Book: Chiranjivi-The
Beginning
Author: Vasant Kallola
Publisher:
Times Group Books
Everyone wants
to live forever, but according to you, is that a boon or a bane?
Chiranjivi-The
Beginning by Vasant Kallola is set in the aftermath
of the Mahabharata, a 1000 years after the war. The story chronicles the story
of an ordinary boy, Govind, as he traverses the length and breath of the
country to gather enough power to face a powerful sage who has decided to
annihilate the Earth. The sage is one of the Chiranjivis and is so
powerful that normal human beings cannot touch him. Would an ordinary man be
able to face an extraordinary sage? This is a story of how resolve stands
against power and how a wish for survival can make an ordinary person,
extraordinary.
Chiranjivi-The
Beginning is an interesting take on the stories
post the happenings of the Mahabharata. The story is based on Ashwatthama and
through flashbacks, we see what happened in his life that led to the events of
the current book. Written in a mix of novel and a play, the language is in the
present tense and is engaging enough for a reader. The storytelling is good,
with a mix of theatre, mystery and suspense. The language of the book is easy
to understand. The one thing that didn’t work for me was the abruptness in the
scenes. Govind was on a journey that was supposed to be dangerous, but in every
scene, the build up to the suspense was good, but the things ended quite
quickly, almost as if the author was in a hurry to move on, which was a big
dampener for me. I would have recommended the author to add a bit more flesh to
the story, and dividing the complete thing into a trilogy as compared to a
duology. The ending of this book was satisfactory.
Coming to the
characters, the character of Govind was given due focus and throughout the
story, we see his character arc getting developed as required by the story through
the various situations that he faces, and the people he meets. Coming to the
character of Ashwatthama, we see his character developing was well, albeit to
the negative side as he hatches his nefarious plans to fulfill his objective. Other
than these 2, none of the characters got their due focus, whereas there was
ample opportunity to detail a few more of them.
Overall, a good
concept that could have been executed better. The
book scores a 3.63/5 for me
Get a copy of the book here.
Get a copy of the book here.
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