21 February, 2018

#BookReview :: The Vengeance of Indra (Vikramaditya Veergatha #3) by Shatrujeet Nath

VENGEANCE IS A CAGE. FORGIVENESS IS FREEDOM.

In their greed to possess the deadly Halahala, the devas and the asuras have employed every dirty trick against Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine. But the humans are still standing, bloodied but unbowed.

When the wily Shukracharya discovers the secret to breaking the Council’s unity and strength, he forges an unlikely alliance with his arch-enemy, Indra, to set a deceitful plan in motion.

As cracks emerge between the councilors and their king, ghosts from the past threaten to ruin Vikramaditya and Kalidasa’s friendship, signaling the beginning of an eclipse that will cast a long shadow over all that Vikramaditya holds dear. And into this shadow steps Indra, bearing an old grudge – and a devastating new weapon.

How much longer before the Guardians of the Halahala finally fall apart?



I have been eagerly waiting for the release of this book. In fact, this book was one of my most anticipated books of 2018. I read the book in one sitting, staying up till 3:30am!

Shatrujeet Nath returns with the third book in the series after a gap of almost a year and a half. (*** Still grumbling about the wait ***) But boy does he return with a bang! He doesn’t wait to get right into it and the Prologue is a hook that is sure to get any reader’s attention. 

The book picks up from soon after where ‘The Conspiracy of Meru’ left off. The kingdom is still reeling from the after effects of the attacks. There’s a restlessness growing among its people while Vikramaditya is faced with questions at every end. The effect of Kalidasa’s action has left a mark on Vikramaditya and his councilors; especially on Vararuchi and Shanku. Ghatakapara has some troubles of his own. Shoorasena’s plotting continues as King Harihara tries to face up to his dilemma and Chandravardhan tries to come to a decision. There is a lot happening in the human realms, but the unscrupulous scheming on the part of the Devas and the Asuras continue as well…

The book answers a couple of questions, but raises so many more. Compared to ‘The Conspiracy of Meru’, this book has less action. But it makes up by putting out all the moves and counter moves that each party has planned. It offers a lot of drama and politics to keep the readers engaged and involved in the story by nudging them to try and guess what exactly each character is up to. Each sub plot has something to offer – it is up to the readers to connect the dots where they can. The twists that the author came up with were ingenious and almost had me fooled. The book also offers a closer look at a few characters in a way that may change things for the readers. There are certain scenes in the book that are so well done that it almost blew my mind. I wish I could tell you more details about those incidents without giving out spoilers.

The stage is now set for the finale in “The Wrath of Hellfires” and I am so ready for it. I can feel how epic it is going to be from the way the story has built up so far.

To round up my review, I would like to recommend this series to every mytho-fiction and fantasy lovers out there. I really cannot say it enough – if you haven’t read this series yet, you are missing out on a LOT.


Review Copy received from Jaico Books

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