I had spent my last weekend by reading this novel:
Truth be told, this book was published months back but the worries and fear of embarking on a new phase of life (read PhD studies) had hindered me from purchasing it immediately.
This book narrates the life of Laksamana Sunan when he was still a young boy and a teenager. He is known as the "miracle boy" because he was still born; no cries, no movement, no nothing. But after minutes pass, he suddenly wailed like a normal baby.
Laksamana Sunan, or his real name Saifuddin, lives happily with his family at Kampung Punggor for a little over a decade. Then an unfaithful incident occurred; Orang Kaya Seman desired to be the chief of Punggor. He had set up a devious plan to overthrow Saifuddin's father who is the current chief. He remorselessly slandered Saifuddin and forced four other people, including his own daughter, to become false witnesses to implicate Saifuddin. As a result, Saifuddin was lashed with a cane in front of the villagers. Ashamed and felt betrayed by his own father, he ran away to Malacca. But misfortune still chased him; he was caught by pirates and sold as a slave at the port of Malacca, the very place he had hoped to find peace.
To understand why I love this novel, you must first know that this novel is a prologue to Sutera Bidadari, Cinta Sufi and other Laksamana Sunan series. In those series, Laksamana Sunan is already portrayed as a pious warrior, a perfect man to be precise. On the other hand, Sunan - Nanggroe Sang Kembara portrays his imperfect side, which is the person he is before he became a great warrior; much like Anakin Skywalker only he's the opposite.
I must say that I drank in this novel patiently, so as to really appreciate the hardships that Saifuddin went through. It is almost analogous with the PhD journey that I am currently in. Indeed, it is the hardships that make a person stronger and wiser.
Only one thing that disappoints me, RAM had left me hanging! There will be a continuation. So typical of him. Anyway, I award this novel 4.7/5
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ReplyDeleteI'm enjoy to read your review about Laksamana Sunan series. As for me had followed this series about 10 years ago on the first launch Bagaikan Puteri. That's the first RAM's novel that i had read. Really take me into another world with Sunan. i wish i'll meet him. .well, that's dream comes when i'm was teenager.. but now, LS still in hanging plot and stories..as for RAM he still want to continue Saifudin's journey..i'll not get bored when read Sunan series..but still,.. we as a reader need to know what will happen to Saifudin until his last breath..all ramians had something closed relationship with Sunan. still hope for the next sequel we can get the answer that had been left hanging. really miss Sunan . :)
ReplyDeletehttp://matapenaalsunan.blogspot.com
Me too! He is probably the only Malaysian writer that I like. I'm coming up with a free novelette. You can read the synopsis here if you are interested:
Deletehttp://combinesboth.blogspot.com/2015/04/an-upcoming-free-novelette-letters-to.html
p/s: I'm going to visit your blog, insyALLAH :-)