Amish Tripathi had a surprise for readers during an appearance on Sonali Bendre Behl’s book club show, announcing the release of a new book, Suheldev And The Battle of Bahraich on July 16. Based on the life of Raja Suheldev, it will tell the story of “an unforgettable battle fought in 1025 AD that drove the Turks away for 170 years”.

The book will the first part of a new series by the author, “Indic Chronicles”, for which he will work with different writers as part of a “Writer’s Centre”. He aims to publish 20 books in the series, with a new one coming out every six months. “Writer’s Centre has been my support system for this book,” he said. “It not only enables me to hire a writer but also create a skeleton framework for my ideas to turn them into 500 pages worth of material.”

About the new novel, for which he has been assisted by Vikas Singh, Tripathi said: “The way history is taught to us presents the narrative in a very distorted way. A lot of heroes are airbrushed in our history books and there are many more about whom we never read. Suheldev & The Battle Of Bahraich is based on few “lok kathaye” and many of the characters are fictionalised. It is a great story of our country together and to me this a very important message in today’s time.”

Tripathi’s announcement came as readers await the third book in his “Ramachandra series” – Raavan: Son Of Aryavarta. “The story of Raavan is long, his life was difficult and I want to showcase the emotions right. The book is coming right on schedule. It will be out by the end of the year or early next year,” Tripathi said.