Westland Chaturanga-S.S. Rajamouli's BAHUBALI: Before the Beginning: Book 2

Chaturanga is Very good, just like the 1st book. But Strictly for Adults. It's a lot more engaging, darker & touches upon several issues like corruption, gender inequality, etc. It's a lot shorter than the first book, it's just 297 pages. But well worth it.

Anand is a master storyteller. After a long time, I came across a book that I could not put down until it was over. The characters are perfectly etched and portrayed over the book. You cannot miss the relevance of the book to our present times. The book has been written with a lot of thought and tact. I will not give any spoilers and allow the reader to live this book. I always held Asura to be Anand's best book; this book is a near second.

Who can read?The book makes use of a rich language that neither overpowers the story nor does it unnecessarily complicate things.Is it entertaining?The book is packed with entertainment. The pace is much quicker than the unhurried pace of Book 1. There is a sense of urgency with which the characters tend to move. If you are reading the Books 1 and 2 back to back, this difference might feel much more pronounced to you.How good are the characters?The characters are winners of this story. While in Book 1, they are either pure evil or inherently good,it is in ‘Chaturanga’ that we get to see their various shades. They become much more nuanced and many of them constantly oscillate between good and bad often blurring the lines that separate the two.What did I like?At a subliminal level, the book reads like a social commentary that portrays the ugly realities of our world. It serves as an appropriate example of what can go wrong with a country when the interests of the mass are sacrificed at the high altar of the class.In the endIn the end, Anand Neelakantan’s ‘Chaturanga’ is a book worth every minute that you spend reading.

The book starts with the prologue, which showed the childhood of Sivagami and that fateful night when his father, Devaraya was held by his friend Thimma under the instruction of King Somadeva. On the present day, Sivagami is facing his foster father, Thimma in the arena. The crowd is cheering and both are just a way of entertainment for them. Sivagami wanted to kill King Somadeva but Thimma came in between which indirectly saves Sivagami’s life but Thimma loses his life.Soon, King Somadeva made Sivagami the first female bhoomipathi. On the one side, she was trying to learn the administrative work, however, on the other side, she was trying to find the truth about his father’s death.Somewhere else, Malyappa, father of Katappa and Shivappa ordered Katappa to kill his brother for his rebellious nature towards the Mahishmati kingdom. However, Shivappa’s life got spared and Brihannala places him into a leper’s colony to protect him.On the one corner of the kingdom, Katappa’s love interest, Ally escapes from the clutches of evil Hidumba and stumbles to Gundu Ramu who has Devaraya’s precious book.In the kingdom, Prince Bijjala was trying to do every possible thing to track and kill Shivappa who wants to kill him for raping Kamakshi.Whereas Vaithalikas are making their moves to coup the Mahishmati. In this book, we get more overview about Gauri Parvat and Gaurikanta stones.In between, we meet various characters like Pattaraya, Mekhla, Akhila, Rudra Bhatta, Keki who helps to develop the story interestingly.In this Chaturanga, everyone is trying to grind their ax and it is going to be interesting to see who is going to win.Writing style:The story moves with the characters, whose instances are interlinked with each other. The language is super easy, and the narration is captivating.My perception:This book is super amazing, and the way the author had developed the story is beyond explanation. Each character plays an important role in the book. This book has answers to various questions which people must have in their mind after watching the movie Bahubali. Apart from this, this book also represents greed, dirty politics, exploitation, and propaganda and how it shapes the great kingdom of Mahishmati. The author has a remarkable imagination skill and this book is another masterpiece written by Anand sir.

"Chaturanga" also Known as Shatranj or The Game of Chess is Basically a Game... with Lot of Tactics and Mind and in that the Title is Very appropriate for the Novel, the Only difference though... There are not only 2 Players in this Game Of Power...The 2nd Part of The Baahubali Series Is a highly Exciting Read, it has passed its predecessor by a big Margin... The Sinister Game of Power and The Equally Sinister Players always hold the readers interest...Shivagami is the Central Character here as well, but the Center Stage is taken by a lot of different characters everyone has their personal agendas and are ready to go to any extent to fulfill it...The Story Stood perfect on my hopes and even exceeded it by the amount of entertainment it Provided...Will Now be Waiting for the Concluding Part With Much Eagerness...A Definite Read for all the Baahubali Fans, For All the Mytho/Fantasy Fans... But yes, Read the First Part before Reading this...Happy Reading....