My theme this year is blogging about my author brand. Wednesdays' posts are for Book Reviews.
Ayana: The Journey by Geetha Krishnan
I absolutely loved this book. I know very little about the many mythologies, legends, and lore from India, but enjoy finding out about them. (I do not know how much of this is a retelling of legends and how much is filled in by the author. Either way, I found it incredibly enjoyable.) My friend suggested this book to me, knowing how much I love these kinds of stories. She was so very right! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about omnipotent beings disguised as humans. I read the whole book in a few hours, barely able to put it down, wanting to know how it would turn out for Sita.
The plot is complex as some characters have multiple identities and lives, yet it is easy to follow along. The story is entertaining and fun to read. The author, who is from India according to the bio, came off as an authority to me. I would gladly read another work by this author.
I'm not sure where the title comes from or what it means. The cover image with the woman on fire does make sense, and in fact comes in to play in the opening. I'm also unclear as to what a Hala-Hala is, though I'm guessing it's a kind of poison. And what is a Pushpakavimana? (I found out on Google that it's a self-moving chariot.) I learned myths and a few words from this book.
Third-person POV is used throughout the story, as the thoughts of different characters are needed in some scenes.
A favorite line of mine was, "I am not going to do an unrighteous thing just because I have the power and ability." If I were to guess, I believe that Vishnu is the favored character and diety of this author.
Everything in the book seemed to have a purpose. The settings, especially the paintings, were well done. The friendship between two characters, and the love between two characters, reminded me very much of the similar beings in my own book series. It made me love the story even more.
I believe the theme, the life-lesson, was not to trick someone into being yours. A very appropriate lesson for this review, which I am writing on April Fools' day. I believe the story about why coveting is frowned upon is beneficial to society.
I don't know this author, but a friend of mine is friends with her on Facebook.
(A missing period, the word 'though' instead of thought, 'on' instead of or, 'life' instead of lift, and the first page of Chapter 63 appears to have been missed by the editor. A shame, as the rest of the writing is so flawless and makes the author seem like a fantastic story-teller. This is well worth ignoring a handful of small typos.)
Twitter @ormakal
Sounds like a retelling of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. Ayana means journey in Sanskrit. Mythology is big book business in India right now, lots of rewrites on the classics :)
ReplyDeleteHappy A-Zing!
So "Ayana: The Journey" means "the journey: The Journey"? Or I was just supposed to realize that Ayana was being translated for me. Okay. Cool. Thanks for the info! It was bugging me as to where the title came from.
DeleteYes, it is a translation for non-Indians. Indians would be so familiar with the allusion that Ayana itself would automatically be associated with that particular mythological story. In case you are interested in retellings of the Indian mythologies there are Ashok Banker and Amish Tripathi who have repurposed the Ramayana, Tripathi has sold in millions, Banker I know has had much critical acclaim but am not aware how successful commercially. Banker I think was the first - the pioneer in this genre in India.
DeleteMyths and legends are such a right fabric to start building stories - they seems to be popular at the moment all over the place which makes from some great reading. Hope this is the start to a great April!
ReplyDeleteTasha 💖
Virginia's Parlour - The Manor (Adult concepts - nothing explicit on blog)
Tasha's Thinkings - Vampire Drabbles
Thanks!
DeleteSounds fascinating! I love mythic fiction, and I love hunting clues and references in it. Thank you for the recommendation!
ReplyDeleteHappy A to Z!
The Multicolored Diary
You're welcome.
DeleteInteresting take on day 1. Its been a quite sometime since i have taken up this genre for reading. Thanks for suggesting. Review is crisp and like you rightly pointed out- mytholical stories educate us with a lot of new terms.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I love learning about other cultures.
DeleteSounds like it's a great book, and interesting theme too.
ReplyDeleteI try to gather all the A to Z Challengers in one easy place to visit, so I made a Linky Party. Please if you allow it, feel free to join:
AtoZ Linky party
All of the official participants are already gathered in one place, the OFFICIAL MASTER LIST.
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA
Good luck running your Linky. I left you a long comment on the main blog. I'm part of a team and we just barely manage. You're taking on a huge workload. Good luck. Sincerely, good luck.
That book sounds fascinating. I have recently read Stephen Fry's Mythos (the retelling of the Greek myths) and was entralled. I will have to check this book out.
ReplyDeleteNot So Sweet Toffee
That's Purrfect
I've seen hundreds of books with retellings of the Greek and Roman myths. I like finding other ones. I don't know why they're so rare.
DeleteThank you so much for this fantastic review. Oops on the typo. Sorry about that. I'm so happy you enjoyed this and thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I'm sorry, your name shows "Profile Not Available" so I can't come visit. You can leave me a link, if you like. :)
DeleteIndeed a great review. At least the editor waited until the 63rd chapter.
ReplyDeleteAlways appreciate the time you devote to the A to Z challenge - thanks.
~Moonie
https://wp.me/pDORj-3ZT
Thanks for the appreciation.
DeleteThat's a fun idea for Wednesday posts! Best wishes for a successful challenge.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is located at https://writerzengarden.com; I am just doing the one this year, but with a team of 20. It's been really fun so far.
Happy challenge, and stay well!
I'm really behind on my book reviews. But it's not the focus of my blog, just one part. So it seemed like a good idea to do one a week.
DeleteAdding this to my TBR! Sounds like you have an excellent plan for this year's A-Z :-)
ReplyDeleteAn A-Z of Faerie: Ankou
I played around with a few ideas. In the end, this just felt like the most productive.
DeleteRamayana retold...
ReplyDeleteGlad that this great Indian epic was relished by you.
Welfare unto all
Rab rakha