The activist

This week, I finished The activist, the fourth book in the Theodore Boone series.

The main law connection in this book is eminent domain, the right which allows the government,  if absolutely necessary, to take land from people in order to build things(e.g.highways, bridges, dams, parks, lakes). The government must of course pay a fair price to the landowners.

In the book, Theo and his friends try to fight back a project to build a bypass around Strattenburg. The politicians, businesspeople, and truckers think that the bypass is very important, where the environmentalists in the area are against it. After a few events in the book, Theo and his friends fight hard to bring the people to their side.

I like that the author mentions being environment-friendly throughout the book. I also find that this book is more about the debating/talking side of law unlike the other books.

Rating: 9

For more, click on my review on older books in this series..>>

Shiva Trilogy

The Shiva Trilogy is a great series written by Amish Tripathi. It is partially based on the life of Shiva, one of the 3 main gods in Hinduism. Though the book doesn't actually include real stories about Shiva, there are many things in the story that are mythologically accurate. The books take place from ~1900-1850 B.C, in the two kingdoms of Meluha and Swadweep. Also, it is written in a sort of modern way.

The books are, as follows, Immortals of Meluha, Secret of the Nagas, and Oath of the Vayuputras.

The first book is very interesting, and starts in Tibet, where Shiva lives. Shiva is the chief of his tribe, the Gunas, who live near Mt.Kailash, on the slopes of Mansarovar Lake. The Gunas are constantly in war with the Pakrirtis, a nearby tribe that is always in war with them. Shiva is thinking about an offer from someone named Nandi, from the empire of Meluha. Nandi offered to bring Shiva, and his tribe over to Meluha. Eventually, he agrees. The rest of the book follows him in Meluha, where he finds out that he is the Neelkanth, and saviour of Meluha. Shiva also marries Sati, the princess of Meluha.

The second book starts after a large war Shiva and the Meluhans(Suryavanshis) have with their enemies, the Swadweepans (Chandravanshis). After the war, and after meeting the people of Swadweep, Shiva has a tough time deciding if they really are evil. The book follows Shiva as he makes even tougher decisions about his job as the Neelkanth, and about what evil truly means.

The third book follows Shiva in a dharmayudh, a huge war of good against evil. In this book, Shiva finally decides what evil means, and fulfills his job as the Neelkanth, but loses the person who  is most important to him. 

Throughout the series, there are many things that are accurate about Hinduism:
>Everything mentioned about Ram, the 7th Vishnu, and Ayodhya.
>Some things about Sati, and Daksha.
>Many things about the Principles of Hinduism

Many things are geographically correct too:
>All mentioned about India's rivers, such as Indus, Yamuna/Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Godavari, etc.
>Location of real ancient cities, such as Mohenjo Daro, and Harappa.

Being interested in geography, I really liked all the mentions about geography. Also, the author talks about designs of buildings, and ships. He mentions many scientific ideas (eg. nuclear science, human body). Amish goes into detail when it comes to war strategies, And of course, he talks a lot about Hinduism.

The book talks about morals and philosophies. The book has war, love, loyalty, friendship, and your ability to do your duty and follow your dharma.

I rate this series with a (9+) out of 10