Prince of Ayodhya: Ramayana Series (Campfire Graphic Novels)

This is a great read. Banker does a great job of bringing the story to life.

On Time and in great condition! I am enjoying this book and will probably be reading the whole series in the future.

We bought this particularly for our kids so that they understand "Ram" through pictorial representation, as kids are always eager to read comic book. They loved it. Worth reading

Intro - Fortuitously, about a year and a half ago, it was at a dinner party that a friend of a friend just so happened to mention the name of a certain Ashok. K. Banker. He was described as a revolutionary author who had re-invented the wheel with his contemporary re-telling of the Ramayana. At the time this only mildly picqued my interest (as i had always considered The Ramayana to be the lesser of the 2 great Hindu epics), only when i heard that the very same author was currently in the process of giving a similar treatment to The Mahabharata (the epic of all epics) did i write his name in my diary, under the very exclusive section of "Books to buy".The rest as they say is history , (AKB's) Ramayana has so far been the most pleasurable reading experience that i have ever enjoyed (5 down 1 to go). Personally speaking, with it's subtle and passive approach the Ramayana has given me more inspiration than any self- help/motivational book can ever hope to achieve ........... but more importantly it's one helluva read!Prince of AyodhyaBanker takes his readers on a magical journey to an age of wonders 3 millennia ago. As the first of a six part saga Prince of Ayodhya strikes the perfect balance by introducing us to a mix of fascinating multi-dimensional characters; whilst at the same time (through the experiences of Rama) scratches the surface to a plethora of rich tales from the Hindu Pantheon...... the result is a hugely entertaining read which transports you to a time and age that one simply does not want to leave.At last, something that all followers of epic fantasy & world mythology can be proud of.

I will admit, when my dad and brother brought back Ashok's first four books (Prince of Ayodhya, Siege of Mithila, Demons of Chitrakut, and Armies of Hanuman) my first thought was, "Why did you buy another Ramayana?" However, my natural curiosity overcame any qualms I had, and soon enough, I picked up Prince of Ayodhya.And I definitely do not regret picking that up. What endeared this book to me most was that it wasn't just another run-of-the-mill Rama-is-perfect-let's-worship-him sort of story, as cliched as that is. Rama is finally a person. A person that I admire greatly for overcoming human impulses the way he did, but at the heart of it all, a person. Perhaps it is my naturally doubting adolescent mind that found his one-dimensional divinity slightly off-putting in books such as C. Rajagopalachari's Ramayana, but Ashok's Rama is a Rama that I can treat as my elder brother, someone who I love with a bit of hero-worshipping thrown into the mix, but someone with his pain and sorrow and utterly human emotions just like us all. Ashok's Ramayana is not a translation, and neither is it purely fantasy. He tells the Ramayana the way any of us would tell it to our younger siblings or children. That is what makes it special. In the end, I do believe that Ashok's Ramayana is a re-telling on the scale of Tulsidas's Ramcharitramanas, or Kamban's Ramayana, because it is exactly what they were, a re-telling, to uphold Brahma's promise, that the Ramayana would endure for all time.

This guy Ashok banker writes crap; he is busy rewriting history in his own way. no research, no depth , total crap and shallow writing. he will be good at writing crappy hindi soap operas. hopeless.

I thought I was a purist with the Ramayana but I loved Mr. Banker's modernized version. Slick yet extremely rich. I read the whole series of six books on the trot! If you are a reader with open tastes, you shouldn't miss this superbly researched book.

First off, let me be quite clear: I'm reviewing this as a novel in its own right, and not as a re-telling of the Ramayana, and I also read only two-thirds of the book, since at that point I was just too bored and had to stop. Since I haven't read the Indian epic in its original form (or as close to 'original' as an English translation can be), the entire story is new to me.Also, this review contains minor spoilers (no mind-blowing plot twists or anything, just little details).As a novel, Prince of Ayodhya has several shortcomings. First off is the characterization. Rama's lack of faults may make for great mythology, and great legends, and I understand that, but it makes for an awfully flat character. The similar one-sidedness of the queens and of Dasaratha is more excusable, but the flatness of Rama's character is rather disconcerting, and the reading loses a lot of suspense because of this. If this had been an original novel, not knowingly based on any type of epic, the characterization would have been inexcusable, but I can give it some slack because of its origin.Plotwise, Prince of Ayodhya moves rather slowly in the beginning. It's only until you read two-thirds into the book (where I stopped) and you realize that those entire two-thirds of the book have been a very, very short period, more or less a day. Some of the events, such as the scene with the guru Vishwamitra and Dasaratha when he enters Ayodhya are well-written, but some of the others are not. There is one excruciating chapter where two characters speak simply to provide information about the parade that is passing by, all the way down to the numbers of specific battalions. It gets rather obvious here that Banker is simply trying to throw a lot of information.The use of Sanskrit words creates a mixed effect. On one hand, as a professional review says somewhere on the Web, it does create a lot of atmosphere the novel (which is one of its strong points, which is mentioned below). You don't see a lot of fantasy with 'paan' and 'yojana' in it. On the other hand, the use of these words is a bit excessive. Personally, I find it a little disconcerting when I have to keep flipping back to the glossary to discover what a word means. Perhaps this is simply my own problem. Lastly, sometimes it seems as if some of the Sanskrit words aren't really needed: 'naked', for example. I can understand 'yojana' (a measure of distance), but a Sanskrit words for 'naked' seems a bit superfluous.Prince of Ayodhya is not without benefits, however. The lush setting and atmosphere probably make its strong points. I have only passing familiarity with Hindu mythology and religion (i.e., before I read this, I knew that there was a pantheon of gods and something about the caste system), but Banker makes it easy to understand the rakshasas, the complex interplay between the brahman and the kshatriya, etc. This is probably what I enjoyed the most about the book.It is possible that Prince of Ayodhya works very well as a modernized myth. I don't feel qualified to say if it is, since I haven't read the Ramayana. However, as a pure fantasy epic novel, Prince of Ayodhya is short. As a reader, I personally welcome all types of multiculturally based fantasy aside from the stock Northern European epic, but Prince of Ayodhya simply is short in some essential qualities as a novel.

Read this magical series for the wonderful portrayal of Lord Ram, a prince who puts his dharma above ego-driven ambitions, lust, pride and conflicts. Who does what is right in every situation, not what is convenient, interesting or easy. One who lives a content life and fights for dharma not cowered by other's opinions, fears and anxiety. The fight scenes with Tadaka are simply superb!!

Item was well packaged and well protected. received in a reasonable amount of time. condition 10/10. highly recommended.

I'm a big fan of this series of books and wanted to have all the books so that they can be passed on. It's the an old tale with a modern and appealing twist.

Excellent, superb graphics, excellent, everything outstanding by the Author I want that the series should continue.

This is a replacement for an earlier copy lent but not returned Wonderful reading and informative