The Empress of Indraprastha: Entering Kuruvansh-Sonali Raje

Book: The Empress of Indraprastha: Entering Kuruvansh
Author: Sonali Raje
Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications

Do you like reading mythological fiction from alternate perspectives?

Draupadi’s mother, Maharani Prishati, was influential in building her charismatic daughter’s strong character as a proponent of human rights and a shrewd politician. Why would such an independent thinker blindly follow something that Ma Kunti said accidentally? Did all the Paandav brothers agree to marry her immediately? The brilliant Sahdev and the far-sighted strategist Draupadi collectively argued for a partition to give Duryodhan his rights to half the kingdom. The intricate complexities of a dynamic polyamorous marriage and a sibling bond promoting gender equality are showcased through the series. Over five parts unfurl – the untold memoirs of an Empress.

The Mahabharata has an interesting set of characters and reading the stories with the different perspectives is always a wonderful experience. In this book, Sonali tells us the story through the eyes of Draupadi. The storytelling is quite interesting and the book opens with the swayamvar and her verbal altercation with Karna. The book explores her journey right upto the division of the kingdom. Sonali has kept all the important events of the story into the plot and as we see them through the eyes of Draupadi you see an alternate view to the conventional story and how a perspective can change the events of history. The one thing which would have enhanced the experience would have been a bit more of content and probably include a few instances from her childhood to better set up the premise. The book ends on an interesting note and makes me curious about the other upcoming books in the series.

The book stands on the power of its characters and Sonali’s characters in this book are quite powerful. Starting with Draupadi, Sonali’s characterization is very interesting and I like how she creates this personality who is confident and has the courage to speak up for herself. Her conversations with the Pandavas, Krishna and the others are quite refreshing to read. The one part of the book that stood out for me was that when Krishna and Draupadi are talking about love and how each of them puts their idea of it forward. I am excited to see how she creates the characters going forward.

Overall, this is a wonderful start of a series and I loved how the story is promising to move forward. The book scores a 4.38/5 for me.

I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Get your copy on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore.