Upon a Burning Throne-Ashok K Banker

Book: Upon a Burning Throne (The Burnt Empire Saga Part 1)

Author: Ashok K Banker

Publisher: Simon & Schuster India

“They came to watch the Children burn”

Upon a Burning Throne opens with this chilling line. First book in The Burnt Empire Saga, it is a mystical take on the epic Mahabharata. Ashok Banker reimagines the characters of the epic in a wonderful manner.

The book opens with the test of Fire, where we are introduced to the concept of the namesake, The Burning Throne. Made of an extraordinary stone, it burnt with Stonefire, which has unmatched fury, such that no flora or fauna is found near it. This throne is the centre of attention as the scene unfolds when the two princes are placed over it one by one and what unfolds after it. Only a Krushan prince, worthy of the throne could escape unhurt. Now, apart from the princes-Adri & Shvate, another girl also survives this claim to the throne but is denied the right. Unknownst in the beginning, she is the offspring of the powerful demonlord-Jarsun and he vows to tear the empire apart.

From here, the story moves on and we are introduced to the characters that we can relate with the epic. Be it the All powerful Demigod Vrath, who has taken the vow of celibacy (wink wink) to the albino prince Shvate and the blind prince Adri, The all powerful river Jeel and so on and so forth. We are also introduced to Princess Karni (No prizes for guessing who she is in the epic) and her son kern.

The story starts with young Shvate and Adri fighting the rebels led by Jarsun and its subsequent effect on their psyche. After a timelapse, we see the grown-up version of Shvate marching to Reygistan to defeat Jarsun and how he has changed from his first war.

The characters are detailed and the author has taken efforts to show us various sides of their personalities. We come across a law-abiding, strict and ruthless Vrath, but we also see the emotional, humane side of him. Same goes for Adri, Shvate, Jillana and most of the characters. They are easily relatable and corresponding them to Mahabharata is also quite easy. For a person who knows the story of Mahabharata, these character descriptions would truly be amazing.

The plot of the story is good with details wherever needed and fast-paced when needed. The time lapse is a bit odd but does not disturb the story much.

The first part of the saga is captivating. The ending of the book is great with a question posed and it would be interesting to see how the author treats this epic in the forthcoming books.

I would rate the book 4.5/5.

Go buy the book now!!!

This post is a part of the Blog tour by Simon & Schuster India.



I received a physical copy of this via my participation in a blog tour but that, in no way, affects my rating and/or opinions about it.