Book Review: The Vikramaditya Veergatha

Book Review: The Vikramaditya Veergatha by Shatrujeet Nath (Book 1: The Guardians of the Halahala, Book 2: The Conspiracy at Meru, Book 3: The Vengeance of Indra)

The Game of Thrones TV series has gone on to become one of the largest runaway successes of our times with a viewership that could rival or maybe even beat any other series. Having said that, the series originated from the books written by George R. R. Martin and any book lover worth his or her salt would swear that the books are so much better!

And with that seemingly random fact, let me get to the topic on hand, my take on the Vikramaditya Veergatha by Shatrujeet Nath. Mythological fantasy fiction as a genre has evolved tremendously in India over the last few years and many authors have dabbled in it some to resounding success and others who were way in over their heads. When I first heard the name “The Guardians of Halahala”, I didn’t know what exactly to expect and while the genre is one of my favourites after pure fantasy, I did not pick it up until a chance found me in the possession of the first 3 books of the series.

Having read a large number of books of this genre, I am sure that making your presence felt and standing out is a herculean task for any author but Shatrujeet from the very first book has raised the bar and how. I had decided that I would review each book of the series as I finished it but the first book flowed into the second and the second into the third so seamlessly that I found myself reading through them at breakneck speed and I write this after having read all three. As an aside, my wife started with The Guardians of Halahala after I was done with it and overtook me while reading The Vengeance of Indra – having quietly taking it away when I was only a quarter through it!

The story starts with Lord Shiva entrusting the dagger of Veeshada to Samrat Vikramaditya for safekeeping knowing him to be an upholder of all that is right and a worthy opponent to the best of adversaries. This dagger contains the leftover of the deadly Halahala poison that was revealed as a by-product of the churning of the ocean by the Devas and Asuras, rivals collaborating to find the much sought after Amruta. Both parties have been striving to get hold of the dagger and Shiva thought that Vikrama would be the ideal candidate to keep it away and foil any attempts by them to wrest it away. The books take us through the numerous conflicts Vikrama and his trusted aides have to grapple with in carrying out Lord Shiva’s charge.

The author starts weaving together a tight storyline from the first book itself and the plot, though complex, keeps you hooked from start to end. Samrat Vikramaditya (adapted from the Vikram Betaal story) of Avanti and his 9 councillors form the mainstay of this grand tale and every other sub-plot intermingles with the main story. The Samrat rules over Sindhuvarta, which comprises of many other nations, each with their individual ruler who is allied with Avanti, Vikrama’s own kingdom. Along with the humans which also include the Huna and Saka tribes, there are Devas, Asuras, Yakshas, Danavas, Pisachas, Garudas etc playing an equal and important role in the story. With so many characters, there is bound to be a lot of confusion and a general dilution of the plot. But this is where Shatrujeet surprises: each character in the books has been carefully etched and given enough background to ensure that their role in the proceedings is clear to the reader.

The level of detail amazes in many small but important ways; the Hunas and Sakas, both of which are imaginary races who are sworn enemies of the kingdoms of Sindhuvarta have been given their own language, which is as distinct from anything than I’ve ever read before. The physical descriptions of the multitude of characters are detailed so well that I could see each and every one of these in my mind’s eye with clarity. The same level of detail is also found in outlining the lives of different kinds of people described in the books including soldiers, tradesmen, palace attendants, merchants, nomadic tribes of the desert etc not forgetting the Devas, Asuras and Yakshas themselves.

There is a smooth intermingling of characters most of us are familiar with from our own knowledge of Indian mythology and our epics and while I have never observed any connection between them prior to reading these books, I found the interplay more acceptable and craftily executed to give us a masterpiece of a story, one that can hold its own against any of the other giants we have read and love. Many of the principal characters are ones that we know such as Samrat Vikaramaditya himself, the lord of the Devas – Indra, Hiranyaksha and Holika – the sibling consorts ruling the Asuras, Brihaspati, Narada, Shukracharya, Kubera the Yaksha, Betaala of the Underworld and a few others I might have missed out. These are ably supplemented by many other characters created by the author including the 9 councillors of Vikrama’s court, each of them with a definitive character that shapes the narrative ahead, the various kings who are allied with Avanti or in a few cases are against it and the Devas and Asuras who form part of the Indra’s and Hiranyaksha’s kingdoms respectively.

Shatrujeet has moved from the traditional definition of good and bad when it comes to the Devas and Asuras and given them both a common cause – getting the dagger of Veeshada for themselves so that they can defeat the other and are willing to go to any heights, right or wrong, to get hold of it. Given that nothing is truly black or white and there are a lot of varying shades of gray in between, this concept works really well in this day and world. The description of Indra, Holika and Hiranyaksha is a thing of beauty and challenges any other impressions you may have had of them previously. The same is true for many other characters but you will need to read the books to find out for yourselves.

As I have already mentioned before, the story is larger than life and each and every event in the book fits perfectly in place in this mammoth tapestry that Shatrujeet has woven. There was obviously a reason I’d mentioned the Game of Thrones books right at the start of my review and just like in it, the Veergatha too has many different strands running through it each having its own place and each coming back to seamlessly integrate into the main plot and hitting home hard. Not one place did I get the feeling of something being in excess or not required to keep the story going. I cannot fathom the amount of research and tracking that must have been required to make this happen. Ashok Banker’s Ramayana was another book series that I had loved and have re-read it multiple times – the Vikramaditya Veergatha is right up that alley and I am proud to acknowledge that there are Indian authors who can be compared with the best of them out there!

I could go on and on about these books and why you should read them but I guess I have almost written a chapter’s length and am in danger of not being read. To end with, a subtle hint for Shatrujeet: George R. R. Martin wrote the first 5 books in his series almost one after the other and hooked millions of readers worldwide to the Game of Thrones. He has still not released the ‘last’ book of the series and along with the bouquets has had many a brickbat thrown at him just for his tardiness in this matter. Enough said!

Rating: 4.5 / 5