Gods Kings Slaves The Siege of Madurai edition by R Venketesh Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : Gods Kings Slaves The Siege of Madurai edition by R Venketesh Literature Fiction eBooks 
War is coming...
Peninsular India, fourteenth century. The Pandyan empire is at its
peak, its enemies subdued and its people at peace. Having left behind
his step-brother Sundar in the race to the throne, Crown Prince Veera
Pandyan is set to rule from Madurai, reputed to be the richest city in
the subcontinent. But invisible fractures within the kingdom threaten
to destroy it, and a new enemy approaches, swifter than anyone can
imagine.
In Delhi, Sultan Alauddin Khilji’s trusted general, the eunuch Malik
Kafur, has trained his eyes on the distant south, fabled for its riches.
A slave captured by the Khiljis, Kafur is renowned for his ambition
and cunning. None, not even the mighty Mongols, have defeated him
– no empire can withstand the trail of destruction he leaves in his
wake. And all he wants is to see Madurai on its knees, its wealth
pillaged, its temples destroyed.
As an ancient city combusts in flames of treachery, bloodlust and
revenge, brother will battle brother, ambition will triumph over love,
slaves will rise to rule, cities will be razed to dust, and the victor will
be immortalized in history...'
Gods Kings Slaves The Siege of Madurai edition by R Venketesh Literature Fiction eBooks
I chanced upon this book in Goodreads and thought that I would give it a try. I was not disappointed.Gods, Kings and Slaves: The siege of Madurai is a wonderful historical novel that will suck you right into the story. The story is told from the perspective of two protagonists; Veera, the illegitimate son of a Pandya King and a young boy named Ram Chand, whose amazing destiny will take him to dizzying heights.
Veera Pandyan is the bastard son of the Crown Prince of Pandya Kingdom, yet he enjoys the recognition and the privileges that his father showers on him. The story begins with his father’s, the crown prince’s wedding and the anticipation of his downfall from favor. Ironically that doesn’t happen. The Crown Prince treats Veera’s mother and her son with respect and honour and ensures that Veera gets a good education despite his lowly birth.
Things become complicated when a legitimate son is born to the King. Sundara, the second son is born to the Chola Princess and the Queen and everybody expects him to ascend the throne. And the rivalry between the two brothers begins. As they grow, they are sent to a gurukulam to learn kingly conduct, politics, economy and to undergo military training. The sibling rivalry worsens between the two, despite living together in the spartan gurukulam.
In a parallel world, the author chronicles the trials and tribulations of Ram Chand. Born in an ordinary Bania family, Ram Chand would have gone on to become a portly bania with a well-stocked shop, wife and children of his own. But that was not to be. His amazing destiny makes him fall in love with Chaula, a harem girl in the Rana’s household. Charmed by her innocence, Ram Chand elopes with her, thus sealing his fate. Captured and beaten by the Rana’s soldiers, his fate hangs in balance as they decide on a fitting punishment. The Rana decides to castrate him and sell him as a eunuch in the slave market.
The resultant scene is the only problem that I had with this book. It was eerily reminiscent of Wilbur Smith’s popular novel, The River God, where Taita is neutered by his Lord’s General, even as his lover sits watching.
This deed seals his fate and he is sent to be sold as a eunuch in the slave market. At the market, Ram Chand catches the eye of a rich Arab merchant who buys him for 1000 dinars thus earning the name, ‘Mallik Kafir hazar dinari’.
Juxtaposing both these characters in parallel scenes, R. Venkatesh brings out the stark difference between their upbringing and their unpredictable life.
In Madurai, things come to a head, when both the brothers fall in love with Princess Sunanda and Veera is sent to Sri Lanka to cool off his ardor. And in Gujarat, Malik Kafur, becomes the head eunuch of the Arab’s harem and the steward of his master. From this point on, his career will soar to great heights. Caught in the middle of a Mohammeddan attack, Malik is soon captured by Alladin Khilji’s general and is put once again on harem duty. He soon catches the attention of Alladin Khilji and rises to become his trusted companion.
