[Book Review] Chaturanga
Genre: Fiction
Content: 2.5/4
Writing: 2.5/4
X factor: 0.5/2
Total: 5.5/10
Chaturanga is pacy and colourful but somehow fails to come out of the shadow of Baahubali universe. The book tries to ride the Baahubali wave which had gripped Indian cinema some years ago.
The book is readable and has a lot going for it but somehow fails to live up to the expectation which an author like Anand Neelakantan would inevitably command. The first part of the book had the Baahubali theme working for it. The complicated plot of twists, turns and betrayals among all the characters in Mahishmati worked well. Now in its second installment, this overused theme has become worn out and tired.
I found most of the characters except Kattapa and Sivagami pretty one dimensional. The characters from the first part doesn’t stay with you hence I had to often refer to the character summary in the beginning to follow the story. Even the plot gets too pacy and complex at times for reading at leisure.
The book would have served itself better had it been more of a slow burning broth than an instant noodle bowl which it is now.
Best read if you are a diehard fan of Baahubali universe and wants to savor it one more time.
Originally published at http://stormsinmyteablog.wordpress.com on September 27, 2020.
