The Savage Fortress
Gr 8 Up-Ash, a 13-year-old nerdy gamer, and his sister Lucky are excited about their trip from London to India to visit their Uncle Vick and Aunt Anita, but India proves to be a little less thrilling than they first thought. Things change when Uncle Vick is invited to the Savage Fortress, home of Lord Alexander Savage, a collector of Indian artifacts. Savage also seems to be a collector of demons and what he really wants is to bring back Ravana, the demon king who he believes will make him young again. The tool he needs is an ancient gold arrowhead-the aastra (weapon) of the ancient goddess Kali-that Ash has unwittingly picked up. Savage kills Ash's aunt and uncle and the two children flee with an old holy man, Rishi, who promises to help. The fate of Ash and the entire world rests in the hands of Rishi and a half-demon girl named Parvati. Ash will have to become the Eternal Warrior if the world is to survive. Chadda's fast-paced, action-filled book (Arthur A. Levine, 2012) weaves in aspects of Hindu mythology and Indian religion. The Indian setting makes for an exciting, thought-provoking novel. Chadda's depiction of Ash's dual identities-shy teen/hero, English/Indian-is spot on, as is Bruce Mann's voicing of Ash and the other characters. Give this fantasy quest to older teen fans of Rick Riordan and Michael Scott.-Sarah Flood, Breckinridge County Public Library, Hardinsburg, KYα(c) Copyright 2013.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.--This text refers to theAudio CDedition.