“A comparison to LoTR doesn’t really do you justice.” – Mohan Kompella from USA
Ashok,
I had heard about the Ramayana series from a friend and when I was in India earlier this year, I bought all 5 books on sale there and brought them back to the US. I -just- finished the 5th book and I am sure you’ve heard this a few thousand times already, but they were unlike ANYTHING I’ve ever read before. Initially I had the same reaction as someone else here did – which is to think that these felt like reading Lord of the Rings, but now that I’m done with the 5th book, I don’t think that comparison really does you justice.
Hats off to your writing style, the evocative imagery and the sheer energy that flows through every page of every one of these 5 books. It was an unbelievable experience reading them. And also a BIG ‘thank you’ to you for doing this and as the blurb on one of your books [?] claims – this is definitely a retelling of a very ancient tale for a very modern audience. An amazingly and astoundingly well done retelling. Like your other hundreds of thousands of fans, I cannot wait for the 6th book and also cannot wait to see what you have done/will do with the Mahabharatha.
Last but not the least, the one thing that struck me as I was reading the Ramayana books was that there were extensive sexual undertones all through, specially when you describe Lanka and the various asuras (specially the Rakshasas, the Rakshasis and Supanakha) and their lives. Was the original Valmiki Ramayana equally detailed about these aspects ?
Anyway, once again, Kudos on doing what you have done and may your prolific writing enrich our lives for many, many years to come.
K. Shah’s reviews of Books 1 to 4 in Ramayana
BOOK REVIEW: BANKER, ASHOK – “PRINCE OF AYODHYA”
The Ramayana retold, yet again. However, this is one of the best versions I have been exposed to. Banker tells the tale of the Dark Prince in a very Simoqin-Prophesy manner.
The re-telling of the story itself does not begin by showing Rama as a demi-god; instead he’s only a teenager going through a life which is as normal as a prince’s can be. He jokes around with his brothers, teases Lakshmana and listens to dirty stories as told by a young shaivite monk. He is not shown as god; at least for not most of the book.
The latter portion of the book dips into the supernatural rather heavily. All the work done by the author to bring about a level of contemporariness and a smidgen of reality into the oft-told tale is slightly tarnished by the superhuman prowesses of both sides of the battlefield-to-be.
On the whole, the book is a delightful read. In this one book, Banker has done more than Rowling did in six books (to be fair to her, though, she didn’t have the opportunity to retell what is perhaps one of the greatest epics). Banker’s style of mixing Sanskrit and Hindi words into the speech of the various characters is surprisingly refreshing. Book two of the series (“The Siege of Mithila”) is now firmly in, both, the purchase pipeline and read pipeline.
Rating: 7.5/10
BOOK REVIEW: BANKER, ASHOK – SIEGE OF MITHILA
Book Two of Ashok Banker’s modern retelling of the Ramayana failed to deliver as well as its predecessor. Again, the chief culprit being the plot.
Sita is introduced in this book (as a character this time, not just somebody Rama and Lakshman talk about!). Early adventures lead to Rama and Lakshman attending her swayamvara as guests, but a show-down from deca-headed Ravana forces Rama to beat him for Sita (not that Rama minded that much!). This much covers two-thirds of the book.
One redeeming aspect of the novel is the way the ultrapowerful brahm-astra is treated. It is not just an all-destroying weapon which makes its possessor awesomely powerful. There is another side to it, a chilling cost to pay to wield it.
According to the warrior-turned-seer-mage Vishwamitra, the person who invokes the weapon loses all rights to attaining moksha. He will be caught in an eternal cycle of birth and death and rebirth. Rama and Lakshman however, because of having invoked the mahamantras of bala and atibala, just lose the superhuman strength gained by invoking the two mahamantras. The sequence describing the unleashing of this dev-astra shows the same slick narration so well wielded in Book One.
