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I have read a lot of stories about Birbal mostly through Amar Chitra Katha comics. They were a few page affairs that mostly ended as quick as they begin. Probably the first time that i was with Birbal for a lot more than 100+ pages. It felt good for sometime at-least.
The moment i saw Birbal, mystery, author from Bangalore and a thick book i just picked it up. Definitely not disappointed. As usual i won't write about what the story is about… what would be the point? Plus i am not writing a review of this book and more of how much i enjoyed reading the book.
Interesting trivia about Birbal:
His original name was Mahesh Das from UPHe was one of the first convert to Din-i Ilahi a new religion founded by AkbarHe was killed in Pakistan in an ambush by Afghani tribesmen
To put things in perspective about the amount of work needed to put this in place
There are around 10 words per line
20 lines per page on an average
250 pages for the whole book
say 20 mins per page (i tried and it took longer and much horrible to read)
The whole effort would have needed 80+ hrs ( I am not even including the prep & research needed to put in 80 hr of work) This demands respect and i completely respect the author. To write a book with 50000 words for 250 pages that we are able to enjoy and finish.Now that i have set some context, the synopsis of the book is as follows “Barely a month has passed since the royal wedding of Emperor Akbar to the legendary Jodha, when the new queen’s brother, Sujjamal, is found murdered in the palace gardens. With his honour and reputation at stake, Akbar asks his trusted advisor Birbal to solve the mystery. The murder has taken place in a garden, at a spot between two mango trees, and the two guards who are eyewitnesses have conflicting versions of what could have happened. Was it suicide? Was it Akbar himself who ordered the killing or was it the Rajputs who accompanied Sujjamal, his uncles and cousin, who are guilty?“
If that sounds interesting then pick it up. As simple as that.
Why did i find the book interesting
The flow of the book is smooth as a single malt on the rocksThe historic references and characters are done up without too much of natak.An Indian author (i am a sucker for awesome books by Indian authors) hey why can't there be a write in India when there can be a make in India?
What could have been better
The book could have had more pages, it got over real quickThe book could have used Birbal more. i know i am being vague, but this is what i felt
Overall: A good read
