Fictional adaptation does not distort history: authors

Borrowing elements from mythology or historical events and personalities or referring to them in works of fiction or fantasy "does not distort history" but merely interprets them, according to some writers.
"When history or historical references are embedded into a work of fiction or any adaptation, the idea is to enrich the story for the readers through a different interpretation and, it doesn't distort history," Satyarth Nayak, author of 'The Emperor's Riddles', said here today.
The journalist-turned-writer was speaking at an interactive session on the penultimate day of the Times LitFest on the topic of "Myth, legend and history and fiction".

He was joined by fellow "history-meets-fantasy" author Christopher Doyle of "The Mahabharata Secret" fame.
Works of both the authors borrow from life and times of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great and take elaborate artistic license in their works to create a "different interpretation" of the historical narrative, but "never to distort it".
"Even if you take mythological works like Ramayana, there are so many versions or interpretations to it over the ages and in various geographies.... There is no monolithic view of this epic, so our idea as an author is to just lend a divergent viewpoint in a fictional space," Nayak said.

Doyle, an IIM-Calcutta graduate, who made his debut with "The Mahabharata Secret" followed it up with "The Mahabharata Quest: The Alexander Secret" makes copious references to perhaps "the greatest story" ever told, including scientific elements associated with the epic.

"Even the scientific references I have made are to real science and not some pie-in-the-sky science.... Also, we know about Alexander the Great but it was fascinating to see it from Mahabharta's perspective," he said.
Doyle and Nayak's books follow similar works from Amish Tripathi ('The Shiva Trilogy') and Ashwin Sanghi ('Chanakya's Chants') who use mythology and history as their templates for storytelling.

In 'The Emperor's Riddles', Nayak weaves the story based on the conspiracy theory of Ashoka having created a secret society, and builds a contemporary suspense thriller similar to the one in Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'.
"Yes, there is no proof that this society was created but as a fictional author, that my idea is to give readers a divergent view, but never a distorted one. Also, unlike the infamous 'Illuminati', the 'Nine Unknown Men' (the society) was for benevolent purposes," he said.
English-born American writer of adventure fiction Talbot Mundy made a reference to it in his 1923 novel 'The Nine Unknown'. The nine unknown men were entrusted with guarding nine books of secret knowledge.