BY ALICE FONTANESI
STAFF WRITER
You may have heard of this dude named Rick Riordan. You know, the author of this series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Well, we aren’t going to talk about him right now, so here are my thoughts on the Pandava Novels, or the Aru Shah series.
The Pandava Novels are written by Roshani Chokshi, and it was one of the kickstarter novels of the Rick Riordan Presents series. Currently, the fifth and last book Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality will be released in spring of 2022, so let’s talk about the series so far. Aru Shah and the End of Time is the first book, and we are introduced to our protagonist, Arundati Shah, or just Aru.
Aru lives in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta with her mom, Krithika P. Shah, as the curator. That is until some of her classmates come around during autumn break and demand that she lights a lamp on display. Apparently, Aru had lied about going to Paris and a bunch of other things so they decided to blackmail her. But the museum’s lamp is no ordinary lamp because it is said to have a demon inside of it. Lighting it, so the story goes, would mean releasing it. But Aru decides to light it anyway because her classmates are bullying her. She doesn’t really think much of it when – shocker – a demon is released.
Time is frozen and apparently, the demon that Aru had released was called the Sleeper. We don’t learn this immediately, but it turns out that it was Aru’s mother who sealed away the Sleeper, and now he is going to wake up Lord Shiva, the god of destruction, who will end the world.
This series is based on Hinduism, by the way.
But oddly enough, Aru isn’t frozen in time like everyone else. And even more odd, the stone elephant in the museum opens its mouth, and a talking pigeon comes out. This pigeon is Boo, who we later find out is the reincarnation of Subala, a king from the Mahabharata.
Speaking of the Pandava brothers, did you know that Aru is a reincarnation of one of the Pandavas?
The Pandava brothers are Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhima, and Yudhishthira and are recognized as the sons of Pandu. They are also a central part of the Mahabharata.
Basically, Boo explains to Aru that only a Pandava can light the lamp, so obviously, Aru is one. You see, the Pandavas might have died, but they had been reincarnated over and over again throughout the centuries, and it just so happens that Aru is the reincarnation of Arjuna, the son of Indra. We are also introduced to the daughter of Dharma Raja, Mini Kapoor-Mercado Lopez, a germaphobe sweetheart who is absolutely not cut out for questing of any kind.
After proving that Aru and Mini are in fact Pandavas and getting Vajra and Didi (two celestial weapons), Aru needs to go and stop the Sleeper from getting to Lord Shiva.
The novel does end with the Sleeper undefeated, but he was never able to get to Lord Shiva so everyone is still alive. This is mostly because Aru learns that the Sleeper is actually her father, and that Aru was never destined to be a hero.
As the books go along, it’s mostly Aru and the Pandavas trying to stop the Sleeper while shenanigans go on in the Otherworld.
Also, the Otherworld is basically the place where people from the mythology live like an alternate world. It’s kind of hard to explain.
In Aru Shah and the Song of Death, Aru, Mini, and Brynne Rao, another Pandava, are framed for stealing Kamadeva’s bow and arrow.
Brynne is the daughter of Vayu, lord of the winds. She was mostly raised by her uncles Funky and Gunky though her mother, Anila, is still in the picture because Brynne always wanted to get her approval. Brynne is also good friends with Aidan Acharya, another character who was somewhat introduced in the first book. They became friends when Brynne was being bullied because she is half asura (or demon), so Aidan cursed them with his apsara (an apsara is like an entertainer but they mostly bring pleasure to people in a way) powers. Aidan is also the reincarnation of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandava brothers, hence his nickname “Wifey.”
This pretty much completes the main group – the Potatoes. That’s literally the name that they made up for themselves.
Aru Shah and the Song of Death is also when we’re introduced to Rudy, otherwise known as Prince Rudra of Naga-Loka, who is a minor character and Aidan’s cousin. Technically he was kind of introduced in the first book, but he gets a much more formal introduction in this book. Rudy is a naga prince, or a snake person, and gets more screen time in the next book.
By the time of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, the war between the Pandavas and demons is pretty bad. The Pandavas go to find these apparent targets who will utter a prophecy that will determine the future of the war.
It turns out that the targets are the last two Pandavas, Nikita and Sheela Jagan. Unfortunately, the prophecy that Sheela says reaches the Sleeper, and apparently, there is a traitor Pandava. They deduce that the rest of the prophecy means that the Kalpavriksha, or the tree that grants wishes, is missing, and if they can find it, then they can wish for victory and turn the tides.
But at the end of the book, Aru wishes for something but ends up disappearing and meeting Kara, her sister. That’s right, the Sleeper has another kid. We also learn that Boo is a traitor, and he allowed the Sleeper to kidnap Sheela during the quest.
And this leads up to the fourth book, Aru Shah and the City of Gold.
Aru finds her friends while taking Kara with her. She can’t remember what she wished for because of a curse from book one that would make her forget something at the most important time. But what they do know is that they need to go to Lanka to get Kubera’s Nairrata army, an army of golden soldiers, and the antima astra, a weapon that can destroy celestial weapons. They also need to get two of their mentors back, Hanuman and Urvashi.
They also need to drag Kara along with them, which is pretty uncomfortable since the Sleeper had erased Kara’s memories before working for him.
