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Son of Shiva
Legend of KARTIKEYA: Champion of the Gods
The asura king snarled and launched an avalanche of arrows at his adversary. Kartikeya countered with his mystic spear, which emitted a flurry of sparks, incinerating the oncoming missiles with consummate ease. The champion of the gods then whirled his discus. The twirling orb of light danced lethally through the asura army, obliterating Surapadma’s hordes. Weaponless, armour shattered and flagstaff severed, Surapadma stood defenseless on the field.
Son of Shiva is the gripping narrative of the warrior-god Kartikeya, commander-in-chief of the heavenly hosts, and epitome of wisdom and valour. The book depicts in mesmerizing prose the monumental battle between the forces of good and evil, as embodied by the devas and asuras.
Preetha Rajah Kannan is the author of Shiva in the City of Nectar, an enthralling collection of stories based on the revered Tamil text, Thiruvilayaadal Puranam. She is also the editor of Navagraha Purana, a translation of the eponymous Telugu work on the mythology of the nine planets, by celebrated author V. S. Rao. Kannan has contributed extensively to newspapers and magazines, such as The New Indian Express and The Express School Magazine. A homemaker and a mother of two boys, she lives with her family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
The asura king snarled and launched an avalanche of arrows at his adversary. Kartikeya countered with his mystic spear, which emitted a flurry of sparks, incinerating the oncoming missiles with consummate ease. The champion of the gods then whirled his discus. The twirling orb of light danced lethally through the asura army, obliterating Surapadma’s hordes. Weaponless, armour shattered and flagstaff severed, Surapadma stood defenseless on the field.
Son of Shiva is the gripping narrative of the warrior-god Kartikeya, commander-in-chief of the heavenly hosts, and epitome of wisdom and valour. The book depicts in mesmerizing prose the monumental battle between the forces of good and evil, as embodied by the devas and asuras.
Preetha Rajah Kannan is the author of Shiva in the City of Nectar, an enthralling collection of stories based on the revered Tamil text, Thiruvilayaadal Puranam. She is also the editor of Navagraha Purana, a translation of the eponymous Telugu work on the mythology of the nine planets, by celebrated author V. S. Rao. Kannan has contributed extensively to newspapers and magazines, such as The New Indian Express and The Express School Magazine. A homemaker and a mother of two boys, she lives with her family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
203 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 18, 2017
11 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Preetha Rajah Kannan
10 books14 followersMy earliest recollection of Ponniyin Selvan is of five hardbound volumes standing tall in Amma’s book collection. To my eternal regret, the convent-educated-English-speaking me had my nose too deeply in English novels to explore one of the greatest Tamil novels ever written.
The years passed and I stepped into the courtyard of Thanjavur’s ‘Big Temple’ for the first time. I froze: the towering gopuram drew my eyes like a magnet and automatically lifted my head towards the evening-sun-splashed sky. The immense lingam in the sanctum thrilled my soul with its stark, truly ‘God-sized’ grandeur. And so, I came to Raja Raja Chola, the emperor who had the audacity to think big and build on this vast scale.
The brilliant Ramasamy Aiyar Krishnamurthi, or Kalki, immortalized Raja Raja Chola as Ponniyin Selvan, packing his masterpiece with dashing warriors and beautiful princesses, secret passages and dark dungeons, sorcerers and spies, vengeance and romance, shipwrecks and quicksand, leopards and assassins … in 2000 odd pages of roller-coaster excitement.
Dear readers, I give you Ponniyin Selvan as an 800-page, one-volume treat: The Tiger Throne. I have tried to give you a compact version, suited to todays’ ‘fast’ world, while retaining the body and soul of Kalki’s work and remaining true to the original in every way.
As always, I hope you will pass on the story to your children and grandchildren: for this is not just a book. It is a record of our glorious history and culture … it parts the veil of centuries to give us a glimpse of our roots and the rich lives of our ancestors.
Happy reading to you all!
