A review by bibliobrandie
Force of Fire by Sayantani DasGupta

3.0

This is not my type of fantasy book but I think that middle grade students, especially fans of Riordan, will enjoy this. The Indian freedom struggle against the British is the backdrop to this story and I really loved the allegory to the Indian revolution. The authors note at the end delves into this and other themes from the book. DasGupta explores themes of culture of language, colonialism, traditions, and religion, and she ties it to current events. She says, "Destroying a people's language, not letting children learn the ways of those who came before them, is the surest way to kill a culture." I don't know if students will totally get all of this but maybe it will open them up to some unknown parts of history.