May 10, 2014 12:50 PM
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(Updated May 10, 2014 07:16 PM)
The Oath of the Vayuputras is the third and the final installment in the mythological fiction Shiva trilogy by Amish Tripathi which mainly deals with the final war between good and evil. It is full of skirmishes, strategies, tactics and philosophies. The book starts where The Secret of the Nagas left.
The book is full of actions and low on romance or any kind of side story. From the very start of the book, the battle begins and continues till the end. Action sequences are described in quite detail and are full of goosebump moments. Though Neelkanth's team have stronger hold, enemy's tactics are enthralling to make one go on the edge of their seats. There comes a moment where the reader may become sceptical of Shiva's victory.
However, it gets little gory and sometimes unbelievable. In a scene sati continues fighting even after her half skull is damaged by sword. She manages to fight best of the warriors with deathly injuries. It was as if she was not Sati but Sunny Deol.
Amish's story telling skill is at its best in the second half of the book. Even though it is the end of the series, there are enough twists in terms of battle to keep one glued to the book and because of engulfing war sequences, this book, even though twice in size of earlier book, is the fastest read I have experienced. I, sometimes, found it really hard to put the book down.
Sati's final fight, Parvateshwar's strategy in overcoming Vayuputra's elephants, Dakha's unconditional and biased love for Sati and warmonger Kartik's presence of mind amidst Bal-Atibal battle with Magadh comprises the outstanding part of the book. Apart from these, Amish's take on the post climax has touched me the most. No book that I read ended so beautifully with so many thought provoking enigma.
The book's glossary gives birth to a longing for incredible history of India. An inexplicable love and respect for India's glorious past emerges within. Amish gives a hint at the end of the book that may seems to be a topic of his next upcoming fiction series. He mentions about Athinakens hailing from Athen, Egypt and connects it to the Assassins brought in for the war in the final battle sequence of the book.
Amish has declared on Twitter that he has begun his work on next series keeping the topic a secret. The leader of the assassin group is also a very formidable character. The Oath of The Vayuputras has little more drawbacks than its earlier parts and thus makes it not the best of the three books which was an expectation. It has its own downsides.
One thing that a reader will surely notice is that the book is tad too long. Not because it has too many pages but because it could have been cut short dramatically. Amish's attempt to switch on and off between different scenes that he started using from The Secret of the Nagas works very well but fails miserably in few places in the third book where he gets too descriptive.
In the emergence and middle of war, description of unnecessary architectures of Vayuputra kingdom is pestering. Once adrenaline rush starts surging, it should not be hindered by slow pace lamenting or too long descriptive sequences. The story is also not free of flaws but are forgivable in the long run of the series. One such mistake was that if Neelkanth was to be from tribe of Vayuputras then why in the first place, people accepted Shiva as Neelkanth? Why did not Bhrigu criticise it initially?And if he did, Why Daksha did not believe in him even though he respects Bhrigu so much? Why would Dakha kept searching for Neelkanth outside the Vayuputras in the tribal regions of Tibet? Why Neelkanth was not verified by Vayuputras before being declared to public?
Another goof up is that, Kali and Ganesh even though not using somras lived for more than 100 years while Shiva turns old quite early and Kartik grew up very fast. Also, at climax, the sudden acceptance of Shiva as Neelkanth and Somras as evil is unconvincing. It could have been even better if the end would have not been abrupt. Amish has hasten the climax. The book could have been easily divided into two parts.
In the end, Amish tries to explain how Shiva and his children go on to be worshipped by generations to come. Kartik being called War of God is apt but Ganesh's stature of God of auspicious beginning and God of writing is not justified by the story. Also the story's aim was to pose Shiva as the greatest character to be hyped to the level of Mahadev but was weakened by the act of breaking vows and deliberately killing innocents.
On the other hand, Sati's, Parvateshwar's and Kartik's character turn out to be real heroes and draw more respect than that of Shiva.
One thing that I could not stop appreciating about Amish’s writing is that even the central character’s are not free of flaws and that is how reality actually is. That is how real life characters are. Book's post climax is controversial as Amish proposes that it was lack of belief of the following generations in the existence of the great characters, science behind war weapons & strategies and philosophies, that led to the superstitious belief of treating noble men as Gods and their highly reasonable rituals into unquestionable customs.
Thus, leading to the creation of civilization where questioning one’s own faith was considered a bad idea. Though I agree with the author here, but he himself contradicted it in his practical life by turning from an atheist to Shiva devotee.
Shiva trilogy ignites a wish to know the real story of Shiva and to read Mahabharatha. In conclusion, The Oath of the Vayuputra's is an intriguing battle, though little long, which serves as a satisfying end to the series leaving a thirst for Indian history in reader's mind. Those who have read the first two parts would love this one too. Unfortunately, this is not the best book in the series but is equally entertaining as Amish Tripathi succeeds in earning a loyal audience.