Veera comes back from Madurai, to see his lover, now the wife of Sundara, his half brother. He also learns that his lover had borne a son through him though everybody believed him to be Sundara’s. Heartbroken and disappointed, he finds balance in life when he meets Radhika, his trusted friend’s lover and gets married to her. Veera’s father who is getting old is forced to decide the next heir and he crowns Veera as the crown Prince. Surprised and shocked by the turn of events, Sundara revolts, setting in process a civil war that would embitter the world of Madurai forever.
Malik and Veera are portrayed beautifully in this novel. Malik’s ruthlessness and Veera’s Hamlet-like procrastination destroys the very fabric of an ancient empire. I loved the narrative style of the author. It pulls the reader right into two alternate worlds; Veera’s and Malik’s.
Plus Points: fantastic narrative, crisp descriptions and dialogues, impeccable research, unforgettable characters
Minus Points: Castration scene of ram chand.
Verdict: A must read for all those who love historical fiction.
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Gods Kings Slaves The Siege of Madurai edition by R Venketesh Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
This is an exceptional debut novel from R Venkatesh. R Venkatesh is a renowned Tamil author and Gods , Kings and Slaves - the Siege of Madurai is his first novel in English.
This book is a historical fiction and deals with the history of Madurai. Not much is known about the history of South India and this is one of the main reasons why I picked up this book.
The plot revolves around 2 central characters - Veera and Malik Kafur. Veera is a Pandyan Price and the ruler of Madurai. Malik is an enuch who due to his great strategic skills becomes the commander of Allaudin Khilji's army in Delhi. The story starts from their birth and spans across many generations when finally Veera and Malik meet during the siege of Madurai. Veera's story starts as that of a young boy who is the illegitimate son of Madurai emeperor Kulashekharan. It then traces his youth as a young brave prince and finally is shown as a very weak ruler of Madurai. There are extremely interesting characters which come across in his story - his friend Akshayan, step brother Sundar, love interest Sunanda who becomes his sisterinlaw and wife Radhika.
The second story of Malik Kafur is extremely interesting and well told. Malik, earlier known as Ram born in a Hindu family gets castrated when trying to elope with his love interest Chaula. The scene where he is castrated is highly moving and brings a chill down your spine. His rise from a slave looking after the harem to the commander of Khilji army is exceptional.Both the stories run parallely in alternate chapters and finally intersect when Kafur attacks Madurai.
All the characters are extremely well sketched and one can identify with their feelings, weaknesses and shortcomings easily. The writing is simple and hence not once do you tend to get bored in this 450 page long saga. This book has it all - love, lust, revenge, sibling rivalry, friendship and wars. R Venkatesh is able to bring about the emotions of each character beautifully. A lot of the books in the historical fiction genre focus a lot on the war details which I sometime find boring.What I loved about Venkatesh's writing was that the focus was mainly on the story without getting into too much gory specifics of the war action.
This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a very long time and hope to read more brilliant books from Venkatesh in future. A must, must read for all historical fiction lovers.
Gods, Kings & Slaves The Siege of Madurai by R. Venketesh... A fiction on reality, great work by the Author. Two parallel Kingdoms in the 14th Century and their fates determined by the Gods, Kings & a Slave is the story-line. With the birth of a child in Gujarat the astrologers predict his future to be a nefarious monarch, who by fate is castrated and sold as slave. The torments in the eunuch's life while at the harem and the intelligence leads the eunuch to coveted positions in any kingdom. Converts to the Mohammedan way of life and as a general of the Sultanate of Delhi plans and attacks Madurai one of the richest kingdom in the world for its wealth.
The author has intertwined the happenings in Pandyan kingdom with the sultanate of Delhi. The Pandyan kingdom under Kulashekara Pandyan and Veera Pandyan is at its hey time. The golden era brought in a lethargy that they were invincible, having the Cholas and Cheras as Vassals, inbreeding animosity among siblings leads to the ultimate defeat of the Kingdom with no war.
