The Tiger Throne: Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan Retold | Book Review

Review of Preetha Rajah Kannan's The Tiger Throne - Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan Retold.

• Title - The Tiger Throne - Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan Retold.
• Author - Preethi Rajah Kannan
• Publisher - Jaico Publishing House
• Year published - 10 September 2022
• Pages - 688
• Genre - Historical fiction
• Format -Paperback

Rival factions stake their claim to the Chola throne as a power struggle ensues with Emperor Sundara Chola’s failing health.

The air is thick with political intrigue. On one side stands Prince Madurandaka, supported by the ruthless Pazluvur chieftains. On the other is Prince Arulmozlivarman, the future Raja Raja Chola, one of the greatest emperors in Indian history. The Pazluvur chieftains take the emperor hostage and civil war looms over the Chola kingdom.

History and fiction merge to weave a story of vengeance and romance, disguised princes and beautiful princesses, secret passages and dark dungeons, evil sorcerers and master spies…

Who will seize the throne victorious in this dangerous and thrilling game?

A couple of weeks back, I decided to start reading Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan. The colossal work by Kalki is one of his best-loved loved works and a popular one too!

Just when I had started I received this book and was very much intrigued as to how that 5 volumed series could be condensed into a 600+ paged version.

Ponniyin Selvan is filled with political intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, revenge, and all the kinds of stuff that make a novel a page-turner! The two rival groups fighting for the throne is the crux of the story but the way it is told is captivating. Not only the events but also the sceneries-beauty of mother nature, the description of the characters everything will make everything looks like it is happening right in front of our eyes. will make everything look Such is the writing skill of the Late Kalki.

Kalki takes you through a journey filled with Princes and beautiful princesses, scheming magicians, and spies all of which are tastefully woven around in plenty of emotions ranging from anger, love, betrayal, rage hatred.

As I mentioned earlier, this novel is something that you cannot put down. Even the few chapters that I am through in the Tamil version are page-turners. I literally had to pull myself from the book so that I could attend to the other chores!

That being the case, I was not sure how much of this thrill and description would have been penned but I started reading this with an open mind.

Translation of a highly popular book is no easy task and the author has done a commendable job recreating this one.

Since this is a condensed version, some parts have been shortened but the author has managed to keep alive the suspense and thrill, but the author has managed to keep the suspense and thrill alive. Even though the description is shorter than the original Tamil version, not much will be missed when considering the story's point of view. The descriptions do bring alive the scene and the characters and deliver the essence of the story.

The author has also ensured that the characters maintain their appeal and charm. The depth and weightage for each character have been preserved.

The translation is excellent and the language is simple to follow. The story flows seamlessly except in some places and this thing seems very minor which can be easily ignored. 

In all, a very captivating re-telling of the classic that is a boon for people who want to read this version but are not well-versed in Tamil. It is not a word-for-word translation but a good translation of the masterpiece.

A highly recommended book that all historical fiction buffs would love to read.

 

Preetha Rajah Kannan has written five books on Indian mythology, edited a translation of the Telugu Navagraha Purana , and contributed to several newspapers and magazines. A homemaker and mother to two sons, she lives in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.