Historical Fiction - Book Review Example

Introduction

The Asoka Trilogy authored by the Prince of Patliputra is an interesting text surrounding a haunting concern on who will be the Aryas revered land Samrat. The book captures the golden age submerge in chaos and greed upsurge, royal heirs' aspiration dark age and remarkable moment in man's life to chase their destiny. Seamlessly, and intelligently merges parallel past surrounding the Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya. Chanakya was the teacher commonly referred to as guru in Indian history, and Chandragupta was a disciple. The text revolves around explaining the epic relationship between Chanakya and King Ambhi. However, the kingdom faces a great dilemma in determining the next successor since all the 99 sons of Bindusar wishes to become the next king. Concerns arise whether Prince Asoka was going to help Bindusar's songs take their grandfather's position in the leadership. The paper focuses on analyzing the historical background of the Asoka Trilogy.

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Reign Periods

The book Prince of Patluiputra, written by Bhave Shreyas, kicks off with Asoka's prologue and his grandfather Chandragupta Maurya. The author has written the book in two historical periods: the Asoka era and the Chandragupta. The flow of the story concisely develops the reign periods of these two great rulers. Both Chandragupta Maurya and his son Samrat Bindusar had a vast kingdom to exercise their powers in the area of Patliputra. Chandragupta Maurya has ruled Patliputra for about fifty years under the leadership of Chanakya. Sushem is eyeing the next Samrat of Patliputra. Sushem loves Asoka much; hence mentors him on how to rule a kingdom effectively. Further, King Puru is alerted of Alexander's impending threat, a vast and robust army by Chanakya. Shreya has set this historical book in the ancient Bharat and has incorporated exceptional values and skills that each history learner should have.

Shreyas has set his historical book in a perfect historical setting. Chandragupta Maurya's son, Samrat Bindusar, is the second Samrat Chakravartin rules all the Aryas from his capital, Patluiputra. Before the reign of Samrat Bindusar, Chandragupta Maurya had ruled the kingdom with honor hence earning the kingdom much glorification with the guidance of Arya Chanakya. Thus, Samrat Bindusar enjoys much glory and respect from his father's legacy. Currently, Samrat Bindusar is seriously ill; hence is health is drastically deteriorating. Before his illness, Samrat Bindusar ruled the Arya kingdom as per the guidelines of his father. With his poor health, there are 99 of Bindusar sons who can succeed him. However, they all want to get to the throne of Paliptura.

About the Author

The author, Bhave Shreyas, is a male aged 21 years pursuing a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering. His love for past events began since he was a young boy. His passion for history inspired him to write about an ancient political power in Europe, Asoka. Besides writing historical fiction, Shreyas also enjoys writing songs, sketching images, composing new music, and painting watercolors. Additionally, he is fond of taking hiking trips in the Maharashtra hill forts, singing the blues and southern music, and playing his guitar. In India, currently, Shreyas is working to provide efficient services to the final consumers of Transformer and Switchgear products. Furthermore, he is also working on the second part of the Asoka trilogy.

No words to appreciate the work of Shreyas Bhave. It seems he has come from Asoka's time and describes the things as he has lived on his own. The unbeatable concept of presenting the incidents and characters shows his hard work and dedication towards this historical topic. Also, the writer has defined Chanakya, who everybody wants to read and know deeply even. The perfect ending is given to the book as it would be the beginning of the next of the series.

Meanwhile, Shreyas has put the best book in the market, which cannot be replaced by any experienced authors in the writing field, and working on such works for years. Though the cover is quite fine and covers the entire concept of the book, it could be more impressive in the view of historical aspects—many of the things writers have revealed about historians that were not known to people yet. Besides, by offering such work, writers have made themselves secure in readers' hearts and give a safe place in their bookshelves. At last, it must be read by every person of any age circle. Shreyas has exceptional thinking and holding capacity, which new and well-established authors must learn from him.

Apart from Shreya's Bhave working on a start-up towards offering quality services to users regarding switchgear and transformer products in India, he is currently pursuing a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering. He is concerned with entrepreneurial community work, according to his organization at www.ourfirstmillion.org. Shreyas had a deep connection with work from childhood; hence he was inspired to write a fictionalized book as a challenge to his historical record. He is a good storyteller due to the rich folklore that surrounds the legendary figure of Asoka. He is multitalented since he composes music, enjoys singing, watercolor and sketching. His love for history extends to the forts of Mahashtra, where he regularly hikes up.

