 The Secrets of the Naga is the sequel to the Immortals of Meluha, and it's kinda just more of the same. This is the introduction song. It's not very good, but it's not too long. Now, when I say more of the same, I mean that in a positive and a negative way. Like, all the good stuff is still there. You know, we still have a decent world that's here. You know, it feels kinda small and there's some weird parts, but it's still very deep, has a rich history and all that. There's still some pretty decent action sequences, but at the same time like the writing itself isn't that great and a lot of the characters come across as kinda shallow, not all of them, but a lot of them. And so there's just, it's kinda just the same thing continuing on. The only area that I would say really did improve by, maybe not by leaps and bounds, but the only area I would say that did improve was the main character Shiba, because in the first book, we didn't really have a good feel for his character for a long time, and I don't think until around maybe halfway or two thirds through that's when I started to feel him more, like feel his personality, feel his desires, feel why he does the things he does, and all that. I didn't really feel that at first, but then in this one we know right from the get-go, and we see him change more and more, and so he did become a much better character. In fact, I found myself getting more into this one than I did the last one just because, well, I was more invested in him. You know, I wanted him to be okay. I wanted his wife and his friends to be okay just because of how it affected him. So, yeah, in that regard, I would say overall this one is a little bit better than the first one. The world continues to be kind of a weird blend of primitive and modern stuff, though, because, man, how do I put this? Like, I mentioned in the last review that there were some terms that they used, which were, they just felt modern, like the term terrorist or oxidants. Those just felt weird when put in this setting, and we still see some of that in this one, but even more so, it just feels like the various empires and kingdoms are a little too disconnected from one another, which, like, I know that that was kind of the case in a lot of societies way back this far away, but it just feels weird for them to be that disconnected and that ignorant of one another when it's combined with all of this scientific knowledge and such that they have. It just, it feels weird, you know? Like, it's not the end of the world or anything, and it's not a huge issue at all, I don't think. It's just, it feels weird, okay? And so that kind of exasperated the problem that was already there a little bit from the first book, I think. They added in a couple more references, I don't know if reference is the right word, but they added in a couple more things that tie into Hindu mythology, like how, you know, the main character is Shiva, and that's a god, which I'm not really familiar with it, so if I get any of this wrong, I'm sorry. But then they also bring in, like, a man with a face kind of like an elephant named Ganesh, and that's another god who, I might put a picture up or something. And then there's Kali, who has more than two arms. It's just, it's kind of, it's interesting to see how, like, oh, okay, so it started off as something abnormal but still believable, and then it, over time, morphed into this huge epic tale that people told. The issue with that is that they still have some stuff that is not quite magic, but, like, way beyond what we have even today, like way outside the bounds of reality, like the Soma, or wait, is that the word? Shit, I forgot already. Ugh, no, I don't want to refilm, but the immortal elixir, basically. Like, there's no way that was real, so that, it's just a little bit of a disconnect between taking something that's normal and turning it into a legend and taking something that's legendary and combining it with that. It just, it kind of doesn't mesh all that well. Like, again, it's not terrible, it's just, it's weird. And partway through reading this, I started to realize that it was giving me vibes, like that Hercules movie that had the rock in it. Like, you remember that movie? Probably not, because not many people saw it. I mean, it's really not that good of a movie, but I kind of liked it. But anyways, the point is that movie was basically, like, it was the legend of Hercules, except this was the real legend. Like, it was like, okay, so Hercules was not actually a demigod, and he didn't actually kill the Hydra or the Namian Lion. He didn't actually get the Golden Apple or all that other legendary stuff he's known for. It was just, he was a dude who did some pretty impressive neat stuff, but in the end he was just a normal human guy. And this story kind of feels like that as well. And I have mixed thoughts on that, because on one hand, it is neat to see a different take on this sort of story. And again, I'm not super familiar with Hindu mythology or with Indian culture at all. So I'm probably missing out on a lot of that. I think that if you are Indian, you might enjoy this more than I do. But anyways, I just have mixed thoughts on it, because on one hand, yeah, we're getting a different perspective on it. We're getting a different take on it. But at the same time, you're losing out on a lot of the cool stuff. Like, you know, with the Hercules example, like, we didn't get to see him fight the Hydra. We didn't get to see him fight the Namian Lion. And those, like, those are some of the coolest things that he did. That's the reason that the myth has been around for, like, what, 3,000 years now? And so it's just, I don't know how to feel about it altogether. It's weird. And I don't know, there's still one more book. I might be able to make up my mind one way or the other after that, or I might not be able to. But in the end, yeah, this is going to be a shorter review. I just don't have all that much more to say. And I don't want to sit here for another couple of minutes to try and stretch this out to 10 minutes. So, yeah, basically, the secrets of the Naga. If you liked the first book, then keep going. And the series, as I said, I just don't know who to recommend it to. It's kind of a neat fantasy adventure thing without all that much fantasy in it. And if you're Indian, you might be getting more out of this than I am because I just don't have that bedrock of familiarity with the culture and familiarity with the legends that this is based on. So I'm probably missing out on a lot. But you guys might be more into it. I don't know. But, you know, thanks for watching this far. Thanks to all my patrons, including Apo Sabalainan, Abrahash Singh, who suggested this series. So if you are happy I'm doing this, then thank him. Thanks to Christopher Hawkins, Joseph Pendergraft, and Melanie Austin as well, and all the other names. You guys are cool. Please consider donating to my page. If you can't do that, then, you know, like the video, comment on the video, subscribe to my channel. All that stuff that I'm supposed to say here. And, yeah, it's less than 10 minutes. So you're welcome. Bye.