The book details the birth and rise of Indra as the king of Devas and in time, ascend to being god of thunder. What begins as a journey of vengeance, takes him through his self as a barbarian who works to become king, then the ultimate warrior, leader of brother tribes, slayer of evil and eventually graduate as a god, literally relocating to heaven, so he could keep a protective watch over lesser mortals.

This journey as you can imagine, is not easy. Why and how Indra tackles life and his destiny is what the novel attempts to convey. Proceeding to the dissection

What worked for me:

1. The plot, events and narration in general. One thing leads to another naturally and the author takes us through in a logical pace.
2. Short chapters that makes it easy to navigate.
3. Subtle humour that runs along, without getting cocky.
4. I liked the names of Indra’s friends; the fact that they happen to be named so and acquire their powers only later on. The author plays a clever hand here.

What did not work for me:

1. Inspite of an interesting plotline and good narration, this book can actually be summarized in one equation : Sex + War (Die Hard style). If someone isn’t cutting someone else’s head off, or disemboweling an army, they are jumping into each others’ arms.

2. There are atleast a hundred names in here. And a few hundred more for animals and weapons even. They all end up sounding very very alike, and sometimes even gender-neutral. I had a tough time placing Ur-Uruk and Ugra. Wait, did I get it right?

3. The war sequences are presented in excruciating detail. While watching it on screen would be easy on your imagination, reading about it line by line, grows tedious after a hundred pages. Those sequences could have been trimmed. And, the mission of Indra, describes the need to unite the sons of Aditi. Sadly, you have to dig that act up amidst descriptions of a hundred other battles.

4. The blurb wonders whether Indra would ever get the one woman he loves, to love him back again. There is no description of any such attempt in the book. She hates him after a terrible incident and that's it. They drift apart. Later he comes to know she considers him dead and he just let's her go. For someone he claimed as his true love, this was simply lack of effort and interest. Why?

5. The biggest thorn in this books fictional flesh, is the phrase ‘Unlike the world had ever seen’. Take my word for it when I say, that phrase appears atleast 675 times in this book. I admit, the number is exaggerated, but that is how magnificently annoying it was. It reminded me of Harold Bloom’s review of Harry Potter, where he claims JKR had over used the phrase ‘Stretched his legs’. One more occurrence and the book could have been renamed. Thundergod –Unlike the world had ever seen!

Originally posted by https://www.blogger.com/profile/14103024728361258049