Zee, from what he said in an interview I did with the author last year, it doesn’t sound like it will be absolutely necessary to read all three books for them to make sense; they won’t be separate installments of one tale.

I found “Sea of Poppies” fascinating and overly researched at the same time. Set mostly in 19th century British Raj India, it weaves together the stories of a village poppy grower, a black American seaman, a Raja, a French immigrant, and a poor wannabe sailor. I love the way Mr. Ghosh structures the book, how the stories come together, although I found the level of detail given to the shipping industry of that time a bit overwhelming.

On the other hand, the cobbled together waterways and landlocked languages was every bit as ubiquitous and I found that totally compelling. In the same way that almost every other word in “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is in another language, and if you don’t know Spanish (hell, Dominican slang), you have to piece together the story from context and etymology, “Sea of Poppies” is peppered with what appears to be multiple dialects and languages, including Hindi, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Tamil, English, Portuguese, Dutch, and god knows what else. Knowing Bangla definitely helped me enjoy the book more because I could often see how collaged the ongoing conversation was.

It was also illuminating how the poppy industry functioned in Indian village life before the English and Chinese, and then after. And the slave trade from India to Mauritius and other lands east was also eye opening and heart breaking.

To think that the book starts off describing the slave holds of ships and the miserable lives of those indentured, and one gradually comes to see that it might be a preferable option, is testament to Mr. Ghosh’s empathic story telling skills. While the language of the book is not its forte, nor some of the characterisation which is sometimes heavy handed and foil-oriented, it doesn’t hold back the story too much, once it gets going (200 pages in). I could have done with a little less length (and shipping talk), but I did read the second half in one eager sitting.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in ships, the British Rule in India, sailor languages, and the opium trade.

As a side note, I’d rather reviewers drop that “Dickensian” comparison and just call it epic. It’s better off compared to The Kalevala.

This is the first book in the (planned) trilogy. None of the others is out yet.

Which book starts the series ? Do I have to read the others to read this one ?