Mark This Book Monday: The Shiva Trilogy!

Hey everyone! Monday is here again, and this week for me it means days off after a really busy weekend at work, two awesome tops from Label of Hope in the mail, and time to read!

Right now I'm completely hooked on the "A Song Of Fire & Ice" series, and I'm currently on the 4th book, but that'll be another Mark This Book Monday entry, cause today's entry is for The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi, and the two books that are out so far: "The Immortals Of Meluha" & "The Secret Of The Nagas".

I've always been in love with Mythology, be it Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse... it doesn't matter, I love myths, and getting into the possible Anthropological answers behind them is even better for me, since it fulfills one of those basic treats of mine: wanting to know, to understand and to get answers. But just for the pure enjoyment I love when Mythology, Anthropology & Archeology are all mixed up in the form of a good novel, and this series does that with Hindu mythology.

The Shiva Trilogy is the story of Lord Shiva, one of the many Hindu gods, but one of the best known out there, and the premise of the whole series is: What if Shiva once existed but was never a God, but a man that forged his destiny in a way that is now remembered as a God?.

Even if you don't know the first thing about Hindu mythology you'll get wrapped in the story, with the intrigues, the secrets and the path of a normal man that becomes a hero through his karma (call it destiny, call it karma, call it doing what he feels it's right), and if you know at least some Hindu mythology you'll really enjoy the way the author explains and presents the characters and the myths themselves.

I read the first book last year during one of my visits to Delhi, and the second book I finished on my way back from Zurich to Spain, during my flights and layover in Geneva. Thankfully, Deeksha, G's sister was awesome enough to give me her copy of the book, before even reading it herself so I could read it! (Thanks Dee!). I'm now hoping the third book, "The Oath Of The Vayuputras", won't take too long to come out, cause you're left with quite a surprise as the second book ends, and with even more unanswered questions!

A very recommended series, and if after reading it you wonder about Meluha and the Indus Valley Civilization, I'd recommend another great book to learn more about it: The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives.