A huge thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the book!

About the Book:

VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE BATTLE IS ETERNAL.

Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered its citizens are scared and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of Sindhuvarta.

The only silver lining is that the deadly Halahala is safe. For now.

Bent on vengeance, Indra is already scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to Shiva?

My Thoughts:

“The road begins where we start walking and ends where we stop. The road is not at our feet, it is in our minds. As long as we care to walk, we shall find roads to walk upon. If not old ones, then new. When neither of us is willing to halt, what have we to fear?” – said by King Vikramaditya to his Queen Vishakha.

                                         ——————–x——————–x———————

“In battle, is it not the strongest or the bravest or those with the greater numbers who win,” said Vararuchi. “Victory belongs to the side that best understands the price of defeat.”

                                         ——————–x——————–x———————

“The thirst for vengeance is invariably bereft of perspective and morals.” – Shukracharya

                                         ——————–x——————–x———————

These are some quotes from the book that have stayed with me long after I have finished reading it.

The Conspiracy at Meru, book 2 in the Vikramaditya Veergatha series, picks up where book 1 left off. Having placed the Halahala in a safe place, King Vikramadiya and his council are still facing various threats to the nation, both expected and unexpected. When we find that the might of the Asuras and devas and everyone else in between are poised to attack in some way or other, it’s a matter of who will strike first! To counter all this, they come up with numerous plans and strategies, all the while trying to anticipate what can go wrong. Trust me, a lot can go wrong!

The author does a fabulous job with each of the characters, both important and seemingly unimportant. I have come to realize that every person has a role to play and as a reader, we should be careful not to disregard anyone in this series! Such is the way of the author that he masterfully creates plots and sub-plots that are wholly unexpected!

The story in itself is simple when we strip it down, coming down to the clear idea that the Halahala must be protected. But the cost to do so and the sense of duty are something to be considered. This takes a huge toll on everyone and the surprises and twists do not stop coming! New alliances are forged and old are broken in this story that seems to be foretelling of things to come (in the further books).

Shatrujeet Nath is a master story teller and his books are gripping, pulling the reader in from page one. Without going into details of the plot (this is already hinted at in the book blurb), I would like to point out that there is a lot looming over the horizon and this is just Book 2, there are two more books to go to find out what happens!