The Immortals of Meluha – Book Review & Critical comments

The Immortals of Meluha (Shiva Trilogy #1) by Amish Tripathi was first published in 2010.  This 436-page novel is classified under fiction and mythology. The protagonist of the story is Shiva – the Hindu god and author tell a new story entirely different from the tales of Indian mythology. Amish chose the characters from the tales of mythology and produced a whole new story. The author believes that characters we consider Gods, were not Gods since the beginning. Instead, it was their Karma and actions which eventually made people to call them Gods. This book is the first part of the Shiva trilogy. The sequels to this book, The Secret of Nagas (Shiva Trilogy #2) and The Oaths of Vayuputras(Shiva Trilogy #3) were published in 2011 and 2013 respectively. 

The story is about a Tibetan immigrant Shiva, who arrives to save Suryavanshi’s of Meluha from the terrorist attacks from the east.

Check out my blogs on How I rate a book to see my book rating system and How to write a book review – A step by step guide to see how I review the books.

Why did I read this book

I read this book because I have heard so much about it. It looked like everybody around me has read this book. The verbal feedback of the book, from my friends (most of which are amatuer readers), was excellent and addictive. While I was exploring a book store one day, I saw the title The Immortals of Meluha. I immediately made my mind to read to see what it offers. Other two books of Shiva Trilogy were also available but I didn’t purchase them because I wanted to read this first and then decide to read the others.

My experience with this book

First thing I noticed about the book, after reading the first few pages, is the writing style. Which is pretty simple and mild. The narration and vocabulary are not so advanced. It will be easy for not-so-avid readers but people who read a lot might not like the writing style. Readers with an average vocabulary won’t need to consult the dictionary while reading. I didn’t find the story fascinating though it was not boring. The Immortals of Meluha wasn’t hard to finish to me, I was able to read the book in just three sittings. Overall, The book was pretty easy to read.

Critical comments on The immortals of Meluha

• Writing Style: The writing style in the book was too simple and not at all complex. You can even read it in a few hours in just one sitting. This book has very less to offer if you are trying to improve your vocabulary and reading skills.
• Characters: Many important characters were badly built. I would have loved to see some more character descriptions like Ayurvati, Brahaspati, and Kritika.  That could have made it more entertaining. The book provided a page with a list of characters in the story. I had to refer to that few times when I wasn’t able to connect to a character. If the characters were built in a proper way, the book might not need a dedicated page for the list of characters. Though I like the way the author builds the protagonist, Shiva.
• Storyline: The story was pretty slow, with not many twists. Though it keeps you involved, it is not something which you don’t want to keep aside. The story builds up slowly and soon you realize that it is building up to something big.
• Plot: The book is too predictable. Most of the times, when a conflict was going on, I was able to anticipate the next page. It is not something which can hold your breath. On the other hand, novels like The Girl on the Train were able to hold my breath.
• Conflict: The ending of The Immortals of Melhua happened too quickly. Everything seemed to be building since the first page and you find more than half of the book complete without any major event related to the main conflict. Near the end of the book, when actual conflict happens, it happens too quickly in a matter of a few pages. Though soon you see that there is more to come in the sequels. Still, there could be several other ways of ending the book.

Check out my blogs on How I rate a book to see my book rating system and How to write a book review – A step by step guide to see how I review the books.

Conclusion & Recommendation

I am rating this book to 3 stars. My recommendation to read The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi is specific to a certain audience. I do recommend this book to people who are trying to develop a reading habit. If you are expecting an interesting story, this book might disappoint you. On an additional note, you don’t need to be familiar with Hindu mythology because this is a totally distinct story. I don’t think it is going to leave any impact on my point of view, unlike other books like Wonder or Anne Frank has done on me.

My Rating: 3/5

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