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
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Brilliant.
Young heroes rise to the challenge of protecting their home, family, and world when a new villain threatens the Glimouria Archipelago and the Immortal in this third series entry.
“New trouble” comes to the sanctuary of Glimt when Irian Guinne is kidnapped and Teren, the young Immortal, is threatened. Christopher Forrester, former princess Anya, jaculus dragon Jacques, and ratatoska navigator Ratwin undertake a series of herculean tasks to fulfill the kidnappers’ demands and free Irian, all without Nighthand’s knowledge or help. Christopher seeks knowledge from Naravirala the sphinx to understand his new, deeper connection to creatures (“It is the people you love who anchor you”), while Anya leans into her warrior nature (“What if I was born to be brave?”). Meanwhile, bandits with ouroboros bracelets pillage and burn across the Archipelago at the command of Astor Morax, and a fearsome tiger spies through mirrors. The white-presenting leads’ quest to save Irian is central, but brief sections visit Irian, Nighthand, and beautiful, deadly Carla Venasque. The climactic Battle of Glimt features ferocity, cleverness, sacrifice, and bravery, and the ending is more Shakespearean comedy than tragedy—but the danger to Teren is not over, leaving eager readers to await the fourth installment. This is a perfectly paced, mythology-laced tale of action, adventure, and heart that reminds readers that “the only thing stronger than fear is love, unceasingly and exultantly given.” Final art not seen.
Brilliant. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593809945
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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