Completed 'Kaviri Mainthan' yesterday. Let me play the harsh critic here. I felt that the writing style (although very much like Kalki) still left a lot to be desired. I was not expecting a Kalki 'clone' but rather a much more original. That may partially be the reason. I also found the usage of a lot of contemperory words(or at least what I thought as contemperory) all along kind of jarring the flow. Somehow, I was under the impression that this is the story of Ravidasan's capture and sentence. To find it otherwise was a bit disappointing. And I have a lot of problems with the way Vanathy died. I was thinking of a more 'ophelia-esque' ending for her (see http://www.tate.org.uk/ophelia/) and was disappointed by her death the way it happened. Somehow, it was not as heart-wrenching as the death of Manimegalai (or is she the real 'Ophelia' here?) That aside, there were a lot of good things to say about it. I find it paced well and the suspense as to what is happening was maintained well. Also, a lot of original characters from PS actually made me so happy. Making Kandamaran as hero was a good move and it showed, Overall I find it a worthy successor to PS. I have a few questions also. The experts in this forum can help to solve some of these. 1. Do we know the cause of real 'Vanamadevi's death? (Before someone screams about my obsession here, I have the same going for Yamini, Ophelia, Arwen, Lithuien etc. I simply love tragic heroines!!) 2. Is there a sequel in works for KM? (the capture and sentencing of Ravidasan?) 3. The real Ulaga maha devi, is she really from the Pazhuvur family? 4. Is there any historical evidence about PS stint in the pirates land? (interestingly, Julius Ceaser(when he was 19) was held for ransom by pirates in Meditteranean and was released when the ransom was paid. He told them that he will hang every one of them when he returns. They laughed at him and sure enough, he returned to hunt them and caught everyone of them and hanged/crucified the entire gang.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceaser#Early_career) (read Coleen McCullough's 'Fortunes favorites' for this episode) 5. And I think many of you have read 'Kanthalur Vasanthakumaran kathai'? about the sending of a 'thoothuvan' to Kanthalur. I consider it the medieval version of the Ganesh-Vasanth stories. Also, it ends when he actually starts travelling to Kanthalur. Sujatha talks about writing a sequel but I think he is not going to. He mentions that the Kanthalur war happend because of the insult to the 'thoothuvan'. Is there any evidence to it?
Nice summary/review. But, I think when there is a sequel to novel like Ponniyin selvan, obviously writer and reader would have the impact of first novel; hence KM is not an exception.