 Trade In this Item for up to £2.65
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Secret of the Naga's,The for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.65, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Good follow up to the orginal book - though some of the words still seem too modern for the times in which the story is set. Nevethless, quite an interesting read and keeps you hooked throughout!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Mythology at its best
5 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
"The secret of the Nagas" is the second part of the Shiva trilogy and is a sequel to the book "The immortals of Meluha. It's a fictional account of the famous Indian god Lord Shiva. The second book begins exactly where the first had ended, in the land of the Chandravanshis, Swadweep. Shiva is trying to find the Nagas who have killed Brahaspati, a brother like figure to Shiva. While on the trail he discovers various facts, meets different people making him ponder about good and evil while also uncovering many interesting facts about the Nagas. Various events lead him to question his mission and if it actually serves it's purpose.
The Secret of the Nagas is a fitting sequel to the Immortals of Meluha. This book leaves you with the same experience as the previous one although it's never repetitive and even more adventurous. As you read more you seep into Indian mythology discovering various facts about gods, rivers, war techniques, customs of various sects, religion, cultural practices while never being disengaged from the plot. As, in the first book Shiva is always on the move, traveling to different places. His relationship with Sati and other central characters evolve and many new characters are also introduced. The author gives a very good back story to each character and does a very good job in providing the perspectives of different cultures through the characters.
Being Indian, I have grown up on stories of different gods giving numerous examples of bravery, good and their quest in the destruction of evil. But, there was always an alien connection with the stories, in the sense that the stories told comprised of people who were more than the average human making the characters always larger than life and non-believable. The best part of this trilogy is, it sort of dispels that notion and treats the protagonist, Shiva, like a regular individual but with the exception that the destiny of God awaits him, making it lot easier to relate with the character. All in all, the book was a fantastic read, continuously engaging and adventurous. The suspense and the interesting dialogues never let the book get boring. The negative points of the book are that the writing lacks at times, not providing the "punch" that maybe needed in certain situations. Also, Shiva's character can be further explored but the author always limits himself. He never delves into his feelings, the reader is left with a certain disappointment that, most of the time, only his actions rather than his feelings are written about. But, the plot is executed perfectly and the pieces fit into the puzzle without any blemishes. So, I would definitely recommend this book.
The Secret of the Nagas is a fitting sequel to the Immortals of Meluha. This book leaves you with the same experience as the previous one although it's never repetitive and even more adventurous. As you read more you seep into Indian mythology discovering various facts about gods, rivers, war techniques, customs of various sects, religion, cultural practices while never being disengaged from the plot. As, in the first book Shiva is always on the move, traveling to different places. His relationship with Sati and other central characters evolve and many new characters are also introduced. The author gives a very good back story to each character and does a very good job in providing the perspectives of different cultures through the characters.
Being Indian, I have grown up on stories of different gods giving numerous examples of bravery, good and their quest in the destruction of evil. But, there was always an alien connection with the stories, in the sense that the stories told comprised of people who were more than the average human making the characters always larger than life and non-believable. The best part of this trilogy is, it sort of dispels that notion and treats the protagonist, Shiva, like a regular individual but with the exception that the destiny of God awaits him, making it lot easier to relate with the character. All in all, the book was a fantastic read, continuously engaging and adventurous. The suspense and the interesting dialogues never let the book get boring. The negative points of the book are that the writing lacks at times, not providing the "punch" that maybe needed in certain situations. Also, Shiva's character can be further explored but the author always limits himself. He never delves into his feelings, the reader is left with a certain disappointment that, most of the time, only his actions rather than his feelings are written about. But, the plot is executed perfectly and the pieces fit into the puzzle without any blemishes. So, I would definitely recommend this book.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Can't wait for Part 3
6 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
Secret of the Nagas takes up where Immortals of Meluha left off. Brahaspati's death has left an immense sadness within Shiva who considered him as a brother. With Shiva/Neelkanth at the forefront, the Suryavanshi's of Meluha have beaten the Chandavanshis in a war and hope to bring order and justice to Swadweep. While struggling to comprehend if the Chandravanshis are really as "evil" as the Suryavanshis make them otu to be, Shiva decided to visit the Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya. When he comes out, he sees Sati waiting for him and an assassin lurking behind a tree who runs off when spotted.
The assassin is much faster and stronger than what seems normal for his size and when trying to escape from Shiva and Sati, he steals a horse but throws a bag of Branga gold at the person from whom he steals the horse. From here the strangeness and contradictions in the behavior of the Nagas continues to confound Shiva almost through this book.
With Sati, Bhagirath - The Chandravanshi Emperors son, Anandmayi - the Chandravanshi Emperors daughter, Parvateshwar - General of the Suryavanshis, Veerabhadra - his childhood friend and companion, Ayurvati - The Suryavanshi doctor, Nandi and some other soldiers and companions, Shiva undertakes a journey to Kashi.
A lot of revelations come to light along the way and it would be difficult for me to say anymore about the storyline without giving away key elements of the plot. So in order to avoid any more spoilers for those who haven't read the book yet (you SHOULD read this one), I'll fast forward to the end, where Shiva enters the Naga kingdom with a joint army of the Suryavanshis and the Chandravanshis and is faced with the Secret of the Nagas.
Secret of the Nagas is as brilliantly written as the Immortals of Meluha. The reader would already be used to the language by now, so it ceases to be a hindrance in the enjoyment of the book and the story. The story is extremely fast paced and is a complete page turner. I read it at one sitting, no breaks.
