The original Ramayana—a classic tale of war between absolute Good and Evil—was written 3,000 years ago by Valmiki, a reformed thief-turned-sage. Now, with breathtaking imagination, Indian novelist Ashok K. Banker has recreated this epic tale for modern readers everywhere. For 13 years, Rama and his companions in exile have defended themselves against the brutal incursions of the rakshasas. Finally, in the bitter battle of Janasthana, he achieves the long-sought victory, retiring to the sunny glades of Panchvati to wait out the last months of exile. But unknown to Rama, the demoness Surpanakha has survived and escaped—back to the hellish island kingdom of Lanka. There, she provides the key to resurrect her stricken cousin Ravana, lord of the rakshasas. And the resurrected Ravana seeks only one thing—vengeance against Rama.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Praise for Ashok K. Banker's Ramayana: "A refreshing change from generic fantasyland" Starburst; "In a word, Wow!" The Alien Online; "Extravagantly, grippingly, wholly appealing" BSFA Journal; "An intelligent revival, rarely seen in fantasy literature" Dreamwatch; "Stunning, impressive, entertaining Indian myth" Enigma; "Huge in concept" John Jarrold, SFX; "Wonderful, almost Matrix-like, highly entertaining" SFCrowsnest; "Banker's creation will become a classic" January Magazine; "Fast-paced and impressive" Kitabkhana; "As globally relevant as Gilgamesh, Cuchullain and Beowulf" Historical Novels Review; "A ripping good yarn" Publisher's Weekly
From the Publisher
The original Ramayana—a classic tale of war between absolute Good and Evil—was written three thousand years ago by Valmiki, a reformed thief-turned-sage. Now, with breathtaking imagination, Indian novelist Ashok K. Banker has recreated this epic tale for modern readers everywhere.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Named Book Of The Year By Reviewer at Blogcritics.org,
By Richard Marcus (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Armies of Hanuman (Ramayana series) (Paperback)
In this, the fourth book of Ashok Banker's retelling of the Ramayana, Armies of Hanuman, we are reunited with our characters 13 years from the date we left them beginning their fourteen year exile. Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshman have fought alongside a motley band of outcast and outlaws against the Asur hoard for the whole time.
In this fourth book Mr. Banker continues to do a masterful job of bringing an ancient story to life and making it accessible to those of all cultures. Again he has managed to walk the fine line of neither over-explaining concepts and beliefs to those who are unfamiliar with them, and thus boring others, while at the same time never leaving any reader in the dark. In fact, in this volume I found that, either from the knowledge I had accumulated from the earlier installments, or even cleverer integration on the author's part, the story, the characters, and the moral lessons and education were woven together even more seamlessly. Maybe it's because now that Rama and ourselves have proceeded down our paths together into maturity, we are living our teachings instead of learning them. Whatever the reason, or however the Mr. Banker has done it I found Armies of Hanuman had an even better flow and narrative then any of the previous titles. Instead of admiration for simply managing the feat of presenting the story in an understandable way, competing with enjoyment of the tale, I was able to just sit back and read the adventures of Rama as I would any other novel. That is an amazing accomplishment on the part of Mr. Banker The Armies of Hanuman is another example of Ashok Banker's abilities as a story teller par excellence. The characters continue to develop and mature, his villains, although evil and despicable, are multifaceted and interesting, and the introduction of new characters is handled seamlessly and naturally. There is a certain organic quality to the way this tale is progressing; it's like watching the development of an exceptional plant from a green and tender shoot to the point that it bears fruit. Right now we are beginning to taste its first sweet rewards.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular...Banker keeps getting better and better!!!!!!,
By kanjisheik (Pondicherry, India) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Armies of Hanuman (Ramayana series) (Paperback)
i'm pleased to tell you that i'm again the first person to buy this book in pondicherry. Finished the book in about five hours. i was left speechless by the book. Another superlative effort by Banker!!!!
The battle ends after 13 years, with Rama securing a decisive victory in janasthana. Ravana is magically revitalised by Surpanakha's return to Lanka, and he immediately starts his plans to destroy Rama. I loved those chapters that dealt with the new Lanka created by mandodhari, during Ravana's 13 years of "slumber". Ashok puts up a lot of details that seem so awesome- its like he has a "window" to that age and is just writing it down, as he sees it. The descriptions of lanka are truly magnificent!!!! The scene in which Sita is abducted is just too good!!!! and rama's sorrow is heart rending. The character of Hanuman plays a crucial role in this book. His admiration for Rama, who is a champion of dharma, is very ardent. i liked the scene where Rama and Lakshmana come to Kishkinda and see the vanars, who are engaged in a council. From here, the book goes very fast. Rama decides to fight Vali and enable Sugreeva to become king, thereby getting his support and armies in the search for his Sita... a rivetting read... banker scores 9.5 once again!!!!!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Teenager Finally Reads Ramayana,
By
This review is from: Armies of Hanuman (Ramayana series) (Paperback)
I am a teacher at the local Indian Sunday School who's faces the challenge of making Ramayana and other epics more interesting and palatble to NRI teens. Ashok has finaly done that. For that I am eternally grateful. The first such book of this genre that I had read was Elaine Aaron's Samraat, many years ago and more recently KM Munshi's Krishnavatara. This retelling of the epic is complete, engaging and is the winner of the ultimate compliment: My teenager wants to read all of the novels after reading the first one. I of course have finished reading all of them, some of which I had to order from Amazon UK since they were not yet available in the US. Thank you Ashok
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
