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A review by xavia
City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda
5.0
By this point, I've read A LOT of the Rick Riordan Presents books, and while I have enjoyed almost all of them, this is the first one that I've loved with the same fever as Percy Jackson.
City of the Plague God has a lot going for it, from a rich mythology, to rich characters, to an action packed story that feels like an epic tale in it's own right.
Sikandar Aziz is just an ordinary boy, living an ordinary life, in a world where brother, his hero and best friend, no longer exists. His love for his brother, and his grief over his loss, is the driving force behind Sik's characterization. He is always comparing himself to his brother, or talking to him in his mind, or remembering things he used to do. It's clear from page one that his brother was the biggest most important part of his life.
Until he died.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how much emphasis there was on family and grief. Not just with Sik, though his relationship with his family and Daoud are a huge motivation, but also between Ishtar and Belet, and Ishtar and Nergal. This book is full of families, and their relationships, and the pitfalls and grief that one can experience as a result of family.
Both of the main characters have complicated relationships with their family, and it's these relationships that really make this book shine.
Sik misses his brother dearly, and believes that everyone would have been happier if he had been the one that died. He is devoted to his family, and the deli, but resents that Mo, his dearly departed older brother, got to go off and have great adventures while he was stuck at home. To complicate matters, his brother's best friend, Daoud, has seemingly moved into the spot left by Mo, and Sik can't understand why he even bothers now that Mo is gone, since he doesn't even care about the deli. Then there's Belet. The adopted daughter of Ishtar, goddess of Love and War, who strives to be perfect for her mother, who she views as absent minded and forgetful and hopes that if she is good enough, one day Ishtar will remember who she is and love her the way she longs to be loved.
I want to talk about my favorite characters for a moments. Sik is obviously great, he has a dry wit, and a quick mind, and I adore that his special skill appears to be "customer service" (as someone who has worked customer service her whole life, this really spoke to me). But I've got to be honest, Daoud stole the show for me. At first, I wasn't sure about him, since we see him through Sik's eyes, and Sik is not his biggest fan. But the more time we spent with him, the more I loved him. Yeah, he's vain and has visions of grandeur. His greatest desire is to be a famous actor. But still, even though it won't do much for his career, he stays at the deli, and helps out Mo's family. He looks after and loves Sik like they really are family, and as you get to the end of the book, and realize the depth of his devotion to Mo's family... I just feel like Daoud is the real hero of this story.
The other character I want to talk about is Ishtar, goddess of Love and War. First of all, her entrance is the stuff of legends. I knew I was in for a ride the moment she appeared to pick up Belet from school. The second thing that drew me to her though, was that she was trying her best to be a good mother. Whether she was succeeding is really up for interpretation, but I think the fact that she adopted Belet, trained her, schooled her, and spent time with her speaks volumes. In a lot of these books, the gods are absent minded at best and negligent at worst when it comes to their children, so seeing Ishtar trying so hard to be a good mother, and seeing all the children she'd raised over the years, was so beautiful. Instead of focusing on passionate love, which would have been all to easy, the author chooses familiar love as the focus for Ishtar. I love it so much.
One last thing I want to touch on: this book has a huge emphasis on non-violence. From the main character's biggest skill being customer service, to Gilgamesh's appearance as a gardener, to the world being saved by a boy who presses flowers and loves beauty, the whole book seems to emphasize that violence is not always the answer. Sik never wields a sword. He runs from just about every battle. Those that do battle, tend to get beat. Both gods of War end up in the afterlife. The world is cleansed by rain.
This is a seriously beautiful book, with some amazing messages. And yeah, it's release date means that some of the things that happened hit a little close to home (I couldn't help laughing at the mention of people lining up to get vaccines and wearing masks, we all know people don't have survival instincts that good), but I believe them when they say that this book was written before the pandemic, and it's release was not an attempt to capitalize on the tragedy. If anything, I think this book shows us that working together, and finding nonviolent solutions, would go farther than warmongering and hate any day.
