You learn to like him, you learn to want him to win, you learn to celebrate with him and you learn to cry with him. Over time, the reader cannot help but fall in love with Shiva too Shiva the marijuana-smoking Tibetan immigrant, this uncouth foreigner who cannot adapt to the stoic ways of the Meluhans, who is open with his affection and hugs without inhibition. What comes through, though, in every line of the tale, is Amish's near-fanboyish love and adoration of Shiva. Shiva's perspective is refreshingly sincere, making you immediately like this protagonist. Indians who have grown up with household names like Nandi, Ganesh and Karthikeyan, who celebrate Shiva as a God are bound to get a kick out of Amish's creative altering of the story. Even a reader who picks up the book with no prior knowledge of Indian mythology is bound to enjoy it for its rich characterisation and intertwined storylines. The biggest winning point for Amish's trilogy is the plot. Here I am, typing out this review for the sake of those like me who would otherwise blindside the books. Within twenty four hours, I was done with the trilogy. (The language, of course, left much to be desired, but I decided I could put up with crappy writing because I really wanted to know what happened next in the story). The story was gripping, well-paced and kept me engrossed. Three chapters in, I realised that I liked it. Stuck on a train for six hours with nothing else to do, I did start reading the Immortals. One of them finally thrust a copy of the Immortals of Meluha at me and said, 'Read! Your love for Indian mythology will win over your mental block toward Indian writers.' Hence, it was not surprising to any of my friends when I responded with derision and cynicism when they recommended Amish Tripathi's SHIVA trilogy over and over.

I belong to that small minority of book lovers who believe that authors like Chetan Bhagat and Ravinder Singh have done more harm to reading in India than good.

I do not read books by Indian authors as a rule, no thank you. Warning: Contains spoilers for the series as a whole.

The shiva trilogy series books