The great war of Hind by Vaibhav Anand

"The great war of Hind" by Vaibhav Anand. This book is published by Shrishti Publishers and distributors in Feb 2015 and has 184 pages.

The story is set in 1205 B.C. The world is divided into seven countries. Parbat for Gods, Lunka for demons and Ayodh, Persis, Kurd, Sur, Nipalaya and Ga for humans. Monkeys reside in some of these countries. General Ramm is military general of King Vikramadetya of Ayodh and is having affair with princess Janaki. There is a pact for years that man will not fight man. The pact is broken and Ayodh is under attack.

Who breaks the pact? Who sides with Ayodh? Who is Hanohman? Why Gods interfere? What is Irony of Shiva? What will General Ramm do? What will be the outcome of war?

Although the book is titled 'The great war of Hind' most of the book is the build up to the war and initial battles / skirmishes. Actual war takes less than 20 pages. I expected more page space for the war.

Author has tried his best to develop the characters, but it seems he fell short of page space to develop them properly. Thus there are some things that remain unexplained like how did Ramm and Janaki meet, why Vikramadetya believes that no one will attack, how Hanohman can read the skies? Why revelation dawns on Ramm in the heat of battle? etc.

Author has used characters from history and mythology to create an entirely different world. Although this novel uses a number of historical references, it is historically anachronistic. Here Ramm is 20 years older than Ravan, Dashrath is Janaki's forefather, Adum comes before Ramm, Janak is Janaki's grandfather, Raam is military general without a lineage, Sanjay is the chronicler of war at the time of Ramm.

Author has written a good decently paced novel. The narration is good. It's full of surprises. Readers get a big shock towards the end when Ramm's secret is revealed. What's it?

Although it's a book about Ramm, there is no war with Ravan in this book. That is saved for the sequel or sequels.

Subsequent books, whenever they come, should take us through Ramm Ravan war. What twist would there be? Guess we will have to wait.

This is a very different book. Recommend reading.