"Journey to the throne" by Vani Mahesh - Drags!
This book is published by HarperCollins India in Oct 2022 and has 296 pages.
Samudragupt rules Gupt empire. He has two sons. Ram and Chandra. Ram is lazy, fond of vices, not brave, loves good lifestyle, considers the throne his birthright. Chandra, the younger, is virtuous, brave, empathetic, hard worker.
Who will get the throne? The eldest or the most capable? How will it play out? How will Gupt empire fare?
It’s the story of Gupt empire. Ram is the entitled but unsuitable one who gets swayed easily. Chandra is the brave, ideal son and brother, loved by all. He is so virtuous that he reminds us of Prabhu Ramchandra. He is betrothed to Dhruva but she is later married to Ram. The empire has a coterie of reliable, responsible and loyal ministers who put up with adhoc decisions of Ram in the interest of empire. But then, at one point in time, Ram takes a decision that shocks and angers everyone, without exception. Is that the inflection point?
The seed story is a known one. Author tries to elaborate it. The story lacks balance. Sometimes trivial things take a long time and page space making it slow. Sometimes the action (e.g. climax) is over very quickly. The story drags. As a result, although you don’t abandon the book, it also doesn’t interest you.
Book cover is cartoonish and doesn’t do Justice to the story.
My collection of good sentences:
Rama felt as lonely as the kitten that sat on the window sill purring for its mother.
Why did I read this book? Blurb.
What did I like? Umm….
What I didn't like? As mentioned above.
Give it a miss.
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