The New Ram Chandra Series: Book 1 From Amish Gets the Raymond Crossword Book Award

MUMBAI, December 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Amish's Scion of Ikshvaku, the first book of the new Ram Chandra Series, the highest selling book of 2015, was awarded the 'Popular Fiction' accolade by the Raymond Crossword Book Awards 2016. The Ram Chandra Series is a creative interpretation of the Hindu epic Ramayana. And the first book in this series, Scion of Ikshvaku, is an adventure-thriller that traces the life of Ram Chandra till the kidnapping of his wife Sita. Like all of Amish's books, this one is also particularly popular with the youth, due to Amish's unique interpretations of myths, history and philosophy combined with crackling storytelling. 

Author Amish Tripathi said, "The Raymond's Crossword Award is special, as compared to many other awards that I have received, since this reflects the views of the readers themselves. So my thanks to my readers for giving me their love and support."

Adds his publisher and friend, Gautam Padmanabhan, CEO of Westland, "Amish winning the popular choice category at the 14th Raymond Crossword Book Award only reinstates our belief in the kind of books we publish. We are all very happy and honoured to receive this accolade."

As one of the reviewers aptly summarises the approach, "Through all Amish's books, flows a current of liberal progressive ideology: about gender, about caste, about discrimination of any kind." One of the key differentiators for Amish, as many critics have pointed out is his historical research. He takes the original story, adds his own characters and plot twists to it, and turns it into his own creation, which works both at the mythical and contemporary level. While Amish is happy if a majority of readers enjoy his books simply as fantasy thrillers, but the truth is that his books have a strong and deep philosophical subtext; which has led to his unmatched popularity with the youth in India.

Post the launch of the Hindi edition of Scion of Ikshvaku which immediately followed the English launch, 7 language editions have also hit the stands. The much-awaited 2nd book of this series is expected to be launched in 2017.

Amish's 4 books till now - The Immortals of Meluha (2010), The Secret of the Nagas (2011) and The Oath of the Vayuputras (2013), which collectively comprise the Shiva Trilogy and Scion of Ikshvaku (Part 1 of the Ram Chandra Series) (2015) - have over 3.5 million copies in print with gross retail sales of over Rs. 100 crores. The Shiva Trilogy is the fastest selling book series in Indian history. The Indian language translations of Amish's books have sold 5 lakh copies, breaking records in this space.

Described as 'India's first literary popstar' by world-renowned film director Shekhar Kapur, Amish's unique combination of crackling story-telling, religious symbolism and profound philosophies has made him an overnight publishing phenomenon, with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra hailing Amish's books as 'archetypal and stirring'.

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