Truly, cannot recommend this book enough.
City of the Plague God has a lot going for it, from a rich mythology, to rich characters, to an action packed story that feels like an epic tale in it's own right.
Sikandar Aziz is just an ordinary boy, living an ordinary life, in a world where brother, his hero and best friend, no longer exists. His love for his brother, and his grief over his loss, is the driving force behind Sik's characterization. He is always comparing himself to his brother, or talking to him in his mind, or remembering things he used to do. It's clear from page one that his brother was the biggest most important part of his life.
Until he died.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how much emphasis there was on family and grief. Not just with Sik, though his relationship with his family and Daoud are a huge motivation, but also between Ishtar and Belet, and Ishtar and Nergal. This book is full of families, and their relationships, and the pitfalls and grief that one can experience as a result of family.
Both of the main characters have complicated relationships with their family, and it's these relationships that really make this book shine.
Sik misses his brother dearly, and believes that everyone would have been happier if he had been the one that died. He is devoted to his family, and the deli, but resents that Mo, his dearly departed older brother, got to go off and have great adventures while he was stuck at home. To complicate matters, his brother's best friend, Daoud, has seemingly moved into the spot left by Mo, and Sik can't understand why he even bothers now that Mo is gone, since he doesn't even care about the deli. Then there's Belet. The adopted daughter of Ishtar, goddess of Love and War, who strives to be perfect for her mother, who she views as absent minded and forgetful and hopes that if she is good enough, one day Ishtar will remember who she is and love her the way she longs to be loved.
I want to talk about my favorite characters for a moments. Sik is obviously great, he has a dry wit, and a quick mind, and I adore that his special skill appears to be "customer service" (as someone who has worked customer service her whole life, this really spoke to me). But I've got to be honest, Daoud stole the show for me. At first, I wasn't sure about him, since we see him through Sik's eyes, and Sik is not his biggest fan. But the more time we spent with him, the more I loved him. Yeah, he's vain and has visions of grandeur. His greatest desire is to be a famous actor. But still, even though it won't do much for his career, he stays at the deli, and helps out Mo's family. He looks after and loves Sik like they really are family, and as you get to the end of the book, and realize the depth of his devotion to Mo's family... I just feel like Daoud is the real hero of this story.
The other character I want to talk about is Ishtar, goddess of Love and War. First of all, her entrance is the stuff of legends. I knew I was in for a ride the moment she appeared to pick up Belet from school. The second thing that drew me to her though, was that she was trying her best to be a good mother. Whether she was succeeding is really up for interpretation, but I think the fact that she adopted Belet, trained her, schooled her, and spent time with her speaks volumes. In a lot of these books, the gods are absent minded at best and negligent at worst when it comes to their children, so seeing Ishtar trying so hard to be a good mother, and seeing all the children she'd raised over the years, was so beautiful. Instead of focusing on passionate love, which would have been all to easy, the author chooses familiar love as the focus for Ishtar. I love it so much.
One last thing I want to touch on: this book has a huge emphasis on non-violence. From the main character's biggest skill being customer service, to Gilgamesh's appearance as a gardener, to the world being saved by a boy who presses flowers and loves beauty, the whole book seems to emphasize that violence is not always the answer. Sik never wields a sword. He runs from just about every battle. Those that do battle, tend to get beat. Both gods of War end up in the afterlife. The world is cleansed by rain.
This is a seriously beautiful book, with some amazing messages. And yeah, it's release date means that some of the things that happened hit a little close to home (I couldn't help laughing at the mention of people lining up to get vaccines and wearing masks, we all know people don't have survival instincts that good), but I believe them when they say that this book was written before the pandemic, and it's release was not an attempt to capitalize on the tragedy. If anything, I think this book shows us that working together, and finding nonviolent solutions, would go farther than warmongering and hate any day.
Truly, cannot recommend this book enough.