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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, January 30, 2006
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular...Banker keeps getting better and better!!!!!!, January 26, 2006
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!!!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PLEASE READ THE INDIAN EDITIONS INSTEAD, July 9, 2007
If you are reading my Ramayana series, then I gently urge and request you to please not buy the UK or US editions, even if they're available at bargain prices. Which they probably are, since the publishers there have more or less put the books out of print, due to a lack of interest by non-Indian readers.
The Indian editions are the definitive editions of my work, containing a lengthy Introduction by me titled 'Retelling the Ramayana', which provides an essential perspective on the work, the final versions of all the books--including some small but significant changes, particularly in some book endings--no glossary, thank God, and are generally the best-edited, designed and published versions, in my opinion at least. In short, they're the Author's Preferred Edition, particularly the new hardcover omnibus editions, which represent the story in the way I had originally intended and are truly sumptuous to hold (and behold). Also, significantly, they aren't packaged as 'Fantasy' or 'SF' like the firang ones, which is a ridiculously transparent attempt at cashing in on the commercial success of the fantasy genre a la LoTR and Harry Potter. Please, people, my Ramayana series is a retelling of an epic, and that's exactly what it should be called, 'Epic'. I'd venture to call it 'Itihasa', but even Mythology, which is the label Penguin uses for the books here in India, is acceptable. But certainly not Fantasy as in one of the ubiquitous Tolkien rip-offs that are churned out in droves by western publishers, or even SF, both genres that can sometimes be wonderful in their own right, but are totally inappropriate in the context of an epic that pre-dates Tolkien by some thousands of years, and the entire tradition of western literature as well!
Frankly, I feel so strongly about this that I'd even go so far as to say, if you can't get the Indian editions, then don't read the books! That's why I'm currently in the process of re-acquiring the rights to the US and UK editions and they will soon be out of print everywhere but India. Which is how it ought to be: this is a quintessentially Indian story, written by a contemporary Indian for other contemporary Indians to read. And the Indian editions are really the only way to go.
Ashok K. Banker
www.ashokbanker.com
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