My Review

The book Indus challenge is a rare seamless mix of mythological historical and contemporary fiction. This is the story of Sagar, who aides Abhimanyu in Kurukshetra war, who reincarnates as Rudra, commander-in-chief of Mauryan army when Macedonian army under Alexander,the great attacks India and as Shiva in the current era, a victim of the terrorist attack in Mumbai.

 The plot unfolds as shreds of memory in Shiva’s mind while he is in ICU post attack. The introduction and prologue are brief accounts that just brushes the background. Sagar, the aide of Abhimanyu is cursed by his Guruji for bringing death to his sons, that he will take three births for his three sons and nine incarnations to remind him that Guruji’s sons died in the nine tier chakravyuha. Later of afterthought, he alleviates his curse by giving special powers over land, water and air in each births. Sagar’s untruthful wife is cursed to take birth as a prisoner of war in the next birth, who continuously begs for help.  The book is about the next birth of Sagar, as the army chief of Mauryans by the name Rudra. Rudra meets Swastika whom he falls in love immediately. Thenceforth, the adventurous life of Rudra unveils.
The plot is exceptional and has a lot of possibilities to work with.  Author has worked out the historical part more than the fictional part. The narration is fast paced and the chapters are small. Nevertheless some areas are rushed. For instance the relation between Rudra swastika. The book surely needed a developmental edit. Nevertheless, I didn’t ooze out the entertainment value completely.