The City of Death

September 1, 2013
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)

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January 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-In this sequel to The Savage Fortress (Scholastic, 2012), Ash is back at school in England, his days as a killing machine channeling the goddess Kali's spirit fading from memory. But he is still not safe from insatiably power-hungry Lord Savage. When Ash's friend Parvati shows up in London, the carnage recommences, as Ash is forced yet again into the role of superhero, doomed to save the world. Savage is after the Koh-I-Noor diamond, the aastra that will allow him to conquer the fourth dimension. Forced into a hasty battle on Guy Fawkes Night, Ash's friend and crush, Gemma, tragically becomes collateral damage. In his anguish at her murder, Ash makes a deadly error, teaming up with Savage in the hope that he can turn back time and restore Gemma to life. Gruesome battles ensue, fought with monsters of stone, with rakshasas, and with magical architectural traps that will flay skin and melt bone; battles fought on cliffs, on the streets of London, in the Indian countryside, and finally in the ancient underwater kingdom of Ravana. Chadda again shows his flair as a storyteller, weaving ancient Hindi mythology into the present-day story of a teenager miserably torn between his destiny as the savior of the world and his wish to be a normal kid with a girlfriend. It is his wish for normalcy, and for his innocent girlfriend's cruel death to be undone, that very nearly destroys him. It is this so-human dilemma that saves this book from the otherwise relentless violence. When Ash returns to London in the final chapter, readers know immediately that the ultimate battle is yet to come and will be longing for the next installment in the series.-Jane Barrer, United Nations International School, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Ash's (The Savage Fortress) efforts at normalcy are quickly dropped as he returns to India, this time to fight an evil lord. But he cannot deny the excitement and increasing savagery that are in his own body (no longer human, after his rebirth as a living weapon of Kali). Thrilling fight scenes and intriguing cultural references compete with flat dialogue and an overly complex plot.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)