The well-integrated background information, a doomed romance and lots of video game action will keep teens reading and...
The nonstop action in this exciting sequel to The Savage Fortress (2012) uses every bell and whistle of the suspense novelist’s craft to satisfy readers—no middle-novel syndrome here.
Ash Mistry escapes tensions at home and in school by returning to India with the half rakshasa Parvati. Their aim: to keep the mystical aastra that is the Koh-I-Noor diamond out of the hands of the evil sorcerer, Lord Alexander Savage. Ash experiences much physical and emotional violence as the tale progresses: danger to his first love, further initiation into the Kali-aastra, betrayal by one of his closest friends and abduction by two man-sized stone monkeys. Characters from Hindu mythology once again play a key role in the narrative. Though the story is set mainly in Kolkata, the city of Kali, goddess of death, the climax takes place off the coast of southern India in an ancient undersea palace. The ending leaves a great many plot threads unresolved, promising a third in the series.
The well-integrated background information, a doomed romance and lots of video game action will keep teens reading and panting for more. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-38518-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Opening episodes of a comic-book series created by an American teacher in Japan take a leap into chapter-book format, with only partial success. Resembling—in occasional illustrations—a button-eyed, juvenile Olive Oyl, Akiko, 10, is persuaded by a pair of aliens named Bip and Bop to climb out her high-rise bedroom’s window for a trip to M&M-shaped Planet Smoo, where Prince Fropstoppit has been kidnapped by widely feared villainness Alia Rellaport. Along with an assortment of contentious sidekicks, including brainy Mr. Beeba, Akiko battles Sky Pirates and video-game-style monsters in prolonged scenes of cartoony violence, displaying resilience, courage, and leadership ability, but not getting very far in her rescue attempt; in fact, the story cuts off so abruptly, with so little of the quest completed, and at a lull in the action to boot, that readers expecting a self-contained (forget complete) story are likely to feel cheated. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32724-2
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
It’s easy to see that this was written by two Hollywood screenwriters—readers can almost watch the CGI effects unfolding as they go. When the local Viking overlord kills Dane’s father and abducts a childhood friend, he and some neighbors set off on a quest for rescue and revenge that catapults an ill-matched crew into hideous perils and hilarious misadventures. A rollicking page-turner with definite appeal, the book falls short in its historical details, taking liberties with Viking life: Anachronistic language abounds, as do 21st-century concepts, ambitions and family relations. Nonetheless, the plot—of the classic “good commoners vs. evil-lord-with-grandiose-ambitions” variety—churns consistently on, hurtling from disaster to cliffhanger to a climactic deus ex machina resolution. Characterization is not the point; with the exception of Dane and his friend-turned-love interest Astrid, the good guys are all pretty obvious caricatures, while the villains are there to drive the plot. Although it can be overly detailed at times, boys especially will enjoy the pell-mell action, the wisenheimer narration and the belch-and-flatulence humor embedded in the adventurous tale. (Fantasy. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-144936-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Laura Geringer/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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