◆ Group Read August 2018 - Three by Krishna Udayasankar ◆

cynic

The votes for the much awaited myth-fic group read are in and Three by Krishna Udayasankar has been chosen as the Group Read of the month. The nominations were fabulous but Three came out the clear winner. Three by Krishna Udayasankar A hero sets sail. An island is found. A nation is born. Early thirteenth century CE. The Srivijaya Empire, considered to be one of the world's greatest maritime forces, has been abruptly left powerless in a swift political exchange. With nothing but a meaningless crown, a once-lauded navy and the will to keep alive the name of Srivijaya against the endless onslaughts of old enemies and ambitious neighbours, Emperor Prabhu Dharmasena and his kin leave behind their island realm to traverse the seas, desperate and homeless. Among those who sail with him is the Emperor's youngest son, Nila Utama, for whom loyalty and honour have ceased to have meaning since he saw his father forsake their beloved land. Now, all that is left to do is survive... ...or so Nila thinks, till a voyage across turbulent seas brings him to a fishing village, where the headstrong prince, so far insistent on keeping to the shadows, is forced to step up to his responsibility, face his old demons and discover what it truly means to be a king. Based on the founding legend of the island of Singapore, also known as Singapura or the Lion City, 3 is an engrossing tale - told in an exquisitely rich voice - of love, self-realization and adventure on the high seas. The book is available at https://www.craxme.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=7930&page=1#pid21503 (generously shared by @nike1234 ) Members are requested to join in. Please use only this thread to discuss the book. Note: Do check in if you are interested in participating in the group read. It gives us a fair idea of the wait time before we start discussing the book. If you wish to join in later, that is okay too.

viksorion

Yeah......

cynic

Waiting for more check-ins. We need a fair idea of who all would be joining us.

lecherous_v

Due to hectic last week of last month, I almost forgot I have this lined up for this month.

At present I am stuck on Sacred Games, but let me see. i will refuge to my favorite genre for a while and read this for sure in between.

cynic

lecherous_v 9-8-2018 09:44 AM
Due to hectic last week of last month, I almost forgot I have this lined up for this month.

At pre ...

No issues. Do join us if you can .

booklover1980

Almost forgot to read this book. Intend to finish it by next week though

cynic

Finished the book a few days back. Not a typical myth-fic. Waiting for others to finish to start discussing.

lecherous_v

Started yesterday.
20% done.
Till now, not immersive.
Feels like, I am standing on a ship's deck and words are flying everywhere.
Words, fancy words and sentences.  

cynic

lecherous_v 21-8-2018 03:20 PM
Started yesterday.
20% done.
Till now, not immersive.

Ditto. It took me a long while to "get into the book". It is one of those books where the Kindle dictionary feature comes in handy.

cynic

Will start the book discussion. Given it is a popular genre in the club, was expecting a better turnout.

I picked up a myth-fic after a long break. It was refreshing to read something beyond the usual Ramayan and Mahabharat versions. The book started quite slow and it took me a while to "get into the book".

What worked for me the concept. I was not aware of the history of Singapore. It was more of a historical fiction than a myth fic. But no complaints there.

Unlike most myth fics, the characters were layered. No one was larger than life, or the "perfect" one.

What did not work for me was that it went off to the philosophical track way too many times. I do like a book that makes me think, but do not enjoy things being spelled out. The author digressing into philosophy took away from the narration a number of times.

The language could have been simpler. Haven't used the dictionary feature as many times in a book.

Overall, I would rate the book a 3.5 on 5.