Not many books have been written on the South Indian History in English. Though the first book in English by the author no where had he declined in his descriptive tone, be it the story line or the depiction of the cultures with the historical significance backdrop. Kudos to the author who elicits the reader to read more on the South Indian History. One of the BEST READS of 2014....
I chanced upon this book in Goodreads and thought that I would give it a try. I was not disappointed.
Gods, Kings and Slaves The siege of Madurai is a wonderful historical novel that will suck you right into the story. The story is told from the perspective of two protagonists; Veera, the illegitimate son of a Pandya King and a young boy named Ram Chand, whose amazing destiny will take him to dizzying heights.
Veera Pandyan is the bastard son of the Crown Prince of Pandya Kingdom, yet he enjoys the recognition and the privileges that his father showers on him. The story begins with his father’s, the crown prince’s wedding and the anticipation of his downfall from favor. Ironically that doesn’t happen. The Crown Prince treats Veera’s mother and her son with respect and honour and ensures that Veera gets a good education despite his lowly birth.
Things become complicated when a legitimate son is born to the King. Sundara, the second son is born to the Chola Princess and the Queen and everybody expects him to ascend the throne. And the rivalry between the two brothers begins. As they grow, they are sent to a gurukulam to learn kingly conduct, politics, economy and to undergo military training. The sibling rivalry worsens between the two, despite living together in the spartan gurukulam.
In a parallel world, the author chronicles the trials and tribulations of Ram Chand. Born in an ordinary Bania family, Ram Chand would have gone on to become a portly bania with a well-stocked shop, wife and children of his own. But that was not to be. His amazing destiny makes him fall in love with Chaula, a harem girl in the Rana’s household. Charmed by her innocence, Ram Chand elopes with her, thus sealing his fate. Captured and beaten by the Rana’s soldiers, his fate hangs in balance as they decide on a fitting punishment. The Rana decides to castrate him and sell him as a eunuch in the slave market.
The resultant scene is the only problem that I had with this book. It was eerily reminiscent of Wilbur Smith’s popular novel, The River God, where Taita is neutered by his Lord’s General, even as his lover sits watching.
This deed seals his fate and he is sent to be sold as a eunuch in the slave market. At the market, Ram Chand catches the eye of a rich Arab merchant who buys him for 1000 dinars thus earning the name, ‘Mallik Kafir hazar dinari’.
Juxtaposing both these characters in parallel scenes, R. Venkatesh brings out the stark difference between their upbringing and their unpredictable life.
In Madurai, things come to a head, when both the brothers fall in love with Princess Sunanda and Veera is sent to Sri Lanka to cool off his ardor. And in Gujarat, Malik Kafur, becomes the head eunuch of the Arab’s harem and the steward of his master. From this point on, his career will soar to great heights. Caught in the middle of a Mohammeddan attack, Malik is soon captured by Alladin Khilji’s general and is put once again on harem duty. He soon catches the attention of Alladin Khilji and rises to become his trusted companion.
Veera comes back from Madurai, to see his lover, now the wife of Sundara, his half brother. He also learns that his lover had borne a son through him though everybody believed him to be Sundara’s. Heartbroken and disappointed, he finds balance in life when he meets Radhika, his trusted friend’s lover and gets married to her. Veera’s father who is getting old is forced to decide the next heir and he crowns Veera as the crown Prince. Surprised and shocked by the turn of events, Sundara revolts, setting in process a civil war that would embitter the world of Madurai forever.
Malik and Veera are portrayed beautifully in this novel. Malik’s ruthlessness and Veera’s Hamlet-like procrastination destroys the very fabric of an ancient empire. I loved the narrative style of the author. It pulls the reader right into two alternate worlds; Veera’s and Malik’s.
Plus Points fantastic narrative, crisp descriptions and dialogues, impeccable research, unforgettable characters
Minus Points Castration scene of ram chand.
Verdict A must read for all those who love historical fiction.
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