DESTROYER OF SORROW

This concluding volume of a fantasy trilogy focuses on the brave bride of a god.

The great Hindu epic the Ramayana forms the basis of this installment by Sheth, a mother-daughter writing team, following Shadows of the Sun Dynasty (2016) and Queen of the Elements (2017). The Ramayana is a sprawling story with a cast of thousands, and it’s been a frequent temptation for writers, from R.K. Narayan to Pearl Buck, to attempt to shape it into a modern narrative. This volume (gorgeously illustrated throughout by Johansson) concentrates on Sita, the bride of the god Rama, as she is brutally abducted by the demon Ravana and installed in his faraway kingdom as his queen despite the presence of a great many other female figures and servants already gathered there. “An extravagant harem,” Sita thinks. “I don’t understand why he adds me to his collection. Someone here must feel empathy for me. Surely, one of them can show me how to escape.” The harsh realities of her captivity quickly become apparent to Sita (“I know what happens to women like me,” she reflects), and the narrative follows the subtle evolution of her reactions to both Ravana and her own harrowing predicament. Sheth’s writing voice is completely vibrant and compelling—and this is lucky since the task the authorial team faces is almost impossible: making a third book in a trilogy comprehensible to new readers. Even the most supportive newbies will probably want to dive into the previous volumes before this one. Still, the audience will find Sita a strong and vivid character in this potent finale. Sita has a mystical connection to Earth, and her courage never deserts her during her ordeal, although some parts of her thinking gradually change. “I have the power to obliterate Ravana completely,” she muses at one point. “If I curse him, the Earth will hold my hand and join my cause. Together with the elements of nature, I can turn the ten-headed king to dust. Then why don’t I?”

A powerfully dramatic retelling of a Hindu epic.