Rating: 
Summary: Worldwide critical acclaim for The Ramayana novels
Review: To know more about Prince of Ayodhya, the rest of the Ramayana series, and the author Ashok K. Banker, go to the official website [www...]What the critics are saying...
"Great heroes, mighty battles, wondrous magic" The Star, Malaysia
"Likely to become an essential cornerstone of fantasy" Montreal Gazette
"Banker recreates a lush and beautiful world" Cincinnatti Enquirer
"A rollicking read...may the Force be with Banker" Hindustan Times "Magnificent...tremendous...a milestone" India Today
"Vivid, unforgettable images" The Telegraph
"How well Banker tells his tale!" Indian Express
"Banker has beaten the rest" The Statesman
"A ripping good yarn" Publisher's Weekly
"Jeweled prose, lush descriptions" Library Journal
"Living breathing characters that sparkle with life" Sffworld.com
"A marvellous landscape of princes, demons, mages, and lovers" Kate Elliott
"Entertaining and illuminating" SciFi.com
"A thundering good story" Dave Duncan
"A refreshing change from generic fantasyland" Starburst
"Wow!" The Alien Online
"As welcome as a lush oasis in a desert" Sword's Edge
"Extravagantly, grippingly, wholly appealing" BSFA Journal
"An intelligent revival, rarely seen in fantasy literature" Dreamwatch
"Stunning, impressive, entertaining Indian myth" Enigma
"Huge in concept" John Jarrold, SFX
"Highly recommended" SfBookcase.com "Wonderful, almost Matrix-like, highly entertaining" SFCrowsnest
"Fast-paced and impressive" Kitabkhana
"Enthralling" Harriet Klausner, Book Magazine's No.1 reviewer
"Highly recommended" Paul Goat Allen, B&N.com
"As globally relevant as Gilgamesh, Cuchullain and Beowulf" Historical Novels Review
"How absorbing!" Mostlyfiction.com
"Excellent" Bookloons.com
"Feel the arrows zing past" Curledup.com
"What a debut" Polaris
"Snap up this volume" Romance Readers Connection
"One powerful tale" Myshelf.com
"A magnificently rendered labour of love" Outlook
"Retold in grand style" Asian Age
"Banker's creation will become a classic" January Magazine
Barnes&Noble.com's main SFF selection for August 2003
Locus Notable Book for September 2003
National Bestseller across India
*****
Readers are raving over Ashok K. Banker's
PRINCE OF AYODHYA: BOOK ONE OF THE RAMAYANA
"More promising than Rowling's Harry Potter series" H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana, Mysore, India
"I tore through your book...the night before my chemistry exam" Romit Bhattacharya, Irvington, NY, USA
"For fans of epic myths, a must read, wonderfully complex" A reader from Slough, Berkshire, UK
"I couldnt stop reading it and would recommend it to anyone" Aarti from Cardiff, Wales, UK
"I loved this book. I can't wait for the next part." Ruth Griffiths from Carlisle, Cumbria, UK
"I thanked Mr. Banker silently for introducing me to something new, something that excited and amazed me." Fraser Ronald, USA
"I read entranced through the night. I await Banker's sequels and I thank him for giving the Ramayana back to me." Renuka Narayanan,India
"I found the exchanges between the characters just as riveting as the battle scenes." Renee, Ontario, Canada
"A great and simple adaptation. It's a very well written story." Donald S. Buckland, New York.
"I loved this book! It was hard to put down. I highly recommend Prince of Ayodhya." Kristin from Minnesota
"Bravo Mr. Banker, I can hardly wait for the next installment" Scott Masterton, Blaine, Minnesota
"This is storytelling at its best, you have truly done something remarkable." Gautam Chikermane, New Delhi
"It will appeal even to the most jaded reader of fantasy in the twenty-first century. I recommend it heartily." Baird Stafford, USA
"I can heartily recommend this novel and wait eagerly for the next installment." Rachel A. Hyde, UK
"I cannot tell you how hard it is to put the book down once you've started reading it!" A reader from Crawley, West Sussex, UK
"Banker is especially gifted at describing mythic conflicts; the battle between Rama and the forces of the giant Tataka is an awesome moment" Claude Lalumiere, Montreal, Canada
"Ashok K. Banker stands for Indian fantasy at its best--I look forward to part three more than the new Robert Jordan, George RR Martin, or David Gemmell" Chirag, London, UK
"A unique reading experience, rich in character, history, love, magic, and adventure. I'm looking forward to the next book in what promises to be an incredible series" Deborah Hern, USA
"A compelling glimpse into India's exotic richness, in the easily digestible form of an intriguing heroic adventure. I find myself eagerly awaiting the next volumes" A. Asohan, Malaysia
"I attended your book-reading in Chennai (Landmark Apex plaza)- and it was superb. I was impressed with the way the story had been told, it had been exactly the way I'd imagined it. I'm looking forward to more."
