The Seal of Surya: The Legend of Ikshvaku

Author failed to read and comprehend Indigenous Sanskrit or other scriptures and following Western writer blindly.Amritanshu did good job in finding, using the historic indigenous places name and explaining them with meaning. I also agree the way writer mention about male dominating Suryavanshi tradition and liberal Chandravanshi life-style. As Suryavanshi dynasty in Ramayana we barely see balanced or dependable male-female relation. Not many strong female characters reside in Ramayana. Other hand Mahabharata is full with examples of love-marriages with powerful female characters.Unfortunately there are major other flaws why I couldn’t enjoy this book.Author seems supporter or Confuse about Aryan Invasion Theory: Instead of studying own indigenous Sanskrit, Prakit, Tamil or other old indigenous literature Amritanshu decided to follow western writer like “Wendy Doniger”, “John Keay” and damage is visible.The way Amritanshu describe the Suryavanshi or Nomad migration from west of Sindhu seems he is supporter of Aryan Invasion theory, which NOT a single Sanskrit or indigenous scripture or literature supports. On the other hand he also mentioned Suryavanshi founder are born in Kashmir region moved to west of Sindhu and again came back. So some point he seems quite confuse him-self about what he is trying to portrait.During British invasion of India to establish imperialism in India for first time the hypothetical Aryan Invasion theory come into existence, which today’s date both eastern and western scholars dismissed. Ikshvaku and the solar dynasty existed and spread through mainly bank of Sarayu, Ganga and Yamuna today’s day state of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, far away from Sindhu. Ramayana, Puranas or other scripture doesn’t support any such migration.Origin of Rakshasas: Another area Amritanshu is totally confused. He mentioned Rakshasas are Indigenous to India and that is correct too. Then he mentioned they are decedants of Assyrus. Now Ramayana, even Mahabharata predates Assyrus. Ikshvaku even predate them, so how Rakhashas can be decedent of Assyrus? More than that if they are decedent of assyrus then how are Indigenous to India? Amritanshu seriously need to learn and comprehend indigenous Sanskrit, tamil and other indigenous literature instead of blindly following westerner.In England British and Scottish are fighting for millennia, but that doesn’t mean one is indigenous and other outsider. Aryan, Rakhasa, Gandharva, Yakshas, Chandravanshi, Suryavanshi they all were Indigenous, but time to time they all had clash with each other.Rakhasa way of Worship is Different than Aryan: Amritanshu mentioned how Ikshvaku’s second wife hated Aryan way of worship. I am not even sure where writer got that idea.The Shiva Tandava Shotram we hear in temples or in movie like Baahubali is originally composed by Rakhasa king Ravana. Ravana was a Rakhasa and also decedent of Brahma. He received the boon from Brahma after intense tapasya. If the Aryan and Rakhasa way of worship is different then why they worship same gods as well as decedent of same origin?Amritanshu need to read his own scripture instead of following Doniger.

Great story telling . Concise and well written . Even though it is fiction , the author has done lot of historical research to make the characters look and feel real .

Nicely built storyline and characters with well researched description of life during that era. I would have liked more direct linkages to present day names of the cities and general geography.

Amish I think you should also talk to Rajiv Malhotra ji who is doing a yo man job writing our history from our pov

A compelling story that drives your imagination. A fantastic plot which was delivered by a writer who is able to weave the story together using vivid language.

Nice book. Structure, pace of plot and quality better than others in the genre including Amish tripathi

Excellent writing! deep history. our Indian history could be so interesting, I never knew! Awaiting more works by this author

Very well-written book. Has added a good deal of imagination and kept my interest throughout.

Awesome read! Looking for more .....

A different perspective of our history. The characters are well etched with fragilities and strengths of each of them having a great impact on the story. The connect to modern India is subtle. The book is very well built for a series. But the author has not followed up. His take on the next generation of characters & how they shaped up our country would have been very interesting.

Simple story, a bit too fast paced for my taste. In this genre i generally prefer more immersive stories like Banker's Ramayana series, Shiva Trilogy and even Dasharajana where the characters are more developed and the plot has depth and moves slower so as to engage more.

Really a great book in my favourite genre. Has a gripping narration and contains good knowledge about the ancient bloodlines. Surely better than what Amish and Ashwin are writing recently...

Good Read, the story line was a bit thin but narration was very good. All in all a good book definitely need to watch for the next one. Hope the story line would be much better which if it is and it is marketed better it will have the potential to be a best seller.