They find Kubera, the ruler of Lanka, and after completing his three trials, he gives them two powerful weapons. When they do gain access to the golden army the Sleeper’s army comes. In the following conflict, Boo dies, and the Sleeper’s army is defeated. Don’t worry, Boo is reincarnated as a fire bird at the end, but we don’t really know much about it.
However, the end isn’t quite here yet. Later, Aru has her birthday party, and the Sleeper crashes it. He takes Kara after telling her that Krithika is her biological mother. Kara feels like Krithika abandoned her, and the Sleeper promises her a true family. It also turns out that Kara is the reincarnation of Karna, the secret Pandava brother, and son of Surya. The Sleeper also takes the antima astra and destroys Vajra, Didi, and Gogo (Brynne’s celestial wind mace).
Now weaponless, the Sleeper is going to go find the nectar of immortality. The Pandavas decide to go and try to get their weapons back with the help of a gift from Agni from the second book.
Now, what do I think?
The story is very much interesting, and I especially like how the main group is formed. They have the typical five-man band if we’re talking about the Pandavas, but it takes four books for all of them to be formed with only slight mentions prior, typically in the epilogue. And Sheela and Nikita are technically not even part of the main group because they don’t participate in the quests for the majority of the time. They usually appear in dreams, but they do not lack in characterization with their backstory and dynamic.
I also really like how all of the characters have a chance to be explored so we can sympathize with them. It really pushes the theme of chosen family since a lot of the main characters have family issues with their biological relatives. Though most of the characters are already related by soul and/or biology, this trope is still relevant.
The weakest written character is probably Rudy, in my opinion. He was kind of just annoying with only Mini defending his actions. The characters do acknowledge his antics, so… self-awareness points? He does have a bit of a backstory with his family of terrible people and the fact that he is colorblind – which is a problem because the magical gems he uses are color-coded. But this kind of fails because we’ve seen this before. Then again, I do find it nice that the story is self-aware of Rudy who embodies the typically annoying, funny guy.
And when Mini finally realizes that Rudy is not exactly the greatest love interest, it is a huge sigh of relief because Mini deserves better. This also avoided a part of the story I was worried about.
You see, there are romantic subplots. The main romantic subplot is between Aru and Aidan, and Mini had a crush on Rudy. So you all know how romantic subplots being introduced in these kinds of stories usually really suck? Well, Mini’s subplot is luckily saved when she realizes that Rudy is kind of a jerk. The subplot could have easily devolved into Mini eventually confessing to Rudy in the last book with everyone begging Chokshi to save Mini from her terrible fate.
Mini deciding that she deserves more than Rudy shows her character development with her confidence, and I just really appreciate the romantic subplot being sacrificed for the sake of her independence.
Though the subplot between Aru and Aidan is more subpar. Aru initially had a small crush on Aidan in the first book because he’s really handsome (which is because of his apsara heritage), but that crush eventually develops. The subplot was usually subtle throughout the story which I liked, but it resurfaced in the fourth book because of Kara. You see, Kara starts crushing on Aidan and eventually privately confesses during Aru’s birthday party. But that didn’t mean Aidan and Kara didn’t already have chemistry with Aru’s jealous commentary. And, listen, I love Aru in all her sass, but her mentally complaining about how Aidan treats Kara made me groan.
Aidan does kiss Aru at the end of the fourth book which leaves us and Aru very confused. This is also one of my nitpicks with Aidan because he just never explains himself at all. So yeah, we have a main couple with a lot of mixed signals, refusal of communication, and love triangles.
But the characters are one of the best parts of the story and are quite enjoyable to read with the unique twist on the found family trope overall.
Another thing I liked was the nuance. In the first book, Aru was told that she was never destined to be a hero, but the story does develop this part by showing us how the “good guys” are kind of messed up. This is also further explored through Aru contemplating the fact that almost every adult in her life has failed her, and if she really is on the good side.
And the “bad guys” are humanized with the Sleeper and his backstory which is revealed in bits throughout the books. Instead of a sob story that pushed him to the edge, the Sleeper is humanized with his desperation for her family and gives you a nice slap in the face with the theme of finding your people. The contrast is nice.
However, book four is probably my least favorite book so far because of the romantic subplot, and how I felt like Aru’s birthday party was weirdly placed. It just kind of felt like nothing much happened, but other than that, book four was just the weakest written work.
But book four also allowed for a really good finale. I already like how the story makes us question whether or not the protagonists are going to win with actual high stakes that could be overcome. You see, when putting up the stakes to a story, they can’t be too low or the audience won’t care, but they can’t be too high because people can’t perceive that kind of danger. This is often the problem with “save the world” kind of stories where we know the protagonists are going to do as such because of repetitiveness.
Aru Shah crafts this perfectly by the end of the fourth book by destroying Vajra, Didi, and Gogo. Throughout the series, Vajra, Didi, and Gogo have been extremely helpful and even humanized especially with Vajra and Aru’s bond. To strip them of their weapons introduces a whole new stake and really drives home the fact that the Pandavas might not be qualified for this.
So could Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality be a mess and fall apart? It’s possible, but I’m going to trust Chokshi on this one, so maybe try to speed read to avoid spoilers.
Overall, the Pandava Novels is a very interesting and complex story with great characters, turning cliches on their heads, and top tier comedy. Seriously, just search up the contents page for each book, and I promise you you will not be disappointed.