On the whole, though, a predictable disappointment – as most follow-up books are. Do not ever make the mistake of reading this book before Book One (“Prince of Ayodhya”; reviewed here)
Rating: 5/10
BOOK REVIEW: BANKER, ASHOK – DEMONS OF CHITRAKUT
Book Three of the Ramayana picks up again into the slick narration and dramatic sequences that held Book One up so well.
The plot in this book (which is just a sub-plot of the entire epic) revolves around Kaikeyi’s seeking to banish Rama into exile and Ravana’s catharsis as a result of being attacked by the brahm-astra. The story has been divided well and, although no related sequences follow each other, has been woven together very well.
A lot of characters are brought into greater focus in this book. We see shades of Kausalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi, Bharat, Vibhisena (Vibhishana), Manthara and Dasaratha which were kept hidden in the first two books. There is also the re-introduction of foes in the old books entering into a reluctant alliance.
No, Hanuman does not make his appearance yet.
Action sequences in the book are described brilliantly, as also done in the earlier two books. In addition, the whole scene of Kaikeyi’s asking Rama to leave for exile and his consequent attempt to bid goodbye to his newly wed (all of one night) bride Sita is heart-rending and beautifully told as well.
This book, if read after Book One and Book Two respectively, is worth every rupee and minute spent on it.
Rating: 7.5/10
BOOK REVIEW: BANKER, ASHOK – ARMIES OF HANUMAN
Book Four of the Ramayan picks up the tale in the woods of Chitrakut, where Rama joins forces with forest brigands to fight the many rakshasas of the wood. At the same time, Supanakha, having being rejected by Rama and dismembered by Lakshman, gets the aid of her Rakshasa cousins and their army of over twenty thousand Rakshasas.
After the battle, which the good side (inevitably) wins, Supanakha plays a hand in ressurrecting the comatose Ravana. The usual Ramayana fare (Golden Deer -> Lakshman Rekha -> RavanaSage -> Sita Kidnap -> Jatayu fight) then takes place.
Again, Banker impresses with his style of narrative. The battle sequences are described with the smallest minutae of detail. Although the first battle of the book was a little reminiscent of Dune, it still holds the reader in place.
We do meet Hanuman in this book. His vanar sena are too described in contemporary terms – with habits, shortcomings and anecdotes filling in the gaps left by the long-told legends.
That said, there is something missing. Books One and Three had that elusive element. Maybe it’s just the fatigue of reading this long, long story?
Rating: 6/10
Bookideas.com review of Siege of Mithila by John Walsh
Siege of Mithila is the second installment in Ashok K Banker’s lively retelling of the Ramayana, the great Hindu epic which, at enormous length, forms such a central part of the Indian artistic and philosophical consciousness. As in the original Ramayana, an enormous army of asuras – demons – has been assembled by the demon king Ravana at his island home of Lanka and is about to be unleashed on the Aryan peoples of the Indian sub-continent. The defenders of the Aryan people are primarily the princes Rama and Lakshman, guided by the guru Vishnamitra and the brave soldiers of the army of Ayodhya. Those readers who enjoyed the first in this series, Prince of Ayodhya, will certainly enjoy the second episode. Those who have not read the first one should probably not start with the Siege of Mithila since there is no explanation of the extensive previous events to guide newcomers. The use of Sanskrit terms and seemingly authentic aspects of Indian society are fascinating but could be a little overwhelming for those unfamiliar with caste societies, Brahmanic rituals and the vast pantheon of Hindu gods. Thankfully, Banker (or his publisher) includes a detailed glossary of terms at the end of the text.
