Book Review: The Fall of an Empire by Abhijeeth Hiliyana

This is the third and last book in Krishnadevaraya series. A strong historical fiction with impeccable narration, The Fall of an Empire will surely leave an indelible mark on readers following the series. The timeline of the book stretches from 1565 to 1580. Vijayanagara Samrajya is now a full good kingdom; they have achieved a lot in terms of peace, land, wealth and so on. The kingdom is still reeling under the glory of Krishnadevaraya’s legacy. However, before his death he placed the throne in his brother’s hand; however, it should be handed to his son-in-law Ramaraya.

Ramaraya is the lead character of the novel. He is old. He has done a lot for the kingdom. Old enemies are back. The Bahamani Sultanate from Deccan is now looking to take over Samrajya. Ramaraya has a few friends from Sultanate as they fight among themselves and he helped quite a few one to sort the things out. Well, they have united against the mighty Vijayanagara. What will be the fate of kingdom this time? Can an ageing Ramaraya, with no Krishnadeva around, save it from vultures? Inevitably it is going to be Bijapur vs Vijayanagara!

This is a gripping novel right since the first page. The author draws you in for battle field procedure and preparations. There comes many characters with their peculiar characteristics, some remain for long and nudge the plot and many just flit by. Ali Adil Shah is one remarkable character from the enemy lines. He had great rapport of trust with Ramaraya but the greed of land and victory changes him, rather turns him a betrayer.

From history and cultural point of view, the storyline keeps chugging ahead and introduces readers to the flow of life that goes in a war camp and in the regular kingdom.

This is a captivating novel from cover to cover, and a must-read for fans of historical fiction, adventure, and those who are intrigued by the untold stories from kingdoms that shaped and ruined them. His attention to detail and historical research of kingdoms and kings is of another level. Abhijeeth Hiliyana’s writing prowess is evident, as he very cleverly weaves the plot without hiccups of redundancy.

The novel is available to buy from Amazon/Kindle

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