The years passed and I stepped into the courtyard of Thanjavur’s ‘Big Temple’ for the first time. I froze: the towering gopuram drew my eyes like a magnet and automatically lifted my head towards the evening-sun-splashed sky. The immense lingam in the sanctum thrilled my soul with its stark, truly ‘God-sized’ grandeur. And so, I came to Raja Raja Chola, the emperor who had the audacity to think big and build on this vast scale.
The brilliant Ramasamy Aiyar Krishnamurthi, or Kalki, immortalized Raja Raja Chola as Ponniyin Selvan, packing his masterpiece with dashing warriors and beautiful princesses, secret passages and dark dungeons, sorcerers and spies, vengeance and romance, shipwrecks and quicksand, leopards and assassins … in 2000 odd pages of roller-coaster excitement.
Dear readers, I give you Ponniyin Selvan as an 800-page, one-volume treat: The Tiger Throne. I have tried to give you a compact version, suited to todays’ ‘fast’ world, while retaining the body and soul of Kalki’s work and remaining true to the original in every way.
As always, I hope you will pass on the story to your children and grandchildren: for this is not just a book. It is a record of our glorious history and culture … it parts the veil of centuries to give us a glimpse of our roots and the rich lives of our ancestors.
Happy reading to you all!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 6 reviews
January 23, 2018
Two months back I reviewed "Shiva in the City of Nectar" by Preetha and it was a wonderful experience. "The Son of Shiva" was the similar experience for me. The main attraction of the book series is the cover design and artwork. I simply love it. Her other book "Navagraha Purana" is also on my wishlist.
Though book's title protagonist is Kartikeya - 'The Son of Shiva", ardent love of Preetha towards Shiva is visible through the book. Sixty percent of stories were related to Shiva. "Shiva in the City of Nectar" was a collection of short stories about Shiva related Madurai. This part is more theme oriented. The antagonist of our story is Surapadaman, son of sage Kashyapa & Asura princess Maya. As instructed by Shukracharya, Surapadaman got books from Shiva & won 108 realms. With the power, he turned towards Adharma, which took him towards destruction. Shiva's son Kartikeya was born to bring these lose demons & asura under control. He launched an attack on Surapadaman.
Talking about narration style, it is simply awesome and flawless. I kept turning pages. I hated when I had to put the book aside. And pictures of Shiva & Kartikeya are too good. One can gift this book to any age, any genre readers.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.in/2018/01...
Though book's title protagonist is Kartikeya - 'The Son of Shiva", ardent love of Preetha towards Shiva is visible through the book. Sixty percent of stories were related to Shiva. "Shiva in the City of Nectar" was a collection of short stories about Shiva related Madurai. This part is more theme oriented. The antagonist of our story is Surapadaman, son of sage Kashyapa & Asura princess Maya. As instructed by Shukracharya, Surapadaman got books from Shiva & won 108 realms. With the power, he turned towards Adharma, which took him towards destruction. Shiva's son Kartikeya was born to bring these lose demons & asura under control. He launched an attack on Surapadaman.
Talking about narration style, it is simply awesome and flawless. I kept turning pages. I hated when I had to put the book aside. And pictures of Shiva & Kartikeya are too good. One can gift this book to any age, any genre readers.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.in/2018/01...
July 25, 2017
(I received a free print copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.)
CHARACTERS
These are characters I've heard in stories told by my mom and my grandmother. For years, I've heard Hindu mythological stories from my mother and I also grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha comics. Of late retelling of mythology has been all the rage in India but one thing I've noticed is how South Indian Hindu myths are always missing from these retellings. Son of Shiva is a retelling of the epic Khandhapuranam that I've heard from my mother a thousand times. It felt nostalgic to be revisiting all the characters from those stories. I also learnt about more characters; minor ones who are generally left out from storytelling sessions.
PLOT
While I've been calling Son of Shiva a retelling, it's not so a retelling in the sense that the original story has been changed and twisted. It's a retelling in the sense that the author has concised the huge epic and written it in a language we can all understand equally. My overactive imagination went into the book hoping for a new twist and was disappointed at not having got that. The plot is about the events that lead to the birth of Lord Karthikeya and the war that results in him killing the Asura Surapadhman. Despite having no twist to the original mythology, I enjoyed revisiting the whole story especially the account of the war which is celebrated yearly by Hindus in Tamil Nadu as a triumph of good over evil.
