The Legend of Meneka (The Divine Dancers Duology, 1)
Fans of the current enthusiasm over romantasy novels will be thrilled to find this rich and expansive epic set in the world of Hindu mythology. Rao draws on narratives from the Rig-Veda and the Mahabharata to create an unforgettable character in Meneka, one of the legendary apsaras or divine dancers who served the Hindu gods. These fairy-like beings, part nymph, part muse, and part trickster, act as go-betweens who manipulate humans according to the gods’ needs.
Meneka is known to literary scholars as the mother of Shakuntala, the heroine of the famous fifth-century Sanskrit drama. In Rao’s re-imagining, she is an impossibly alluring creator of illusions who seduces those humans whose activities challenge the authority of the gods. Meneka serves Indra, the King of Heaven, and her newest assignment is to seduce and ruin a powerful human warrior-sage, Kaushika, whose ambition is to create his own alternate heaven and push Indra out of power.
Readers don’t need a detailed knowledge of Hindu mythology to enjoy this narrative, as Rao explains the pantheon deftly, and focuses mainly on the emotional upheaval Meneka experiences as she learns the ways of human magic or prana in order to infiltrate Kaushika’s sage-training camp. Inevitably, she falls in love with the man she is sent to seduce, and much of Rao’s narrative focuses on detailed descriptions of magical clothing, food, and landscapes. Readers should know that this is an example of a very slow burn romance; some might become frustrated with the amount of time spent on Meneka’s repeated attempts to argue herself out of her increasing attraction to Kaushika as they become erotic partners and reluctant allies against Heaven itself. This is the first of a duology, so readers who find its slow pace frustrating can look forward to a more action-packed sequel.
