King of Ayodhya

If you are reading my Ramayana series, then I gently urge and request you to please not buy the UK or US editions, even if they're available at bargain prices. Which they probably are, since the publishers there have more or less put the books out of print, due to a lack of interest by non-Indian readers. The Indian editions are the definitive editions of my work, containing a lengthy Introduction by me titled 'Retelling the Ramayana', which provides an essential perspective on the work, the final versions of all the books--including some small but significant changes, particularly in some book endings--no glossary, thank God, and are generally the best-edited, designed and published versions, in my opinion at least. In short, they're the Author's Preferred Edition, particularly the new hardcover omnibus editions, which represent the story in the way I had originally intended and are truly sumptuous to hold (and behold). Also, significantly, they aren't packaged as 'Fantasy' or 'SF' like the firang ones, which is a ridiculously transparent attempt at cashing in on the commercial success of the fantasy genre a la LoTR and Harry Potter. Please, people, my Ramayana series is a retelling of an epic, and that's exactly what it should be called, 'Epic'. I'd venture to call it 'Itihasa', but even Mythology, which is the label Penguin uses for the books here in India, is acceptable. But certainly not Fantasy as in one of the ubiquitous Tolkien rip-offs that are churned out in droves by western publishers, or even SF, both genres that can sometimes be wonderful in their own right, but are totally inappropriate in the context of an epic that pre-dates Tolkien by some thousands of years, and the entire tradition of western literature as well! Frankly, I feel so strongly about this that I'd even go so far as to say, if you can't get the Indian editions, then don't read the books! That's why I'm currently in the process of re-acquiring the rights to the US and UK editions and they will soon be out of print everywhere but India. Which is how it ought to be: this is a quintessentially Indian story, written by a contemporary Indian for other contemporary Indians to read. And the Indian editions are really the only way to go. [...]

A nice series. Does deviate from the original in places. The last volume is a bit gorey, maybe Mr. Banker spent too many years as a horror writer.

This is the 6th and last book in the modern retelling of the Ramayana. It was sorry when it ended. The Ramayana is one of the most famous epics in Indian history, making it a very hard act to follow - everyone and their grandparents (literally) have either read the Ramayana or have heard its stories and would be very sensitive to a retelling that misses something. The Ramayana series has succeeded beyond my expectations. I would recommend that you try reading the books without preconcieved notions about how the story should be told. It retells a timeless tale in a contemporary way.

well begun is half the work done.. and A.Banker has done a good job of the other half, finishing the series in well rounded manner with pithy comments on current world affairs, snuck in the middle.. A little too much violence, but then is the book about THE WAR.. the ultimate battle between Ram & Ravana, Good & Evil. He's set up the stage for the Luv-Kush story and the seeds of doubt in Ram's heart, looking forward to hearing that tale - perhaps Mr. Banker can take up the "tale of the twins" next! Also he's done a marvellous job of bringing the various shades of Ravana to life. Wish the book dealt more with the characters, Sita comes to mind, there are such tantalising glimpes into the personalities but nothing more.. other than a LOT of gore and the battles. Perhpas he was thinking about it as a movie (pity the actor who does Ravana though, hell of a challenge that one!) Still all in all a good book.

Just read the sixth book of Ramayana....To put it one word, AWESOME!!!! earlier i thought that each book was awesome, but the fact that each succeeding book is MUCH better than the previous one... I had found Bridge of Rama brilliant, but compared to King of Ayodhya, its nothing... King of Ayodhya is that good!!!! i've read various abridged versions of the Ramayana, and recently bought the English translations of Valmiki Ramayana and the Kamba Ramayana that are recommended in the introductions to Banker's Ramayana (Indian editions), but those books tend to glorify things, unlike Ashok's books where the events are said ,"as it might have been" And this approach is exquisite- we can feel the emotions of the characters, as if we were them. This is what makes the Banker Ramayana series so much better than the traditional retellings [no offense intended to those greats who created them, but i dont think the current generation is interested in the cumbersome poetry]. And this continues in Kin g of Ayodhya. War is not glorified- it is depicted in its entirety. It is the only means to get Sita back, and so Rama has to do it. The pain, the sadness, the rage, the jubiliation of victory, the horror of dying- everything seems so right, when we read them. I loved the passage in the 12th chapter in which Rama thinks whether genocide of a rakshasa race [eventhough its created by Ravana's sorcery] is morally justifiable. To me, that passage is a fitting summary of the Banker Ramayana series- its a story, yet it teaches us how to live as righteous people like Rama. No matter how many times i've told people about this series [hence, now my friends dont talk to me much nowadays, for fear that i'll launch into another pravachan about the greatness of this Ramayana, but thats another story ], i simply cannot stop saying this: I believe that just as the Valmiki Ramayana is accepted as THE Sanskrit version, just as the Kamba Ramayana is revered by Tamil speaking people, just as North Indians worship Tulsidas Ramacharitramanasa, all English speaking Indians will fall in love with this series... Its only a matter of time. Nobody can ignore the labour of love that constitutes Ashok Banker's Ramayana series- its so brilliant!!!! after reading King of Ayodhya, i cant think how he will be writing the Mahabharata. I have read somewhere he said that his Mahabharata would be much much better than his Ramayana. If thats so, then the Mahabharata would have to be better than the best [King of Ayodhya]... Frankly speaking, I've trouble imagining a book better than this!