The characters are well evolved. There is humor, action, romance, machinations, plots and sub plots. While some sub plots are brought to their logical conclusion within this book, I expect the rest of them will be concluded in the "Oath of the Vayuputras" when it comes out next year.
Amish has an extremely engaging style of writing and the clarity of his thought comes through inspite, of parallel story lines.
My biggest problem with the Secret of the Nagas is that everything that I have read after that has seemed extremely slow, even though they have been good books.
This is definitely a must read and like I said when reviewing The Immortals of Meluha: "Should you read this book? Definitely. But if you hate cliff hangers (which is how this part ends) then you may be better off waiting for all the books to be released before starting on this." Part 3 : Oath of the Vayuputras is sue for release sometime next year.
The assassin is much faster and stronger than what seems normal for his size and when trying to escape from Shiva and Sati, he steals a horse but throws a bag of Branga gold at the person from whom he steals the horse. From here the strangeness and contradictions in the behavior of the Nagas continues to confound Shiva almost through this book.
With Sati, Bhagirath - The Chandravanshi Emperors son, Anandmayi - the Chandravanshi Emperors daughter, Parvateshwar - General of the Suryavanshis, Veerabhadra - his childhood friend and companion, Ayurvati - The Suryavanshi doctor, Nandi and some other soldiers and companions, Shiva undertakes a journey to Kashi.
A lot of revelations come to light along the way and it would be difficult for me to say anymore about the storyline without giving away key elements of the plot. So in order to avoid any more spoilers for those who haven't read the book yet (you SHOULD read this one), I'll fast forward to the end, where Shiva enters the Naga kingdom with a joint army of the Suryavanshis and the Chandravanshis and is faced with the Secret of the Nagas.
Secret of the Nagas is as brilliantly written as the Immortals of Meluha. The reader would already be used to the language by now, so it ceases to be a hindrance in the enjoyment of the book and the story. The story is extremely fast paced and is a complete page turner. I read it at one sitting, no breaks.
The characters are well evolved. There is humor, action, romance, machinations, plots and sub plots. While some sub plots are brought to their logical conclusion within this book, I expect the rest of them will be concluded in the "Oath of the Vayuputras" when it comes out next year.
Amish has an extremely engaging style of writing and the clarity of his thought comes through inspite, of parallel story lines.
My biggest problem with the Secret of the Nagas is that everything that I have read after that has seemed extremely slow, even though they have been good books.
This is definitely a must read and like I said when reviewing The Immortals of Meluha: "Should you read this book? Definitely. But if you hate cliff hangers (which is how this part ends) then you may be better off waiting for all the books to be released before starting on this." Part 3 : Oath of the Vayuputras is sue for release sometime next year.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Shiva Trilogy
5 Feb 2012
Format:Paperback
I really liked The Secret of the Nagas as well as Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy. The story is fascinating and strong, the characters believable and the plot well hashed out. It is indeed unique for the Indian market and for lovers of sci-fi and fantasy, this was a dream come true--to use a beloved God as a hero in an action packed super hero style was genius. The destiny of the Neelkanth, the way Shiva reluctantly accepts his calling and the dilemmas he faces are all reminiscent of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. The author's extensive research and specific facts have added a dimension to this work that is truly breathtaking.
Writing one book, let alone three is not for the faint of heart and to critique an author is easy. However, in my opinion, there were a few things that did not work because they took away from the story.
1. The first was the way book 1 ended--in the middle of an action scene. I felt betrayed as a reader--literally one of the worst things an author can do. It felt like I had invested time and energy into this book only to be cut off abruptly. It felt like a cheap trick used to entice the reader to buy book 2. Not cool and unnecessary. The book is strong enough and if someone reads it up until the end, you can be sure you have a reader who is hooked. There is simply no need to resort to ending on a cliffhanger. I would have liked to see book 1 stand on its own and have at least partial resolution.
2. The other problem with the books were expository lumps. Vast amounts of information were disguised as dialogue or flashbacks and it got a bit tedious.
3. Also, I felt like some of the character's dialogue was a bit stilted and the obvious was stated more than a few times.
4. Some of the characters felt like strawmen, i.e. wooden characters that didn't really propel the story or characters that were not well fleshed out, or were stereotyped. In other words, they didn't all always organically mesh together.
So, in my opinion, still a worthwhile read but be prepared at times to slog through parts where you are not willingly suspending disbelief.
Writing one book, let alone three is not for the faint of heart and to critique an author is easy. However, in my opinion, there were a few things that did not work because they took away from the story.
1. The first was the way book 1 ended--in the middle of an action scene. I felt betrayed as a reader--literally one of the worst things an author can do. It felt like I had invested time and energy into this book only to be cut off abruptly. It felt like a cheap trick used to entice the reader to buy book 2. Not cool and unnecessary. The book is strong enough and if someone reads it up until the end, you can be sure you have a reader who is hooked. There is simply no need to resort to ending on a cliffhanger. I would have liked to see book 1 stand on its own and have at least partial resolution.
2. The other problem with the books were expository lumps. Vast amounts of information were disguised as dialogue or flashbacks and it got a bit tedious.
3. Also, I felt like some of the character's dialogue was a bit stilted and the obvious was stated more than a few times.
4. Some of the characters felt like strawmen, i.e. wooden characters that didn't really propel the story or characters that were not well fleshed out, or were stereotyped. In other words, they didn't all always organically mesh together.
So, in my opinion, still a worthwhile read but be prepared at times to slog through parts where you are not willingly suspending disbelief.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