This second installment moves at a rather more rapid pace than the first, when the author was concerned to establish his credentials as a writer and setting the scene for the worlds-shaking adventures destined to follow. Here, the action follows fewer viewpoints and there is less background scenery. That does not mean that there is no scenery but just that it takes a more suitable place in the background. However, the speed of the action heightens one of the difficulties inherent in retelling any of the great Hindu epics – the regular interventions of very lengthy sections of philosophy and dialectic investigation. Readers who are familiar with the epics will be aware of these jewels of philosophical inquiry and will at the same time flounder in their great length and the breadth of inquiry embodied within them. How could Banker deal with these without overweighing the whole narrative in the absence of simply omitting them altogether? The result has been a necessary compromise between including the essence of such discourse without allowing it to dominate. This has been managed about as well as anyone could reasonably expect to see. On the whole, this is an exciting ride and will bring to life a world which will be unfamiliar to many western readers. People familiar with the Ramayana in any case might have a more complicated response to the work since they are more likely to have strong preconceptions of the characters and events involved and these might be compromised by the author’s conception.
One minor caveat is that the cover illustration that I have (and which I bought here in Thailand) features Hanuman the Monkey God and other divine creatures who do not yet appear in the text.
John Walsh, Shinawatra International University, April 2006. Blog: http://jcwalsh.bravejournal.com
This generation’s epic
From IN MY EYE blog–submitted by DK, Hyderabad: The original entry can be found at http://inmyeye6.blogspot.com/
I come from a generation that survived on the antics of Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Kalia the Crow and of course Tantri the Mantri. These guys are the much loved characters from the Tinkle Comic series that would be delivered every fortnight to my house.
Along with this I used to get another comic called the Amar Chitra Katha. Not as popular as Tinkle, ACK was a far more enriching experience. Its stories were about mythology and history; they introduced children to great men and women who have had such a vast impact on our lives. They told folk tales and other such stories. But in my opinion the best thing they did was publish the Mahabharat. True, it was a highly abridged version (probably 10% of the real thing), but in comic form it was easy to read.
Thanks to this, as a child I had the pleasure of first reading the Mahabharat; the greatest narration ever written. I don’t know too many people who have read even this abridged version. I find this sad, because this epic holds within it’s words lessons and truths of life that no philosopher could teach. It speaks of dharma – not religion but the way of life.
I remained fascinated with it all my life. As I grew older Doordarshan started showing the Ramayan on TV. Sadly I didn’t follow it. But when they started showing the Mahabharat, you couldn’t pry me away from the TV for anything.
Then a few months ago my father introduced me to a writer (Ashok Banker) who has re-written the Ramayan. I am finally getting a chance to know the story of a human, a prince, a son, a brother, a husband who is now, many millennia later, considered a God.
What’s wonderful is that it is not a one-sided perspective. It is un-biased and refreshing. The language is simple yet eloquent and the flow is smooth.
Dad read the first book and promptly went out and bought the remaining 3 available. When I got my hands on them, I went through all four in a matter of 8 days. Book 5 is finally available in India and I have been reading it the last few days. I just finished it actually! Now the wait for book 6! Part of me wishes I had waited so that I could have read them all together back to back as a whole.
I have a few friends who share my love for reading. So it is natural when they ask me “what you reading?� Suffice to say, most of them were surprised when I mentioned the Ramayan. In spite of being so impressed with the books I didn’t recommend these books to anybody. I frankly never imagined that these friends, some who are much younger than me, would really be interested.
I did give book 1 to a friend who trusts my judgment impeccably where books are concerned. Imagine my pleasure when he called and said he had finished it and wanted to borrow book 2.
A few weeks ago another friend came over to borrow something to read, and asked me about book 1. He was intrigued because of my praising. And then 2 days ago, another friend called me to ask if he could borrow it. I am amazed and thrilled! I know that my interests have always been varied enough for me to enjoy many things. But I didn’t expect this from my friends.
What makes today’s youth get interested in reading historical epics? These aren’t your every day action books, they aren’t love stories, there are no international conspiracies; in fact there is nothing in them that falls into the mould of a best seller.
It seems that this generation isn’t as shallow as one imagined. We are open to the values that these epics remind us of. We are curious to read tales of those we have been taught to revere. And it took the skillful way these books are written to allow this opportunity. If only history was taught like this in school, I am sure we would have all benefited.
FYI… Mr. Banker is now working on a rendition of the Mahabharat. I can’t wait!
Sold out on pre-order! 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 