The Relic by Ashwin Karthik & Madhava Sharma: Book Review

Title: The Relic

Author: Ashwin Karthik & Madhava Sharma

Publisher: Maple Press

My Rating: 3 stars

Links: Amazon Goodreads

 

The story of the book has been knitted on the controversy of Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India on setting from year 2011 where the Supreme court of India directed the concerned officials to open the secret chambers of the temple. These secret vaults in question were presumed to hold the greatest mystery of its time.

In the course of opening of the vaults, the protagonist Vijay who leads in this investigation discovers an earthen pot which was mysteriously kept along with precious gold & jewellery.

This begins the secret mission of Vijay to uncover the secret behind the pot. On his journey, he travelled various holy places of India and even met few sages and saints to probe into the historical background of the temple and its secret vaults.

During this exploration of past events and stories, he gained lot of information about the history of his ancestors connected with temple secrets.

He also learned about the mystical powers of Indian saints and sages which he didn’t believe at first but managed to accept later.

What was Good

• The story is very absorbing and keeps the reader hooked from the very beginning.
• The historical aspect of the story is well built and will prompt you to acquire knowledge connected with the temple and its secret vaults.
• Description of tales of temple secrets, Indian holy places, mystical powers of saints, traditions and mysteries is captivating.

What wasn’t Good

• Gathering of information by the protagonist from a person residing far away is narrated in a quick way i.e. in a matter of next line of the paragraph which is not realistic and quite annoying too.
• As an Intelligence Bureau officer, Vijay characterisation doesn’t do justice. Also, he easily gave up every historical information he previously collected to the saints or sages in question.

Why to read this book

If you love historical fiction with a tint of mystery, this book will not disappoint you. The story is fascinating and will keep you engaged until you reach the end.

Considering unique story and storyline, flaws can be ignored.

 

If you happened to read this book or thinking of it lately, do share your thoughts.

 

-Harshita