I’m used to shopping on). I’m curious to see where the writers take this comic and hopefully I’ll be able to read further. If you’re a fan of anti-heroes and mutant comics, I’d say this is worth a try.

[Tathagata Kandar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going by Samit's previous work (The Gameworld series), I wasn't surprised by the Silmarilion influence - although that's probably true for almost any epic where a 'world' is created. It started off well-enough with the promise of a strong female lead which I lost after the first chapter - probably becasue the story has not begun yet - maybe I will fare better with Part 2.

The plot is engaging with the correct amount of action for a graphic novel and a shroud of mystery - to build an anticipation of soon to be revealed...
The characters are underdeveloped but that's to be expected from a graphic novel - although I would have liked a backstory on the main characters - even if it was just a few lines - maybe it's coming in the subsequent parts.

Among what I could make out, I find Kratha much more interesting than Taara - but that might be becasue her character is more evolved in this part - although the dichotomy of her being is not brought out strongly, again, probably it's a graphic novel. Rahul is obviously a cliche, and meant to be - there is a 'Sin City/Max Payne' - esque character to his narratives though which I would have loved to see properly IndianiZed.

Loved how the names of the different parts are a short story in itself.

Although this is a graphic novel, I won't comment on the artwork, simply becasue I don't feel up to the task. But I did like the models for Agantuk and Kratha.

Definitely reading the next one.

[H.P. Holo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning chapters of this graphic novel seemed almost too "American" in style to convincingly suggest that the book is one of India's first attempts to create its own unique comic industry. (According to the introduction, this was one of the stated purposes of the book.) However, as the story progresses, Indian mythology becomes more visible, and it becomes quite an enjoyable first volume. Parts of it are admittedly familiar (such as the rebellious hardened cop character and the important use of a secret organization); truthfully, if the book hadn't had the novelty of being Indian in origin and content, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, this Indian element is also what makes the story work when it does. Any fan of superhero comics who is looking for something a bit different to read might find an interesting experience in this book. I'm curious to try the following volumes to see how the story (and the culture of it) progresses.

[Jon]

In one of those strange international twists of inspiration, it seems like this comic is inspired by Buffy and some of Indian legends I've heard in places. (Maybe versions of the story of Kali? I'm not sure).. Of course, these seem to have also been an inspiration for later episodes I've seen of Buffy.[return][return]I say Buffy probably had and influence given the appearances of demons as vampires, but I could be exaggerating.[return][return]Wonderful art, although occasionally it seemed that it was difficult to make out the flow of action, like the panels were drawn really large and details lost when they were shrunk to fit the page.[return][return]Decent story so far although it all seemed a bit familiar. The last few pages though were interesting enough I'm going to pick up the second volume, [return][return]It does seem the target is a western audience and I have to wonder what comics would be like if the writers were writing primarily for an Indian audience.

[Himanshu Varshney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great graphics. Indian names western characters. Heavily influenced by greek gods. At its soul, it doesn't give any impression of indianness rather strongly reflects western god and goddess.