Book Review: The Prince by Samhita Arni

Title: The Prince
Author: Samhita Arni
Publisher: Juggernaut

A historical fiction, ‘The Prince’ is author and illustrator Samhita Arni’s fourth book. It is based on the Tamil epic Silappadikaram.

‘The Prince’ is a fast-paced and absorbing book with a strong story-line centering on Uthiyan, a ‘prince-ascetic’ who renounces his claim to the throne after an astrologer predicts that he will be greater than his older brother. Arni’s Uthiyan borrows from Adigal’s life.

The book is replete with highly entertaining accounts of betrayal, terror, assassination plots, contrition, and revenge. It would be wrong to call this book a retelling for the author adds a twist to the narrative by including the eventful life story of Illango Adigal, the man credited for writing Silappadikaram.

Arni does a superb job of bringing alive a distant and dramatic past. Her characters, beautifully rendered, are intriguing and delightful at the same time. The book is set in the Tamil country of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas with their history well researched by the author. There’s no denying the fact that Arni has an eye for details and a knack to bring to life incidents and characters with her evocative writing.

The book is a total package right from the beautiful cover to the story-line, language, and narration. If you like compelling characters, rich storytelling, and have a taste for history, you’ll surely love this novel.

A captivating and artfully wrought tale rich in imagery and revealing details—a wonderful piece of work.

When she was eight, Samhita Arni started writing and illustrating her first book. The Mahabharata - A Child's View went on to sell 50,000 copies worldwide. Her second book, Sita's Ramayana, a graphic novel, was on the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels for two weeks. She is also the author of the novel The Missing Queen.

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I'd like to thank the publisher for letting me review the book. I do hope you end up liking the book when you read it. Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy reading!

* I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

** Picture courtesy: Amazon.in, Google