Vanara: The Legend of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara

Yet again this author has outdone himself. After reading this novel, I now have a lot more respect for Bali and Tara.

This book is as good as Asura. Such a beautiful narration of an unforgettable tale. Great work! Great portrayal of Bali, Sugreeva and Tara ever.

A compelling read that explores several themes and emotions. Once again it is proved how complex the world is and that life is indeed a million shades of grey.It is always interesting to read the elaborated stories of characters whose roles were restricted in the main epics. The characters of Baali, Sugreeva and Tara were well chalked out and many times I found myself empathizing with them.

The concept is unusual...narrating a tale from a different perspective.However, I was extremely disappointed by the quality of the language. The book has been badly proofread. There are many grammatical errors. And errors in vocabulary too. A couple of examples: page 71, line 10: "People had begun 'disbursing." Instead of "dispersing". Page 181, para 3, line 5: "...that my head will 'blow' into pieces..." instead of "burst". There are many many more such blunders throughout the entire book. Altogether, this made reading the book a painful experience. I'd bought it only because of the name of the author and also because I'd read his other two books. Never again.

When an author explains his thought of writing other than in the story he wrote, then obviously he is defending on his thoughts and he seems not so confident.... This some how made me loose interest in the beginning itself.... However, since Asura was amazing and Ajaya was good, I began reading with open mind.... However, Anand seems to have either lost his way of expressing his views as earlier or he seems to have taken readers fro granted (like how Amish made me feel through Sita)... There seems to be so many things Anand says and contradicts in the continuation.... Further he never seems to have let go of Asura thoughts for he brings in Asura wherever possible though not necessary (may be for commercial purpose)..... I also found his writing impacted by political thoughts rather than being honest as it was the case in Asura and tried to complete it in hurry.... All in all I felt it was not worth it.... Hope he does better in future as I am hoping Amish would for Ravan.....

Less a novel more scripted like a Bollywood potboiler. With the number of Bollywood ‘intellectuals’ giving a high five to the book that should have been a Red flag in itself. The author has reduced the Ramayana narrative of greater things to a lecherous, vile and shamefully idiotic portrayal of Bali and Sugreev. Its almost scandalous how the widely admired mythological figures can be reduced to cartoonish characters in a love triangle. The author seems to be a new age leftist trying to take a high moral ground by giving the so called ‘Varna-system’ color to our religious beliefs and mythologies as well.

Author is going with the flow of establishment bashingaryan vs vanara this timeliked his earlier books for story from the Fallen perspectives but since his earlier novel of Sivagami its becoming a drag as he is making it more a read for left wing ideology rather than people who want a different perpective

Just completed "Vanara" and I shall stick my neck out and declare that it is Anand's best work till date...I could have completed the book in one sitting if it wasn't for my dwindling eyesight.The book is a magnanimous narration of the life of the Vanara community and a grand insight into their perspective.I daresay that the central character in this story is Tara and the entire narrative revolves around her.The duel between Sugreeva and Baali that culminates in the death of Baali by the arrow of Lord Ram raises the question of Kshatriya Dharma Vs Vanara Dharma and how when free thinking is subjugated it often leads catastrophic results...I particularly loved the sentence"Man strived to be God when he couldn't even match animals".I highly recommend this book and should you chose to give it a miss you are missing out on something truly wonderful.