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Title: Rudravan (Whom the gods would destroy, they must first create)
Author: Rahul Rajan
Publisher: Frog Books (www.leadstartcorp.com)
Genre: Fiction (mytho-fantasy)
Pages: 484
Rating: 4/5
Blurb: Rāvan...

The greatest villain of our legends, burnt down every year, reduced to ashes again and again, only to rise anew. His is a cycle of death and rebirth that never ends, a legend that refuses to die. And there is a reason for that.

The tale of Rāvan still screams to be told, to break free of the falsehoods that have buried his truth. But in the vastness of our myths, there are bits and pieces of his legend scattered all around, leading us to the truth of what could well be the greatest unsolved mystery of all time. The truth of Rāvan's life, and his death by a God in mortal flesh…

Rāvan's origin, as the descendant of Lord Brahma, his devotion to Shiva and his conquest of Swarga speak of a great king, stronger and wiser than even the Devas. How then does he succumb to lust, cowardice and finally, foolhardiness?

And what was Rāvan's sin that made his death necessary? The abduction of Sitā was a mere front, for the Rām avatar had been born long before that. Why did Vishnu stand against him, when he was blessed by both Shiva and Brahma? How was Rāvan, blessed with invincibility, defeated so conveniently, by a God in human flesh? Could Rāvan not have thought of that, and prepared against it?

And why did Shiva allow the death of his greatest worshipper, the one he himself had named?

What if the Rāmayan was just a part of a greater story, a cosmic game
of chess between Vishnu and Rāvan? What if our greatest epic is merely the end of a tale that had begun long ago?

My views:
Cover: The most fascinating thing about its cover is the black ground and the image in between. Then comes the title, which is an amalgamation of Rudra and Rāvan... And a very beautiful subtitle that goes byline. The name of the author is written at the bottom in yellow. The fonts on the cover are readable, clear and attractive. One might pick this book after looking at the cover, for it tells pretty much of the mystery it unfolds and holds.

Blurb: Exciting and gripping! It gives away as much as is required to pull a reader. Rāvan, intact, remains the most mysterious villain of Indian mythology... The greatest of all who was given the meanest ending. The blurb is a huge turn-on for a mytho-fantasy lover.

Story: The first page carries a sketch of Rāvana in the iconic Atlas pose... The only difference is he is lifting mountains (Kailash) instead of the planet. The another fascinating thing about this book is the sketches... Every chapter carries one beautiful sketch which summarises the core of the chapter. There is also a map (which can tell you where to look for if you wish to go to Vaikunt)

Here, I won't give away spoilers but I'll tell you what you will find in the book, and what I loved the most. There has been several retellings of the epic but none of them (I read) had ever focussed on the character of Rāvana, save Asura (the book); but this book took the Ramayana to the next level. Making it more from the fight of good vs evil to a very real battle of two gray characters.

The story is cosmo-tic. The battle between light and half darkness, and a battle of survival. This is the most fascinating thing about this book. Instead of showing the story as a 'he-kidnapped-his-wife-so-he-should-be-killed' or 'he-is-evil-so-must-die' type clichéd story... This story went further ahead to show how a battle of survival ended up being the battle of strength. How the beings of light were as responsible as the asuras for the chaos and the unbalance, and how this battle was a sort of revenge... A fight-back!
The characters are nearly woven, descriptions detailed, and scenes beautifully told. You will feel the story going in reels in front of you while reading. Standing close to 500 pages it will not leave you even after it ends. I almost felt like there should have been more... A few more pages... The storytelling is this smooth. And guess what, this is a debut! Kudos to author for such an enthralling story. There are minor grammatical glitches in the book which at one sight are easy to be ignored... The language is fluid, plot nicely woven, and scenes satisfying.

I strongly recommend the book. It's a must have in the book-shelves of a fantasy and a mythology lover. The bibliophiles will love it's presence... And with Amish's series going on... This will kind of give you a parallel journey.