#BookReview ; Empire by Devi Yesodharan

A woman of courage, with dagger and bow, Will do countless deeds: dark and light, right and low. Her armour dark, her armour gold, Around her red rivers will flow. An Indian empire at the peak of its power. A great port heaped with spices, silks, jewellery, perfumes, weapons. Everyone wants a share of the riches of Nagapattinam. When a Greek pirate ship sails in to loot the wealth of the Cholas, it is brutally defeated by the navy and forced to pay a compensation. A payment that includes a twelve-year-old girl, Aremis. Aremis grows up to be a skilled warrior, a great asset to the Cholas. But she is a foreigner among her captors, even though the emperor trusts her to guard his person. Anantha, the man who took her captive, the supreme commander of the empire’s armies, is a wily strategist. But he no longer has the stomach for war. The emperor’s ambitions weary him. Rajendra Chola has conquered Lanka, now he wants to rule the Indian Ocean. Their future is set: a dangerous journey across the seas and a bloody, brutal war they cannot survive undamaged.

Empire is a historical fiction written by Devi Yesodharan & published by Juggernaut. She was a speechwriter for Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy. Now, when she isn’t obsessively reading up on the Cholas, she works as a co-founder on Trendlyne, a financial investing platform. This is her debut work.

The story revolves around the Chola Dynasty & their quest to sustain their supremacy in their area. The protagonist of the book is Aremis, a young girl who was surrendered to the Chola army commander Anantha along with others by the Greek when they tried to attack one of their rich port Nagapattinam but failed miserably in front of Chola’s power. She grew up among her captors & trained as a skilled warrior, she learned archery with all her might which ultimately got the attention of the Chola king who made her his personal guard. But can a female warrior survive among other male warriors who are jealous of her? Read about the journey of a warrior who bloomed even in unfavourable conditions. Get the book here now,

First of all let’s take a moment & realise that the book is Devi Yesodharan’s debut work, this simple fact itself is quite enough to blow you away once you’ll finish reading it. Even though she chose a historical background for her story, the way she spun a tale around it with intricate details is mesmerising. It shows how much research has gone into it. The character of a fearless warrior who had to live as a foreigner growing up, protecting herself from people who would harm her & then exploring her sexual desires. Each aspect of her life has been written in detail without dragging it & that’s what makes it a great read. The title is apt for the book while the language is fine & easy to comprehend. The cover is breathtaking. A must read!