Narasimha. The Mahaavatar Trilogy Book 1:

I must say Kevin Missal is emerged as a finest writer of our country,his writing is so convincing and flawless.Awesome storytelling with perfect narratives which makes this book an awesome read. I always fascinated by the story of Prahlad and Hirnyakashyap,how Holika sit in fire with Prahlad and How Narasimha an Avatar of Lord Vishnu emerged to save Prahlad from his father. But this book just change all my myth and perception about this story and i am in totally awe of the interpretation of author. I totally loved it. This book is perfect example of storytelling,it kept me hooked and I just took two days to finish it.i never read any mythological retelling so fast but it is like a movie every scene and place was so clear in my mind that it keep me hooked through out the book. Content: story starts with Kayadhu hirnyakashyap's wife fighting with Indra army and she gone to death by simha after that Hirnyakashyap wanted to take revenge from Indra so he always plan to attack on Illavarti(Indra place). Nara Simha moved out of battlefield because he thought that took life of innocent was not good and when he returns after 12 years to help his friend Shiva and save Pashupatastra from Andhaka a mad demon.but by mistake he killed Anuhrad and when Nara reliaze his mistake oh I can't tell everything here, so do read to find out about Narasimha Is he really a Vishnu Avatar to save Dharm or he is like any other simha or if he is then why he called Narasimha? How Hirnyakashyap got boon of Brahma? I really like the characters in this book Prahlad,Anuhrad his brother ,Narad his guru Andhaka and Hirnyakashyap. Each character is defined so well and come out perfectly each one has its own importance I really like small characters like Dhriti, simikha and Viparchit. Book filled with Raakshas, demon, pisaach and daanav have some light hearted scene too like love story of Anuhrad - Jyoti ,Viparchit-Simikha, Prahlad-Dhriti and Nara-chenchen which gives smile on my face so this story is filled with lots of emotions love, lust, betrayal, vengeance, power and father son love too. Language is simple and lucid and narration is just awesome. I highly recommend this book to everyone go read i soon. I am looking forward to read part 2 of this book. --By Dipali gupta on 12 June 2019

This book is a remaining of the tale of Narasimha that we've heard from our parents and grandparents. And the author has made a point to let the readers know this before they dive into the story as to leave no chance for misunderstanding, which I really appreciated. As the note gives you a clean state where you know there is no need to compare the original tale and the book. And that this story has it's own individuality even if the characters are people we've grown up learning about. That being said, the story starts off with a situation where Hiranyakashyap's kingdom is under attack in his absence. The prologue paves the way for the journey, that you can guess with the first line itself, is going to be a roller-coaster ride of intense emotions portrayed vividly with the author's descriptive narration. The story revolves around Nara Simha who has long turned his back on being a soldier in battlefield and now leads a life devoted to saving people and practicing medicine. But when has a warrior ever been able to leave bloodshed and war behind for good? When has a fighter ever been able to ignore the way his heart pounds and veins fill with adrenaline everytime the prospect of fight for a cause lingers in air? When has the world ever let a soldier be anything but? Almost never. Decades later, Nara Simha is pulled back into the tangles of conflict. And whenever there's conflict, there's sides to choose and whatever choices he make, he can not choose to be ignorant to the consequences and guilt that the aftermath of the bloodshed and war promises. An enthralling tale with strong characters and graphic narrative that makes you feel every emotion. The mythological aspect is well researched and the author's take on adding tales from various unheard scriptures and texts available made me appreciate the book even more. My only complaint, and not as much as a complaint but rather a suggestion is to not use modern words in mythological fiction and try using words that were then used in speech instead, in the dialogues as it pulls you out of the historical world of Deva's and Asura's and disturbs the image that the words have imprinted on your mind. I can understand that it would be too much work though so it's not that big of a problem. Overall, I enjoyed everything about the book. The storyline is entertaining. The pace is never too fast or too slow. The characters have depth and their thoughts and beliefs were strong which made the relatable and humane. The narrative never falls flat and even the dialogues are written very well. --By Honey on 15 June 2019