Historical Setting

The book's historical setting is correct; it traces the land of the Aryas, Bharatvarsha, to 272 BC. He is concerned with the time Samrat Chakravartin, Bindusar rules the Indian region from Patliputra, his capital. Shreya acknowledges that Chandragupta Maurya, who was the father to Bindusar, had developed the vast Samrajya 50 years before Bindusar took over. To build the vast Samrajya, Arya Chanakya, a great Guru, helped Maurya to attain the empire's glory and wealth.

Shreya gives the account of how the Empire's glory passed due to Samrat's failing health after an enigmatic disease occurred. It was the start of problems and factions; rebellion and in-fighting arose due to the succession rights. Among all Bindusar's sons, there was no one fit to be cleared as a successor; despite all of them eyeing for the throne, everyone struggled to win the throne. Shreya describes how Bharatvarsha awaited for a king, a warrior son of Bindusar, to rise and take their grandfather's mantle. Thus, the book's historical setting is correct.

Historical Moment

I learned that the impressive Asoka Trio is concerned with the inheritance of power. The historical book's moment entails the question about the Samrat to succeed as king after the death of Bindusar in the land of Aryas. Also, I learned that the fascinating narrative entails the surge of chaos and greed, the deterioration of a golden age, dramatic events in the renowned dynasty, and the evil wants and ambitions of royal heirs. It also helped me understand the extraordinary life, fight, and risks of a man focused on a greater destiny.

I understood that the historical juxtapositioning of Asoka's two storylines and one that existed 50 years before gave the book its uncommon structure. Both stories have similar weightage since the title, Prince of Patliputra, fits into Asoka and Chandragupta. I identified that both had a vice who participated in both characters to rise to power. Just as Asoka had Radhagupta as his assistant, Chandragupta had a key figure, Chanakya, who played a similar role. I learned that the book's historical background is built from similar events of the two stories.

Besides, I also understood the historical characters Hardeo, Kanakdatta, Dileepa, and Avarak were purely imaginary. To make the plot powerful, the aspect of Ashwamedha Yadnya was created in the book. The latter was destroyed by Asoka in a wild rage since it belonged to Sushem. Additionally, I learned that the historical characters of Devi, Ashoka, Radhagupta, Chanakya, and Chandragupta were real. They participated in the historical events of rebellion and chaos.

Conclusion

Shreya's Bhave is a young Indian who offers Railway Electrification PSI work expertise. Currently, he is pursuing a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering. Bhave does not have a personal relation to historical aspects; however, he has had a passion for history from his childhood. Bhave writes the book since he believes that much of what is known concerning the Mauryan period is drawn from historians' writings and not authors from the era. He writes for people interested in Mauryan times. He got the historical knowledge from the Greek historians and Ashoka's rock edits.

The book does not convey a realistic depiction since characters such as Hardeo, Kanakdatta, Dileepa, and Avarak were purely imaginary. Also, to make the plot powerful, the aspect of Ashwamedha Yadnya was created in the book. The latter was destroyed by Asoka in a wild rage since it belonged to Sushem. All the descriptions and incidents are not exact or historically documented; the work is fictionalized. The book does not convey an authentic experience of living in the historical moment. However, the book can inform students about the Mauryan period.

Bibliography

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https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-10870-4_2

Covill, Linda. A metaphorical study of Saundarananda. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe, 2009. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zY1mTVQuBuIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Prince+of+Patliputra:+The+Asoka+Trilogy+-+Book+I+Book+by+Shreyas+Bhave&ots=9NOWgbQFVm&sig=AUcWVMPZeMD4AmALpiIGNXbWYwI

Freeman, Evelyn B., and Linda Levstik. "Recreating the past: Historical fiction in the social studies curriculum." The elementary school journal 88, no. 4 (1988): 329-337.

Grindon, Leger. Shadows on the past: Studies in the historical fiction film. Temple University Press, 2010.

Youngs, Suzette, and Frank Serafini. "Comprehension strategies for reading historical fiction picturebooks." The Reading Teacher 65, no. 2 (2011): 115-124. https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/[email protected]/(ISSN)1936-2714.Comprehension?casa_token=Jq2u3oz-VJ8AAAAA:T9VDu2sygxdToToadIEUsEiB6WdpjoWDUg2qXwa1A_oTob0HMmNIbkpdUMhfXWmdQq2TEkygyJmQBrugHw.