#tbt: The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda

Image: Scholastic Inc.

The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda. 292 p. Ash Mistry Chronicles #1. Arthur A. Levine Books/ Scholastic Inc., October, 2012. 9780545385169. (Own)

#tbt features The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda. This is book one of a trilogy called the Ash Mistry Chronicles and was published in 2012. Ash Mistry is spending the summer in India with his archeologist uncle and he'd much rather be at home in London playing video games with his mates. His uncle is conducting a dig for Lord Savage, who will pay a million dollars to find a mysterious relic. When Ash picks up a golden arrowhead and gets a splinter, he becomes able to channel the power of Kali. This fast-paced, plot-driven adventure is perfect for fans of mythology-based fantasy like Percy Jackson.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi

Image: Disney

Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi. Pandava Quartet #2. Unabridged downloadable e-audiobook, ~ 12 hours. Read by Soneela Nankani. Books on Tape/ Listening Library, April, 2019. 9780525587620. (Review of finished downloadable audiobook borrowed from public library. Own hardcover.)

Middle Grade Monday features book two of the Pandava Quartet, Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi.  Aru Shah is back! Shortly after her adventures from book one, Aru Shah and the End of Time, Aru finds herself accused of stealing Cupid's bow and arrow and shooting humans with them causing a zombie apocalypse. Aru and Mini have 28 days to find the real culprit or Aru will be forever banned from the Otherworld. She teams up with Brynne and Aiden, both of whom have secrets of their own. Together they face a series of perils, such as a giant swan attack, fiery cows and nightmare hounds. Aru also contemplates good and evil as she quests.  

Fast-paced and humorous, this series will definitely appeal to fans of Rick Riordan. (The series is published under his imprint at Disney.) The stories have a terrific blend of pop culture and Indian mythology. Soneela Nankani's narration was well paced and engaging - a very nice match. Book two ends nicely, but this is a quartet and I am primed and waiting for book three, Aru Shah and the Wish Tree, which is due in the spring of 2020. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Game of Stars by Sayantani DasGupta

Game of Stars by Sayantani DasGupta. Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #2. Unabridged downloadable audiobook. Read by the author. ~10 hours. Scholastic Audio, February, 2019. 9781338330885. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

My favorite kick-ass New Jersey girl is back in another over-the-top adventure. Life in Parsippany, New Jersey is rather boring compared to Kiranmala's adventures in the Kingdom Beyond. She's a bit dismayed that her new friends don't seem interested in staying in touch. She does, however, have nightly visits by the Demon Queen who has warnings for Kiran but always gets cut off before she can reveal it. Soon, she finds herself sucked into playing an inter-dimensional reality game.

Buckle up folks. The non-stop action and humor will make your head spin in the best possible ways. 

I really enjoyed the outrageous fun of the first book and think I might have enjoyed the second installment more had I read with my eyes. While I appreciated the author's youthful sounding voice and proper pronunciation of all the characters's names, the foods and cultural references, her performance was annoyingly overdone with odd pauses and inflections that screamed, "Listen up, this is important!" The audio was over-acted. I'm sticking with reading with my eyes in future installments. 

Middle Grade Monday: Arc Review: The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta. Illustrated by Vivienne To. Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1. 368 p.Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., February 27, 2018. (Review of arc received courtesy of publisher)

Twelve-year-old Kiranmala goes to sixth grade in Parsippany, New Jersey, has the misfortune of having Halloween as her birthday, and is regularly embarrassed by her immigrant parents, who insist on loudly discussing her fiber intake and insists that she is really an Indian princess. When she returns home from school on Halloween expecting to celebrate her birthday, she finds her parents are missing. They have left a curious birthday card though. It contains foreign money and some sort of map along with instructions not to try to find them. She settles in to an evening of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters when two boys about her age ring the bell. She's confused when they call her princess and seem to think she should know them. They want her to come with them. She just wants to find her parents. She's convinced to go with them when a giant, snot-spewing monster destroys her house and tries to eat her.

It seems Kiranmala really is an Indian princess and her twelfth birthday was the expiration date of the spell protecting her from her father, the Serpent King. She travels to a parallel universe with the two princes and finds she needs to rely on her wits as well as the many Bengali folktales her parents plied her with throughout her childhood. 

This debut and series starter hits the ground running and doesn't let up. A kick-ass heroine + epic world-building + snarky and hilarious dialogue = one memorable ride! Fresh, funny and relatable, give this to your Percy Jackson fans whom you want to branch out to other mythologies. I have quite a few fans of Sarwat Chadda's Ash Mistry trilogy who will love this. Really, any reader looking for fast-paced adventure and laughter will gobble this whole.

The Ash Mistry Adventures by Sarwat Chadda

 

The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda arrived in my Junior Library Guild subscription sometime during the 2012-2013 school year. It looked interesting to me but I didn't have the time to read it then so I shelved it and there it sat. When book 2, The City of Death, released and it arrived in my subscription, I was reminded that I never got to read the first. Coincidentally, a student came in asking for an adventure book so I showed him The Savage Fortress. In a few days, he came back asking if there was a second book. He also brought a friend who wanted the book he was returning. And so began brisk circulation. The student also told me that I should read them. I always try to read the books students recommend to me. Since the books were always out, I ordered the audio from my amazing library cooperative and listened in the car.

Both books are productions of Listening Library and narrated by Bruce Mann, a new narrator to me. Wowzers! Why had I not heard more about these enthralling books? I'm embarrassed to admit that I missed the starred review in SLJ.  I digress.

Ash Mistry is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed nerd who freely admits he's a bit pudgy, soft around the edges and bully bait. He doesn't care all that much. He has his gaming mates and is enjoying his crush on Gemma. He and his sister, Lucky are spending the summer holidays with their aunt and uncle in India. He loves his uncle, who sacrificed much for his father, but the oppressive heat and relative lack of technology is making Ash pine for London. 

When his uncle is hired by the rich and powerful Lord Savage to translate some ancient parchment for a million dollars, Ash is happy for his uncle. But then he inadvertently overhears something ominous and realizes that Lord Savage's intimidating henchman is really a demon. Later, he accidentally stumbles upon the very item Lord Savage is seeking - the Kali aastra. Lord Savage wants to use it to awaken Ravana, who will rule the world and destroy the humans. 

There's plenty of death and destruction thanks to Lord Savage and his rakshassas. It's pretty gruesome actually. Action, danger, suspense, betrayal, beating hearts ripped from chests. It appears that Indian mythology is not for the faint of heart. This will definitely appeal to Riordan fans and I hope the books inspire requests for Indian mythology.

Ash is an intelligent kid with a good heart and a sense of loyalty. He understands the sacrifices his uncle made and loves his sister dearly, but they both can get on his nerves. And he's not so keen on this super-hero business.

The Savage Fortress ends nicely with a hint of a sequel. The City of Death has a twist at the end that has left my students (and me) panting for the next book. The third book, The World of Darkness is already out in paperback in the UK. When I found nothing here about a U.S. release, I queried the publisher and was given this response, "There are no firm plans for the third book yet." Ack! That just cannot be! I may have to make a transAtlantic purchase.

The audiobooks are spectacular. Mann employs an arsenal of accents and maintains a good pace. I highly recommend adding them to your collection along with the books.
Visit the series website for more information. It's a gorgeously designed site and explains the gods and monsters in a bit more detail. The covers shown are the British covers.