Book Review: The King of Ayodha - Book Six of The Ramayana

THE RAMAYANA BY ASHOK K BANKER
Book 1 - Prince of Ayodhya
Book 2 - Seige of Mithila
Book 3 - Demons of Chitrakut
Book 4 - Armies of Hanuman
Book 5 - Bridge of Rama
Book 6 - King of Ayodhya

I have always been facinated with stories of the Ramayana and Mahabarata. Tales of Devas and Asuras. The eternal fight between the forces of good and the forces of evil making use of the bodies of different types of beings to wage their battles.

Mostly these tales are "trapped" within the pages of religious texts that may often prove dry and hard to get through. Sometimes we see them emerge as wonderfully executed filmwork - The Clash Of The Titans, Journey To The West and so on. Sometimes we see them serialised as comic books sic Amar Chirta Katha.

And sometimes, if we are very lucky, they come to us the way they have in Ashok K Bankers series of novels. I am a big fan of fantasy and let me tell you it takes a master of language to be able not just to weave plots but to be able to conjure up the kind of imagery that fires the imagination and makes the book far more powerful than the cinema screen.

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Ramayana even though we may not realise it. You know Deepavali - it's coming soon - the story of light over evil? Well that's the Ramayana. The tale of the fight to uphold Dharma, a web spun where the players are many but predominated by Rama, exiled prince of Ayodhya, his brother Lakshaman, is princess wife Sita of Mithila, and Ravana (He Who Makes The Universe Scream) the Asura/Demon Lord of Lanka.

King of Ayodha is 6th in a series of books that begins with the return of Rama from the life of a Bramahcharya to the royal household of Ayodhya, moves through to his slaying of Asuras in the invasion of Mithila, his exile and continuous struggle against the demons that plague the forests of Chitrakut, the abduction of Sita, his appeal to the Vanyars for help and the development of his relationship with Hanuman and ends with his saying of Ravana after bringing to being an impossible bridge spanning the Indian sub-continent and the volcanic island of Lanka.

Under Banker's deft hand, the story comes to life so vivid you can almost see the colours, hear the sounds and smell the smells that pervade this mythic tale of epic proportions. The fight scenes so real they could have been the work of the people responsible for directing the action of The Matrix and Hero. The alien scenes so real they could have been the work of people working on Lord of The Rings.

So whether its Conan you are a fan of, or Rand Al Thor, Belgarion, Raistlin, Richard Rahl, or Arthur or any number of larger than life heroes that have made their way into popular literature and film, take some time out to examine the world created by this wonderful writer and be greatly entertained in the process.