The day when I felt sorry for Malik Kafur...
Yes, I felt sorry for such an evil historical character for the first time in my life after reading this book.
"Gods, Kings & Slaves" is one of the best English novels from India that I have read in the recent years.
There are abundant number of historical novels written in English or other regional languages of India. Most of them glorify some king and try to encourage hero worship. But, in this novel all the characters are realistic. They would love, hate, worship, kill, win and lose. They would be audacious as well as fearsome. The characterization of all the characters are very natural. The author is not inclined towards any particular character and tries to exalt or degrade any character.
The story-line is based on some lesser known historical facts (the later Pandyas and the invasion of South India by Malik Kafur). They are lesser known to Tamil Nadu and half of the story is literally unknown to the rest of India. The author is courageous enough to choose a story which is not well introduced to the majority population of this country.
Two parallel stories from two different regions of India make us to feel like reading two captivating stories simultaneously. As most of the details given in this novel match exactly the historical records, it is more like reading the history narrated in an interesting way.
The success of a story is determined on the basis of the reader who would like to put himself/herself on the shoes of the characters that he/she reads about. When Malik Kafur gets betrayed, I feel sorry; when Khilji is going to be murdered, I fear; when Veera Pandyan retreats, I feel like slapping him; when Malik Kafur enters into the temple, I feel like jumping into the scene and face him.
There are two sets of authors when it comes to the historical fiction. The first set of authors simply avoid writing the details of war strategies. The second set of authors write in detail about the battle, which would be too boring for the readers. However, this author gives all the details of the battles, the strategies of the rulers and how the battles were planned in a very gripping way.
The part of Malik Kafur is much interesting than the part of the Pandyas. Some initial chapters of the Pandyan part could have been written much better. The spelling of few Sanskrit terms are different from the way how they are written by the people outside Tamil Nadu. Varna is different from caste; the author calls some of the Varnas as caste in a few places.
I have read all the Tamil novels written by this author. This novel is better than any of his earlier novels. It would be great if he continues to write many such historical novels in similar style in English.
Yes, I felt sorry for such an evil historical character for the first time in my life after reading this book.
"Gods, Kings & Slaves" is one of the best English novels from India that I have read in the recent years.
There are abundant number of historical novels written in English or other regional languages of India. Most of them glorify some king and try to encourage hero worship. But, in this novel all the characters are realistic. They would love, hate, worship, kill, win and lose. They would be audacious as well as fearsome. The characterization of all the characters are very natural. The author is not inclined towards any particular character and tries to exalt or degrade any character.
The story-line is based on some lesser known historical facts (the later Pandyas and the invasion of South India by Malik Kafur). They are lesser known to Tamil Nadu and half of the story is literally unknown to the rest of India. The author is courageous enough to choose a story which is not well introduced to the majority population of this country.
Two parallel stories from two different regions of India make us to feel like reading two captivating stories simultaneously. As most of the details given in this novel match exactly the historical records, it is more like reading the history narrated in an interesting way.
The success of a story is determined on the basis of the reader who would like to put himself/herself on the shoes of the characters that he/she reads about. When Malik Kafur gets betrayed, I feel sorry; when Khilji is going to be murdered, I fear; when Veera Pandyan retreats, I feel like slapping him; when Malik Kafur enters into the temple, I feel like jumping into the scene and face him.
There are two sets of authors when it comes to the historical fiction. The first set of authors simply avoid writing the details of war strategies. The second set of authors write in detail about the battle, which would be too boring for the readers. However, this author gives all the details of the battles, the strategies of the rulers and how the battles were planned in a very gripping way.
The part of Malik Kafur is much interesting than the part of the Pandyas. Some initial chapters of the Pandyan part could have been written much better. The spelling of few Sanskrit terms are different from the way how they are written by the people outside Tamil Nadu. Varna is different from caste; the author calls some of the Varnas as caste in a few places.
I have read all the Tamil novels written by this author. This novel is better than any of his earlier novels. It would be great if he continues to write many such historical novels in similar style in English.
