After reading, and enjoying, Amish's Meluha series, the expectations were naturally high... And, this book has disappointed me... Meluha had a strong factor of novelty which is missing here which means that something else is required to make it work.
Since this is just the beginning of the series, the author has the opportunity to set things right. He just has to write fast and far far better... ( )

After 50 pages, I found it was a book written for kids (10 to 12 years). Lost interest and gave up. I don't think, I would read any of the other books written by the auther. ( )

Definitely a good read. I like the way of Amish Tripati to present Itīhāsā in more realistic way. ( )

Such a logical version of Ramayana that everyone is familiar with. This is clearly a prequel to the Shiva trilogy. This book chronicles the life of Ram, which is a different version of the one we have known so far and I like this version a lot. This version seems more realistic to me. I had expected to read an exciting retelling of the story of Ram, as vivid and unique as the Shiva trilogy and this book didn't let me down one bit. A must read to all the fans of Shiva Trilogy..
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Being a huge fan of Shiva Trilogy I will say I am disappointed. I think Amish was a little too fast in publishing and could have done much better ( )

'Scion of Ikshvaku' or simply you can call it a Ramayana of 21st century. Though the character and story is gripped with the typical Ramayana era, the plot and society resembles the modern era.
Lineage of Ram is associated with Ikshavaku Dynasty so is the name of the book, taking you to the time before the birth of Ram, then in his childhood to adulthood and soon follows itself with the other sequels of the series...

Critically acclaimed author of Shiva trilogy Amish Tripathi again won my heart with this profound piece of contemporary piece of epic woven with modern ideas and atmosphere, The author has brilliantly juxtaposed the culture, society of both era by keeping the originality of the text firm. ( )

Amish is a fine writer but this book is blunder. Nirbhaya really? I mean what was he thinking. And sita swyamwar... And the language used like 'plan b' and others... The book is a page turner but just because of the original story. When u are reproducing a religious text or history of thia stature, ita very important to maintain the sanctity a little. It never looked like an epic. A huge let down ( )

Note : This review was first published in my blog - Book And Ink

After ‘humanizing’ Lord Shiva, writer Amish has taken upon re-telling Lord Ram and his life story. Scion of Ikshvaku is Amish’s fictionalized version of Ramayana, the epic that has been interpreted and narrated by countless people. This book has been recorded as one of the most extensively marketed books with the book trailer going viral, pre-orders jumping and a lot of digital contests. Naturally, the strategic marketing resulted in people expecting a magic from Amish. Sadly, this book failed to match the level of magic that the Shiva trilogy managed to create. That might be because Ram’s character isn’t as dynamic as Shiva’s.

Read on ONLY if you have read the book. /*this review contains spoilers hereinafter*/

Characterization

Unlike Lord Shiva, who got a radical makeover in Amish’s previous books, Lord Ram or Emperor Ram is more or less the much ethical and law abiding man from the actual Ramayana. Sita’s characterization, on the other hand is a different story. She is this strong spear wielding administrator unlike mellow Sita from the actual Ramayana. The other characters, Laxman, Bharath, Kaikeyi and Manthra have all been given a rather refreshing twist which had a huge impact on the story line. Ravana, as of now, has also been unaltered and remains the loathed evil demon. I don’t exactly trust Amish to let that be in the subsequent books. It is evident that he has done a lot of research about Ramayana, its protagonists, the sequence of events and the underlying philosophy. To revamp almost all the characters, such research is vital. One thing that I loved utterly was that, Amish stripped all the characters of their supernatural element, like Ravana having 9 heads or Ram’s birth - making the story a realistic and natural read.

Plot

Like the characterization, the plot has also been revamped, re-adapted, re-engineered (or whatever re-word you know of) from the original Ramayana leaving a majority of readers (me included) in a state of shock. I was stunned with the liberties that the writer took adapting the Nirbhaya incident and Darupati’s Swayamvar into Ram’s tale. More than anything, one school of thought that pushed the envelope for me is where the nobility of Ayodhya and Emperor Dashrath hate Ram as his very birth was the reason Dashrath lost the battle against the evil Ravan. In a way that made me love Ram a bit more than I already do.The plot line so far was laced with right amount of twists and turns. So far so good, but I’m definitely curious about what is to come, for the crux of Ramayana is yet to be narrated.

Writing

Let’s face it. Amish is no literary genius, but then he created a cult following with Shiva trilogy and revived the present generation’s almost extinct interest in mythology. His simplistic writing aided the books in reaching even the people who don’t read books much. His writing has come a long way from being sober to being narrative (specifically in this book). To re-engineer and gave a face-lift of sorts to a much read tale, one needs to have guts and be unapologetic about it. It is evident that Amish fits that bill perfectly.

MY SAY: A one time read and page turner with right amount of drama and action.

PLOT : 8/10

NARRATION: 6/10 (I found the philosophical part on leadership and laws to be a bit repetitive)

CHARACTERIZATION: 9/10 (Especially for Sita’s character!)

BOREDOM QUOTIENT: 3/10 (The lower the better)

OVERALL RATING: 7/10 ( )