Sita – The Warrior of Mithila is the second book in the Ram Chandra Series, following the Scion of Ikshvaku, written by popular author Amish Tripathi known for his The Shiva Trilogy. The book was released on 29th May 2017 and belongs to the genre of mythology and fantasy, and explores the life of Sita, the daughter of Janak, and the Prime Minister of the kingdom of Mithila.
Sita – The Warrior of Mithila: Insight
After introducing to us the story of Ram, Amish takes us further back to tell us about the life of Sita. Abandoned as a newborn child, she was found by the royal family of Mithila and was raised by King Janak as his daughter. Trained well in combat, Sita is declared to be the next avatar of Vishnu by Rishi Vishwamitra. Her story then coalesces with the story of Ram as they are tied in wedlock. Sita accompanies her husband after he is exiled out of Ayodhya for 14 years. During the exile, Sita is abducted by Ravana. While dealing with betrayal from friends, Sita is forced to find a way to escape from the talons of Ravana and also discovers the hidden agendas of the Malayaputras and the Vayuputras.
Sita – The Warrior of Mithila Review
One of the finest written pieces by Amish, this book holds the reader through a roller coaster ride of 350 pages. Amish has to keep in mind the fact that all narratives and facts from both the Scion of Ikshvaku and The Warrior of Mithila match up evenly, and so far his keen attention to every detail has dealt with it successfully. The story beautifully merges into the first book piece by piece, and it is highly recommended that one must read, Scion of Ikshvaku before picking this book, as it shall help in understanding the characters and the plot in a better manner. A lot of characters have so far been introduced in the two book journey, and it will be interesting to see how the story flowers for each of these characters in the upcoming books. With the next book set to decipher the tale of Ravana, Amish needs to cross check all his facts and figures evenly through the series so far. The plot twists are far more unpredictable, but the character of Sita is the strongest character Amish has so far developed in his journey as an author.
While Amish’s tendency to describe the fine details of the scenery is often beneficial, in this book it starts to drag the story down, and you can even skip some descriptive paragraphs without any effect to the remaining storyline.
Also, there have been a few popular modern-day references which fit in better than the Nirbhaya reference in its predecessor. Two of them which stand out are Jatayu introducing and explaining the festival of Jalikattu to Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, and Rishi Vishwamitra pulling off a Donald Trump by saying “We need to make India great again.” The tone of the book is lighter, and the references gel in pretty well.
VERDICT
Amish continues his Ram Chandra series with what is probably one of his best works yet. The stage is well set for the introduction of the demon king, Ravana, and we cannot wait to hear the other side of the tale, which would undoubtedly uncover more hidden secrets of the mystical land, Amish has built.