WRITING
The writing style was a little new to me as it read more like a recounting of events that "fiction" prose, if you know what I mean? While the writing style of the book worked for the book, it took me some 50 pages or so to get into it. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions; especially of the true form of the Gods and that of the various lokas (worlds). It really brought back memories of hearing the myths from family members.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK
- Revisiting Hindu myths from my childhood
- Learning more about the original stories
- The descriptions
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK
- Totally my fault, but I went in expecting to read a new take on the myths and didn't get it
- The writing style at the beginning
CONCLUSION
It's a wonderfully written narrative of the events that lead to the death of Asura Surapadhma in the hands of Lord Karthikeya. For many south Indian Hindus, these are a collection of stories we grew up with and it was wonderful to revisit those.
CHARACTERS
These are characters I've heard in stories told by my mom and my grandmother. For years, I've heard Hindu mythological stories from my mother and I also grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha comics. Of late retelling of mythology has been all the rage in India but one thing I've noticed is how South Indian Hindu myths are always missing from these retellings. Son of Shiva is a retelling of the epic Khandhapuranam that I've heard from my mother a thousand times. It felt nostalgic to be revisiting all the characters from those stories. I also learnt about more characters; minor ones who are generally left out from storytelling sessions.
PLOT
While I've been calling Son of Shiva a retelling, it's not so a retelling in the sense that the original story has been changed and twisted. It's a retelling in the sense that the author has concised the huge epic and written it in a language we can all understand equally. My overactive imagination went into the book hoping for a new twist and was disappointed at not having got that. The plot is about the events that lead to the birth of Lord Karthikeya and the war that results in him killing the Asura Surapadhman. Despite having no twist to the original mythology, I enjoyed revisiting the whole story especially the account of the war which is celebrated yearly by Hindus in Tamil Nadu as a triumph of good over evil.
WRITING
The writing style was a little new to me as it read more like a recounting of events that "fiction" prose, if you know what I mean? While the writing style of the book worked for the book, it took me some 50 pages or so to get into it. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions; especially of the true form of the Gods and that of the various lokas (worlds). It really brought back memories of hearing the myths from family members.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK
- Revisiting Hindu myths from my childhood
- Learning more about the original stories
- The descriptions
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK
- Totally my fault, but I went in expecting to read a new take on the myths and didn't get it
- The writing style at the beginning
CONCLUSION
It's a wonderfully written narrative of the events that lead to the death of Asura Surapadhma in the hands of Lord Karthikeya. For many south Indian Hindus, these are a collection of stories we grew up with and it was wonderful to revisit those.
October 30, 2017
Beautifully written!
Loved the flow of the book. The book starts with Shiva and Parvati, always thought she gets the name after she was born to Himavan. Sati's story is different. Apart from this, great read. Loved reading it and waiting for more books from the author.
Loved the flow of the book. The book starts with Shiva and Parvati, always thought she gets the name after she was born to Himavan. Sati's story is different. Apart from this, great read. Loved reading it and waiting for more books from the author.
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February 27, 2019A poor attempt to write about a legend in Indian mythology. Numerous typos, grammar errors, excessive use of words which we hardly use shows that the writer is an amateur. The title and the prologue was was tempted me to buy and read this. But the book doesn't even justify the title at any point. Out of approximately 250 pages in the book, Kartikeya hardly got 40-50 pages (maybe even lesser mentions). The first mention of Kartikeya came after almost half the book was over.
Though it did include several other things which were new and informative like that of Surapadma, Veerabahu, and others. However, where I wished to read about Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and the Champion of Gods, this book lacked. I so wished this book to be better.
Though it did include several other things which were new and informative like that of Surapadma, Veerabahu, and others. However, where I wished to read about Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and the Champion of Gods, this book lacked. I so wished this book to be better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2017
I am usually fond of reading mythological and historical books but somehow this wasn't upto the expectation. I felt it had to do with the style of writing which wasn't very reader friendly.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 6 reviews