Pavithra Srinivasan, Chennai, India
"Just finished reading Ashok Banker's new novel, Prince of Ayodhya, and may I say, wow! It's excellent. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone who likes mythic fiction." Li Rapkin, USA
"What a treat this was! For anyone who enjoyed the first book in this interpretation of the Ramayana I urge you to get hold of 'Siege of Mithila' as fast as you can. All of the characters are given more depth and there are some truly nail-biting moments" Bini, Crawley, West Sussex, UK
Rating:
Summary: ATTENTION: AMAZON.COM--not for publication
Review: To: Amazon.com The review on the page for Prince of Ayodhya by "Kumar" is clearly a biased and false review of the book. I say this not only as the author of the book (and I should know!) but because even you can see from a perusal of other reviews of the book here or anywhere else that these allegations are false, defamatory and patently malicious. Perhaps the most telling fact is that "Kumar" still has the book in question listed in his Wish List as not yet bought. And the edition he has posted a review of is the US edition which is not available in India (the UK publishers have exclusive rights in India and they have not yet released the book here either). How then, one wonders, could he have read the book and reviewed it, whether positively or negatively? Could it be that..."Kumar" has not read the book at all, but simply posted a review? In which case, I believe Amazon.com is liable for his malicious and false views which can be easily proven to be so. After all, I'm assuming that Amazon.com wants to sell books, not dissuade people from buying them--which latter is what this "Kumar" seems to be doing. Looking forward to your honest and fair appraisal of the situation--and speedy response. Best wishes Ashok K. Banker
Princely praise for Ashok K. Banker's
PRINCE OF AYODHYA: BOOK ONE OF THE RAMAYANA
"Magnificent...tremendous...a milestone" India Today
"Vivid, unforgettable images" The Telegraph
"How well Banker tells his tale!" Indian Express
"Banker has beaten the rest" The Statesman
"A ripping good yarn" Publisher's Weekly
"Jeweled prose, lush descriptions" Library Journal
"A marvellous landscape of princes, demons, mages, and lovers" Kate Elliott
"Entertaining and illuminating" SciFi.com
"A thundering good story" Dave Duncan
"A refreshing change from generic fantasyland" Starburst
"Wow!" The Alien Online
"As welcome as a lush oasis in a desert" Sword's Edge
"Extravagantly, grippingly, wholly appealing" BSFA Journal
"An intelligent revival, rarely seen in fantasy literature" Dreamwatch
"Stunning, impressive, entertaining Indian myth" Enigma
"Huge in concept" John Jarrold, SFX
"Highly recommended" SfBookcase.com
"Wonderful, almost Matrix-like, highly entertaining" SFCrowsnest
"Fast-paced and impressive" Kitabkhana
"Enthralling" Harriet Klausner, Book Magazine's No.1 reviewer
"Highly recommended" Paul Goat Allen, B&N.com
"As globally relevant as Gilgamesh, Cuchullain and Beowulf" Historical Novels Review
"Excellent" Bookloons.com
"Feel the arrows zing past" Curledup.com
"What a debut" Polaris
"A magnificently rendered labour of love" Outlook
"Banker's creation will become a classic" January Magazine
Barnes&Noble.com's main SFF selection for August 2003
Locus Notable Book for September 2003
Crossword Bestseller September 2003
*****
Readers are raving over Ashok K. Banker's
PRINCE OF AYODHYA: BOOK ONE OF THE RAMAYANA
"More promising than Rowling's Harry Potter series" H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana, Mysore, India
"I tore through your book...the night before my chemistry exam" Romit Bhattacharya, Irvington, NY, USA
"For fans of epic myths, a must read, wonderfully complex" A reader from Slough, Berkshire, UK
"I couldnt stop reading it and would recommend it to anyone" Aarti from Cardiff, Wales, UK
"I loved this book. I can't wait for the next part." Ruth Griffiths from Carlisle, Cumbria, UK
"I thanked Mr. Banker silently for introducing me to something new, something that excited and amazed me." Fraser Ronald, USA
"I read entranced through the night. I await Banker's sequels and I thank him for giving the Ramayana back to me." Renuka Narayanan,India
"I found the exchanges between the characters just as riveting as the battle scenes." Renee, Ontario, Canada
"A great and simple adaptation. It's a very well written story." Donald S. Buckland, New York.
