Does The Secret of the Nagas Reveal the Secret or Compound the Mystery?

I just finished reading The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi. It is the second book of Shiva Trilogy that takes the story of The Immortals of Meluha forward. In fact, The Secret of the Nagas starts from where The Immortals of Meluha ends.

If you have not read The Immortals of Meluha, I suggest you to read it first and then move on to The Secret of the Nagas. The two books are woven in such a way that if you have not read the first one, reading the second won’t make much sense. And if you take up the second book after reading the first one, you’ll end up waiting eagerly for The Oath of Vayuputras, the third book of Shiva Trilogy.

The Secret of the Nagas marks the beginning of a new journey and new challenges for the protagonist – Shiva. He embarks on an expedition to Kashi (modern day Varanasi) with his pregnant wife Sati, Nandi, Parvateshwar and others to decode the mystery called Nagas. His quest to find evil further takes a twist at Kashi where he comes face to face with his elder son and sister-in-law that he knew nothing about.

That which Shiva and others thought are evil seems to be no evil. For, as Shiva says, “Remember nobody is good or bad. They are either strong or weak. Strong people stick to their morals, no matter what the trials and tribulations. Weak people, many a times, do not even realize how low they have fallen.” And this is what seems to be the message that Shiva Trilogy wants to convey.

The Secret of the Nagas ends on a more curious note as compared to The Immortals of Meluha leaving the reader bewildered. Moreover, unlike the first book, which offered a preview to the sequel, The Secret of the Nagas has no preview of The Oath of Vayuputras. The only reason for that seems the dramatic ending of The Secret of the Nagas that adds to the curiosity factor. And yes, don’t go by the cover of the book, the story has nothing to do with snakes.

Images from shivatrilogy.com