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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Ash Mistry: British by birth. Indian by heritage. Hero by accident.
Ash Mistry was just a slightly geeky kid until he fell on the wrong arrowhead and absorbed the unstoppable powers of the Death Goddess Kali.
Now Ash can kill any living thing with a touch. So when the demon servants of the evil Lord Savage come after him again, you’d think he’d be ready to take them on.
But how do you kill something that never lived?
It’s several months since ASH MISTRY AND THE SAVAGE FORTRESS. Ash is now the living weapon of the goddess Kali, able to kill any living thing on the planet. But while he’s physically stronger (thanks to the energies he absorbed from the dying demon Ravanna) he’s still a dork around girls and unable to ask Gemma out, despite his crush on her.
The last thing he needs is for Parvati to reappear in his life but Lord Savage’s looking for an astraa hidden within the famous Koh-i-noor diamond and she needs Ash’s help to get to it first. Teaming up with Parvati and the tiger rakshasa, Khan, Ash’s search will take him back to India in pursuit of Savage but also brings tragedy and force Ash to confront the reality of what he’s become …
The second in Sarwat Chadda’s ASH MISTRY TRILOGY is another action-packed thrill-ride with a dark emotional core. I particularly enjoyed Ash’s character development and his realisation of the limits of his powers and of what they could ultimately do to him and also the way Chadda integrates Hindu mythology throughout his story. This is a boy-friendly story that should appeal to fans of PERCY JACKSON and promises an exciting conclusion.
A character death shapes Ash’s reactions and behaviour through the book but Chadda handles it sensitively and it explains some of the stranger decisions Ash takes in the final quarter. I would have liked more interaction between him and Parvati and was a little frustrated that their relationship here is strained because Parvati refuses to have a conversation. Although this is in keeping with her character, the repetition grated.
Savage remains, for me, a bit of a two-dimensional villain but he does get fleshed out more here and it’s interesting to see him deal with the fall-out from the first book. I’m fascinated by the return of the amoral Kali devotee Ujba and loved the proud and enigmatic Khan.
The highlight of the book is the way Chadda incorporates Hindu mythology into the storytelling. I love the different types of rakshasas and the end and the last quarter features a mythical city laden with traps. Chadda’s clearly a fan of INDIANA JONES and I loved the other pop culture references.
The book ends with a real cliff hanger and although I’m not a fan of them it does guarantee that I’ll be reading the conclusion.
The Verdict:
The second in Sarwat Chadda’s ASH MISTRY TRILOGY is another action-packed thrill-ride with a dark emotional core. I particularly enjoyed Ash’s character development and his realisation of the limits of his powers and of what they could ultimately do to him and also the way Chadda integrates Hindu mythology throughout his story. This is a boy-friendly story that should appeal to fans of PERCY JACKSON and promises an exciting conclusion.
Ash Mistry was just a slightly geeky kid until he fell on the wrong arrowhead and absorbed the unstoppable powers of the Death Goddess Kali.
Now Ash can kill any living thing with a touch. So when the demon servants of the evil Lord Savage come after him again, you’d think he’d be ready to take them on.
But how do you kill something that never lived?
It’s several months since ASH MISTRY AND THE SAVAGE FORTRESS. Ash is now the living weapon of the goddess Kali, able to kill any living thing on the planet. But while he’s physically stronger (thanks to the energies he absorbed from the dying demon Ravanna) he’s still a dork around girls and unable to ask Gemma out, despite his crush on her.
The last thing he needs is for Parvati to reappear in his life but Lord Savage’s looking for an astraa hidden within the famous Koh-i-noor diamond and she needs Ash’s help to get to it first. Teaming up with Parvati and the tiger rakshasa, Khan, Ash’s search will take him back to India in pursuit of Savage but also brings tragedy and force Ash to confront the reality of what he’s become …
The second in Sarwat Chadda’s ASH MISTRY TRILOGY is another action-packed thrill-ride with a dark emotional core. I particularly enjoyed Ash’s character development and his realisation of the limits of his powers and of what they could ultimately do to him and also the way Chadda integrates Hindu mythology throughout his story. This is a boy-friendly story that should appeal to fans of PERCY JACKSON and promises an exciting conclusion.
A character death shapes Ash’s reactions and behaviour through the book but Chadda handles it sensitively and it explains some of the stranger decisions Ash takes in the final quarter. I would have liked more interaction between him and Parvati and was a little frustrated that their relationship here is strained because Parvati refuses to have a conversation. Although this is in keeping with her character, the repetition grated.
Savage remains, for me, a bit of a two-dimensional villain but he does get fleshed out more here and it’s interesting to see him deal with the fall-out from the first book. I’m fascinated by the return of the amoral Kali devotee Ujba and loved the proud and enigmatic Khan.
The highlight of the book is the way Chadda incorporates Hindu mythology into the storytelling. I love the different types of rakshasas and the end and the last quarter features a mythical city laden with traps. Chadda’s clearly a fan of INDIANA JONES and I loved the other pop culture references.
The book ends with a real cliff hanger and although I’m not a fan of them it does guarantee that I’ll be reading the conclusion.
The Verdict:
The second in Sarwat Chadda’s ASH MISTRY TRILOGY is another action-packed thrill-ride with a dark emotional core. I particularly enjoyed Ash’s character development and his realisation of the limits of his powers and of what they could ultimately do to him and also the way Chadda integrates Hindu mythology throughout his story. This is a boy-friendly story that should appeal to fans of PERCY JACKSON and promises an exciting conclusion.
