Diverting enough as clean escapist fare, but it could have been so much more.
The second entry in a Christian fantasy series scores high on action and adventure but strikes out when presenting the quieter aspects of religious experience.
Jonah Stone and his siblings are still grappling with the discovery that their mother is one of the nephilim, offspring of fallen angels and humans. With their angelic gifts as “quarterlings,” they had rescued their mother and the other nephilim from the Fallen last year. Now all 13 known quarterlings are in hiding, receiving training in angelic combat and spiritual disciplines. But even the formidable power of prayer can’t shield them from the servants of Abbadon. When Jonah has visions of a modern-day prophet in peril, he has to risk everything to follow the will of Elohim. There’s plenty to enjoy here: genuinely likable young characters who can also be authentically silly, frightened and cranky; a praiseworthy effort at gender and ethnic diversity; and a snappy narrative pace that delivers thrilling suspense without ever becoming too scary or graphically violent. Unfortunately, this presentation of Christianity also gives short shrift to humble service or inner spirituality. When prayers become formulaic magic spells to summon superpowers and Elohim is explicitly deemed more worthy of allegiance than Abbadon because of superior firepower, there is a risk of turning faith into just another fantasy video game.
Diverting enough as clean escapist fare, but it could have been so much more. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-1400318452
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Powerful and enthralling.
Middle schooler Shakti discovers her powers.
Shakti has two moms: Pregnant Mom, who reads Black, is a microbiology Ph.D. student; Amma, Shakti’s biological mother, is a programmer and a witch from a line of Indian women closely connected to the Hindu goddess Durga Ma. Shakti hasn’t learned much magic—last time Amma taught her a spell, she accidentally summoned Kali Ma, goddess of death and destruction. After moving to Amherst, Massachusetts, Shakti quickly befriends Chinese American Xi, another new kid, but there’s a weird energy on campus. Harini, Emily, and Kelly—queen bees known collectively as HEK—misbehave with impunity and seem to have the teachers under their spell. Shakti and Xi bond with other social outcasts, but after discovering HEK performing dangerous spells in the woods, they realize that there’s something more sinister than run-of-the-mill bullying going on, putting the entire town at risk. Amma warns Shakti against trying out the magic in the spell book handed down from her ancestors, but, desperate to protect her unborn sibling, Shakti is unable to stand by—and the consequences are more than she bargained for. Ali’s luminous, expressive, jewel-toned illustrations steal the show, highlighting the broadly diverse cast and supernatural happenings. Readers will have to suspend disbelief over wild violets and fiddleheads in the New England autumn, but Sindu’s protagonist lives up to the meaning of her name, “energy of the universe,” as she learns lessons about anger, balance, courage, and compassion.
Powerful and enthralling. (land acknowledgment) (Graphic fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9780063090132
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
An epic tale that contains multitudes.
In this follow-up to City of the Plague God (2021), 14-year-old Iraqi American Sikander Aziz and friends find the tablet of destinies and encounter a god who intends to use it to destroy the world.
Visiting London accompanied by Rabisu, a demon and social media influencer with an appetite for the unsavory, Sik meets up with his late brother Mo’s friend Daoud, a former deli employee–turned–international supermodel. He’s also reunited with warrior Belet, daughter of the goddess Ishtar, who uses Daoud’s fame to access an auction of priceless looted antiquities in search of the tablet of destinies once owned by Cleopatra and Saladin. Malevolent deity Lugal, seeking the same treasure, disrupts the auction—but not before Sik manages to inadvertently use it to bring Mo back to life, reshaping the timeline of events at devastating cost. Lugal’s later theft of the tablet results in continued alterations of time, with the ultimate goal of resurrecting Tiamat, the primordial dragon goddess of chaos, with world-ending consequences. Chadda excels in this action-packed adventure peppered with scenes examining Western theft of cultural artifacts, xenophobia, and Islamophobia and grounded in emotional depth and tenderness for humanity. Arabic words and Islamic concepts, terminology, phrases, and practices are effortlessly included throughout. In this novel centering Muslim characters—the Aziz family and Daoud—Chadda delicately reconciles the fundamental Muslim belief in one God with the presence of Mesopotamian deities.
An epic tale that contains multitudes. (glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781368081825
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents/Disney
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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