"I loved this book! It was hard to put down. I highly recommend Prince of Ayodhya." Kristin from Minnesota
"Bravo Mr. Banker, I can hardly wait for the next installment" Scott Masterton, Blaine, Minnesota
"This is storytelling at its best, you have truly done something remarkable." Gautam Chikermane, New Delhi
Rating:
Summary: Banker's creation will become a classic
Review: Yet another version of Ramayana, the great Indian epic, is well underway. The epic is now 3000 years old and has inspired different versions at different times in its long life. In Ashok K. Banker's rendering, the novelty is that the ancient tale gets a modernized version by someone who has passionately studied, researched and lived with the material for the past 20 years. Banker's Prince Of Ayodhya is just the length of as it should be -- not abridged as some have been. Neatly divided into seven volumes, each comprising more than 500 pages, the epic is being published serially in UK, USA, Germany and many Commonwealth countries as well as in several languages. What is it that has attracted publishers around the world? For one thing, the epic has a simple, long and intriguing storyline, which still resonates. It is permeated with fantasy material that is appealing and irresistible in its own way. It is perhaps this fantasy quotient which publishers readily reckon to be a perfect fit for the mass market. Then, of course, perhaps it's more simple than any of that: a great story is a great story in any language, at any time. Prince of Ayodhya , the first volume in Ashok K. Banker's Ramayana -based series, opens with Rama, the prince, awakening after a bad dream on a moonlit night in his bedroom chamber. In just a few deft strokes, the author gives us a vivid idea of the prince -- his looks, education and attitude -- the state of Ayodhya, the soft-flowing Sarayu river, the peaceful ambiance in and around the state, and the unseen dangers looming over the country and its people. With the atmosphere and tone perfectly set, the reader is led straight into the great tale. Preparations are underway for coronation of the young prince on his 16th birthday. Two sages at the gate of the palace, one following the other, each one claiming that he is Viswamitra, the seer-mage, a sage among sages, a seer that other seers look up to reverentially. The old king Dasaratha is puzzled, failing to recognize the real one. The real Vishwamitra has to prove his bona fides and utters a mantra to change the impostor back into his true shape. The other one was a demon, a shape-shifting Asura, sent by Ravana, the king of demons, who wants to destroy Ayodhya. The grateful king offers to pay anything the great sage asks of him. Vishwamitra asks for the services of Ram to accompany him on a mission. The sage says that the mission is important, as it would save Ayodhya as well. After much dithering, the king agrees to send Rama along with the sage, but another of the king's four sons, being very much attached to his elder brother, follows them as well. It's a difficult terrain with impassable roads. They have a harrowing time trudging their way first on foot and then on a kind of boat to reach the sages' place at Vayanak-van. The sage empowers the two princes and prepares them for the fight. The demons, being aware of Rama's presence, launch an all out attack to kill the two brothers. True to the sages' prescience, Ram fights valiantly and kills anybody and everybody that dares attack them. Banker's Ramayana is an elegant, robust and highly textured account of Rama's heroic but checkered life, told with great taste, delicacy and imagination. The author's style has a sharp audio-visual character and that makes for a delectable read as well. The narrative never sags or comes across as hackneyed or trite. Non-Indian readers shouldn't be dismayed at the free and rampant use of Indian words in the text. Though they might seem a bit indigestible at first, they ultimately contribute hugely to the ambiance of Banker's book. I look forward to reading the next volumes of this modern Ramayana. If Prince Of Ayodhya is a good sampling, it seems likely that Banker's creation will become a classic.
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