The Third Day - Dwapara Yuga

by Sharada Vallem, Harshita Vallem

A day in Brahma’s life has 14 Manvantaras + 15 Sandhyas, which is equal to 4.32 billion years. Each Manvantara has 71 Divya-Yugas, which is equal to 306.72 million years. Again each Divya-Yuga is divided into four Yugas, Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali. Brahma created eleven Prajapathis and seven Saptarishis, who are called the Manas Putras to serve in creating the Universe. However, he made an irrevocable mistake on the first day of his life that cost him his honour, as one of the supreme Lords of the Trimurti, and led to the fight between evil and good and the loss of billions of lives. The very existence of humankind was questioned. In the Dwapara Yuga – Brahma fought to regain his honour – and Elsker, the Universe – to save his love Sarayu, the earth. In the first millionth year, of the Dwapara Yuga – the Tala Pata Grandas – the prestigious holy scripts, written on holy leaves – were opened, unveiling the unpleasant things to come. A terrifying war broke out between the cannibals and humankind. However, the unison of Elsker and Sarayu ended the war abruptly, during the first millionth year. Nevertheless, the evil had not yet ceased and Elsker left to build his army to combat the evil that was unleashed! The second millionth year began. To unearth the ‘City of Lost Souls’ and fight evil – the Universal Mind and Elsker began their quest for Nirbhaya and the Manas Putras. The Manas Putras were re-incarnated in the third yuga of the third day of Lord Brahma’s life. Elsker was not alone in this quest, the King of Narmada’;s soul; Daksha guided Elsker. Expect the unexpected…

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2015

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to thank Good reads for choosing me as a first reads winner and the author for sending over me a copy of her book.
Well for a first time author, Sharada Vallem has skillfully pulled the plot together with lots of intrigue and action.
But I couldn't find myself blending well with the flow of narration, mainly because of the language and choice of words, which failed to spark up any interest in me and moreover, they are not brushed properly for the readers.

Mythology is indeed the favorite genre for Indian authors to spin their fictional stories, but to pull off a brilliant mythological story, it requires lot of imagination and that this author had enough imaginative skill. But at times, I felt like some incidents and events were very surreal to the book, not at all required to justify the story, only made it boring and lengthy. The characters were well-crafted and reading about them made me feel for those characters.

I can only hope that the next book in the Dwapara Yuga series will be much better than this book.
I rated 3 stars to the book, since it was quite innovative in approach and also I had a good time while reading this book- got to learn a lot about our vast Hindu mythology!

[Zoomikag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, thank you very much Sharada for providing me with giveaway copy.

It is a very good story in the genre of mythological fiction. Right from the beginning, the storyline had picked up its pace making it more and more interesting and causing the reader to turn pages. Although there are some portions where it feels as if it is unnecessarily dragged, other than that mostly the plot is well constructed.

The narration while introducing each character is wonderfully written; making the reader to feel it.

There has been some errors across the books but that can be easily overlooked.

Considering that the book is the first written by the author, the effort put in it as a whole can be considered appreciable. Wish you the best for your future writings and looking forward to see your next book emerging. :D

[Karthikeyan P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hats off to the Author Sharada Vallem for conceiving a story in Mythological fiction!!!

The story is painstakingly written by intertwining the fictional storyline with the original facts but also not contradicting with myths.
I really enjoyed reading this book!!!

Expecting to read this book's sequel.!!!

[Jayashree R · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all,

Thanks Sharada,for choosing me as one of the receiver of your books. I have always been a lover of mythology and fiction and this was like payasam given to a person waiting to eat sugar.

The book has been an interesting read, took me around 4-5 hours to finish it.

As I read it, the reviewer in me was comparing it with other authors that write mythology. The language is apt, when it is the first book, it comes close to the big names in the field. Though I could feel a certain incline towards particular regions.

Imagination is fertile, new thinking, The stories used to expand imaginations to the next level have been a few, that I have heard in my childhood too, that have helped in building up the story line, making it strong.

Only thing that irked a bit was the name Elsker. Somehow I felt it did not gel into the larger part of the story. Could have been a name blended with the rest. Or was it something you wanted to stand out? so that people question it?

Once again, thanks for providing me an opportunity to read your book, gather yet another perspective of Hindu mythology and our universe.

And, I liked your quote!

“It has no choice, but to happen because I imagined it.”
― Sharada Vallem, The Third Day - Dwapara Yuga


Wishing you all the very best in your future endeavor

Warm Regards

Jayashree.R

[Purba Chakraborty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very different book which revolves around incidents taken place in the Dwapara Yuga.
The author has a wide range of imagination in building such a unique plot for the book.
The first half of the book which tells the story of the First Millionth Year of the Dwapara Yuga is thrilling, page-turning and very interesting.
From the description of the Dead Walkers to the Thala Patra Grandas, everything was so perfect here. The characters of Elsker (Universe) and Sarayu (Earth) was also sketched beautifully.
I was really impressed by the author's narration and imagination.
I started reading the 2nd Millionth Year (2nd half of the book) and at times, couldn't believe that the same author has written the 1st part of the book which I loved so much.
The 2nd part was not crafted well, the characters were not strong enough to leave a mark and the writing was haphazard.
The ending was also a big let down.
The book started beautifully but unfortunately, struggled as it neared the climax.
Given the fact that it is the author's debut book, I would like to rate it 3/5.
The author definitely has the potential to write some great mythological stories in the future because of her superb imagination skills. She has to just work on her narration and characterization.

[Rakhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Review

I started off the book with an intention to read a mythological fiction. The blurb too gives the feel of a mythological fiction but when I entered the world of imaginations set by authoress, I realized that it is a YA Fantasy of which I am not much of an expert to review. I admit my mistake of not investigating much about the genre of the book. The names Elsker, Sarayu, Nirbhaya, Parama, Daksha etc were picked up randomly. The mythological connection seems to occur when the names of Prajapthis and Saptharshis are revealed.



Highlights


The writing style is simple and suits a YA fantasy. Parama's character is crafted very well. The imagery of the book is good. Authoress has prepared a mouthwatering feast for the fantasy lovers. For a debutante, she had done a good job. The cogent cover adds to the appeal of the book.


Drawbacks

The love between Sarayu and Elsker was not conveyed well. Authoress has shown excellence in designing the blurb and acknowledgement, but failed to pull off the same in the book. In spite of being exceptionally good in terms of literary value,the blurb is misleading

[Tushar Mangl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Third Day - Dwapara Yuga is a mythological fiction written by Sharada Vallem. The idea is interesting and unique and Sharada has weaved in a good story. All mythology stories churn into good vs evil thing. Same is the case here. But here again, the presentation and layering of the story is unique and it does not lead into a belief of predictability.


So you flip page after page guessing what could happen, but not quite be able to guess it accurately.All in all, a good read, a good book that grips you tight. I am not relaying the plot here for fear of spilling the beans. Also, do look out for this very nice thing recap, where at the end of the book a recap for each chapter has been mentioned. I liked it.


Received a complimentary copy from the author, via the GoodReads Giveaway program

[Aryan Sarath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story was neatly written. It made me to feel as if I was going through the movies Avatar, Matrix etc but in an Indian Way. The usage of language was good though I found some print errors in close to 10 pages which were negligible.

The story revolved around lot of things and first time ever I think an Indian author had touched Zombies too :-)

Waiting for the next edition as I never thought the story was put to a pause all of a sudden/abrupt as I was deeply engrossed on it and read the entire 230 pages in a single day!!!

[Kalyan Panja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spot on page-turner, this paperback is original in intent and admirable in execution where in fact you require an ingenious psyche to put in writing this sort of attention-grabbing volume with the state of affairs, and temperaments were minutely illustrated, letting you to from top to bottom throw yourself into the fairy-tale. Despite the fact that all the personality names are according to Hindu legends, on the other hand, the front disposition Elsker is a touch else.

[Disha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be tagged in different genres such as mythological,fiction,non-fiction and at times philosophical too. Well kudos to the author for choosing completely different genre for debut.
The plot is interesting one. Characters are well sketched. The only thing I didn't like is the character of Sarayu which was not necessary and apt. One unique thing in this book I liked is the idea of recap. All in all the book is an enjoyable read!

[Vinita Meka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling Story and Narration. Yes, every book(of new author) has ebb and flow during the narration but that is acceptable and few typos and grammatical mistakes which can be ignored, your story makes them ignore while reading. AFAIK, it's better than Immortals of Meluha and the like. Keep up the good work Sharada.

[Nisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you for this book as a giveaway. A very different mythological story I had never even heard of.

But it couldn't hold my interest from the beginning. Even the end was a huge disappointment.

What i did love about this book are the characters. Many interesting ones. My favourites are Elsker (Universe) and Sarayu (Earth). Both so very powerful and beautiful characters.

[Nitu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received the book in a giveaway.

I'd say the plot is constructed fantastically. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. A real page turner it is. It keeps the reader engaged till the end.

Keep it up Sharada, waiting for your next book. :)

[Deepty]

good one

[Vikram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as goodreads giveaway. The book is a mythological fiction and a good one. The effort put in the book, given it was the first book of the author, must have been great.

[Abinaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic and had invloved discoveries of the epics. Good to have a historical background revolving in the story. Had a good time reading

[Dina_s · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this as a Goodreads giveaway. First of all my thanks to the publisher and author for sending it to me. Unfortunately I just couldn't finish reading this book. It has 200 odd pages but I could barely manage 25. It is an extremely poorly written self published novel with substandard typesetting. The quality of the language is terrible: it is written in an unattractive staccato style, full of atrocious grammar and Indianisms (f.e. "called as", the constant use of 'the' as in the Drona, the Parama etc), and amateurish dialogue that is a cross between Chhota Bheem and a Doordarshan mythological soap opera. Rather surprising, since the author herself proclaims to have had a number of prereaders and a professional proofreader! I don't wish to discourage the author; it takes grit and determination to write and publish a book by yourself. She undoubtedly has detailed knowledge of the mythology she writes about, but if she wishes to continue writing professionally, she needs to study proper English grammar and literature, and focus on sentence construction and storytelling.
I am sure there is a fascinating story in here somewhere, it just needs to be fully deconstructed and properly reconstructed.

[Meera · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book a mythological fiction with a non – fiction angle to it.

The story line starts off well (The first millionth year), but the second half (the second millionth year onward) does not live up to my expectations. Overall a creative story. An interesting segment at the end of the book – a recap of the chapters.

Being the debut book by the author, the author has a good potential ahead to write good books. The narrative of the story was pretty impressive.

Received the book from the author, through Goodreads giveaway.

[Romila · Rating 4 out of 5]

ll the characters are well written a designed especially the antagonists. The author writes about the past that ties Elsker and Sarayu but without giving out many details. The narration has blended well of both the worlds. For me it was a good read with philosophical theme which contributed to the novel.

[Vignesh Bharathi S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy to read the book. The way of narration is good. I m a bit confused with introduction of new characters here and then. Enjoyed reading.

[Shanti87 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book in itself is a novel attempt. The book has perfectly blended Indian Mythological elements making it the first I have read of its kind. I think that makes the book a must try.