Amish Tripathi's new book on legend of King Suheldev hits stands

Mythological-fiction writer Amish Tripathi on Saturday launched his new book — a story about the adventures of the warrior king Suheldev, Westland Publications has announced.

Titled, ”Legend of Suheldev: The King who Saved India”, the book is set in 11th century India, when Mahmud of Ghazni and his Turkic army invaded the country and destroyed the Somnath temple, only to be met with a "fierce resistance" from king Suheldev.

"It all culminates in the magnificent Battle of Bahraich, where King Suheldev destroys the Turkic army down to the last man. This is the story of a hero, who fights to defend the motherland, making huge personal sacrifices, displaying glorious leadership, and courage beyond comparison," the publisher said in a statement.

Tripathi said the idea behind writing the book was "to bring to national consciousness an inspiring story that has been ignored in the pages of Indian history".

He felt that the story had “particular relevance” in the current times.

“‘Legend of Suheldev’ is the story of a king who united men and women of the nation, irrespective of their religion, caste, region, or status in society.

“An epic adventure, and an inspiring tale of unity, the message of King Suheldev echoes across the chasm of time: when we Indians are united, we are unbeatable," the author of the best-seliing Shiva Trilogy said.

The 45-year-old banker-turned-writer also assured his readers that he continues to work on the fourth book of the Ram Chandra series, the sequel to "Raavan - Enemy of Aryavarta”.

The latest book also happens to be the first book from the Immortal Writers' Centre, in which a team of writers assist Tripathi in conducting research and preparing the first draft of the book.

The Writers' Centre works on Tripathi's idea and a detailed summary to create the first draft, the author then works on it and finalises the manuscript.

"We are excited to work with the Immortal Writers’ Centre initiative, that allows us to convert many more story ideas from Amish's mind into books that the world can read.

"To Amish's fans, this book will read like any of his other books. Amish has said often that he has more ideas than the capacity to write, since by himself, he cannot write faster than a book every 1.5 to 2 years," Gautam Padmanabhan, CEO of Westland Publications Pvt Ltd said.