THERE are some books where, while reading the first few lines, it becomes crystal clear that it is going to leave a lasting impact on the readers. Song Of The Trinity - The Broken Tusk, the second instalment in the Song Of The Trinity series is one of them by author Vadhan. The prologue starts with an epic battle that everyone has heard of or read about; the transformative story of Mushika the little mouse found at Lord Ganesh’s side. Vadhan makes it the beginning of a conflict of universal proportions, literally. The idea which says that you should not judge a book by its cover doesn’t apply to this book. The name reads as The Broken Tusk but the front cover had a hooded cloak with tentacles around it. The rear cover had an image of a curved tusk. The hint of the story hidden within the front and rear covers is clever apart from the brilliant design of the cover.

 

A hint that is revealed only after reading the book. This is a book for the ages, meant to grace a library permanently because the concepts and philosophies within the book take it beyond the thriller and fantasy fiction genre into a reiteration of ancient philosophies on ‘chaos v/s order’ and ‘choice v/s need’. It is surprisingly refreshing to realise that chaos is not all that bad and without it, there is no hope. How is that possible? Vadhan fleshes it out brilliantly be it in dialogue, description or action. In this story of good v/s bad, at some point, readers will start to wonder what is good and bad? Viewed from a universal lens, the concepts that humans hold so dear are at the same time carved out as precious and innocuous. The author excels at world building while approaching concepts with a distinctive outlook. An example is the species called Zri who have the ability to artificially extend their lives but have to sacrifice their leaders to avoid the resultant fall out.

 

There are nuggets of wisdom and philosophy everywhere in the book with the characters fleshing them out brilliantly. The characters themselves stand out distinct from each other, whether it is the crazily brilliant Rap Sage with his terrible grammar, or Trigund the Anomaly, a villain as much as she is a victim or the main hero, Aswathaman (Yes, the same one from Mahabharata but in the present age) and his bafflement over his curse of amnesic immortality. The other main hero, Shatru, a one-ofa-kind Demi-god, powerful beyond measure but losing his loved ones in the war against the ancient villain. The author has three names for the main antagonist: Kroni, Maharishi and ‘The Kali’ which are interspersed expertly depending on the context.

 

The beautiful Naga princess, Lalitha, a brilliant strategist and administrator, doomed from the very start and yet her struggle to survive and even find love tugs at heartstrings or Kris, son of Krishnayani, survivor of a destroyed planet who ends up as Shatru’s apprentice, timid, shy, with multi-coloured glowing skin and a strong heart. Indra, King of the Deva, who finally gets his due as a pragmatic, compassionate and yet seemingly conceited king. The author has painted on an ambitious and large canvas of universal proportions, extending ancient Indian concepts beyond our world and into the ‘endless universes’. The book ends but the saga is set to continue. ■