Sita - Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi.

"Sita - Warrior of Mithila" by Amish Tripathi. This book is published by Westland in 2017 and has 376 pages. This is Book 2 of Rama Chandra series. 

Sita is found by Janak and Sunaina. She grows up to be a feisty child and aquires a friend in slums. She is sent to Gurukul where she befriends Hanu bhaiya. She comes to the attention of Guru Vishwamitra. Vayuputra and Malayputra tribes are supposed to work together, but they don't. Sita Swayamwar is arranged. Ram and Sita meet before marriage and develop respect and liking. Ravan can't accept his insult at Swayamwar and attacks Mithila. Vishwamitra talks Ram into firing a daivi astra which has a punishment of 14 years of banishment. Sita is abducted during banishment.

Why is Vishwamitra interested in Sita? Why Vayuputra and Malayputra tribes have differences? Who is trying tho kill Sita? How can Ravan be stopped? Is someone trying to pry Ram & Sita apart?

This much awaited book (almost two years) has finally arrived. And true to the reader's anticipation there is a big twist in the very first chapter. Book starts with kidnapping of Sita and then goes back in flash back. The roller coaster starts from the beginning. The crowning glory is the end of this Book. Its a stunning end with treachery, though the identity of the traitor is not a surprise.

Author's theory of Vishnu and Mahadev, which he defined in Shiva trilogy, continues to be used in this series too. However here there is politics of two influential entities trying to promote their own candidate.

Rise of Ravan theory is also interesting. The oppressed class is fed up of oppression and rises. It first becomes influential and then dominant. This is a natural cycle. In this story Ravan represents the trading class. He has imposed trade of his goods and levies on the defeated kingdoms of India and is sucking money out of India. Narad is a businessman in Gujarat who also trades in information.

Author has used the current names of many places for this story. Thus Assam, Mizoram, Parel,  Mazgaon, Colaba, Mahim, Worli, Mumbadevi, Kerala etc. appear in the story. This is a departure from his previous philosophy of using ancient names. Modern names in old story do not  exactly fit. 

Author has made a few social statements in the story. He has supported Jallikattu. Shaktivel's description resembles Veerappan.

Character of Sita is very different from the popular notion. She is five years elder than Ram. She is muscular and is a warrior. She is the Prime minister of Mithila. She is also wise and reasonable. She recognizes the importance of partnership with Ram for the good of society. She discovers that he has special personality traits and falls in love with him. She is a very balanced character. 

A number of scenes covered in Book 1 are repeated in this book,  but in this book readers get to live the scene through Sita's perspective. The book starts and ends with the same scene. Even book 1 started and ended with the same scene. This style of narration is called hyperlinking. 

All the book covers of Amish Tripathi's novels show the protagonist with rippling muscles but the face is not visible. This book is no exception. It shows Sita in mid jump while fighting with a stick. However, this picture is more caricatured than real. All previous book covers looked real. 

Author explains that Book 1 told us the story of Ram. Book 2 takes us to the life of second important character of Ramayan, Sita. Book 3 will be the story of Ravan and subsequent books will be about their story together. It is known that this was not a trilogy. Now it looks like the series is here for a long haul.

Narration is exciting. Story is fluid. Twists are strategically placed. The book is immersive. Its hard to put it down. I burned some mid night oil for reading.  To write a good story is a skill. To make a known story interesting is a matter of high skill. This book is definitely better than Book 1. Now a long wait of Book 3 begins. Its titled 'Ravan - Orphan of Aryavarta'.

Why did I read this book? Amish. 

What I didn't like? Use of modern place names.  

What did I like? Concept, twists, imagination. 

A very good book. Recommend reading.