Week 13 - Fantasy & Science Fiction!

 Hello again, Professor and classmates! This week I review novels from the fantasy and science-fiction genres, this will be really fun, let's begin! 

    Chokshi, Roshani, and Rick Riordan. 

    Aru Shah and the End of Time. Disney-Hyperion, 2018. 

    ISBN 978-136801235-5

Plot: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi follows the titular Aru, a twelve-year-old, Indian-American girl who has grown up in Atlanta, Georgia in an apartment connected to The Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, where her mother owns. Aru accidently releases a demon known as the Sleeper from a cursed lamp in an attempt to impress her classmates, causing time to freeze around Aru as a result. Aru must then set off on a quest to undo the curse, learning not only about the existence of Hindu gods along the way, but discovering she is a reincarnation of one of the Pandava, a noble hero in Indian mythology, and must reunite with her long-lost sisters from her past life who have also been reborn in modern day.

 

Author Chokshi does an incredible job of balancing the mythology, religion and culture of Hinduism with depicting the everyday realties of Aru’s life in Georgia, such as her sadness and struggles with having grown up without her father in her life or Aru’s desire of wanting to fit in with her classmates. Within the author’s biography kept within the book dustjacket, it is stated that Chokshi lives in Georgia and the author’s love and pride in her state shines throughout the book as the realities of Atlantia interconnects with the fantastical nature of Aru’s journey with the Hindu gods. Aru is a great protagonist, who is creative with weary sense of humor about her world and situations, whose powerful imagination is both her greatest strength and biggest downfall at times, which make for and really interesting character flaw. Chokshi balances the mythological mundane aspects of Aru’s life seamlessly. If child readers are new to the religion of Hinduism, the author introduces mythological concepts in way which are easy to follow along with for those who are unfamiliar with the context of Aru’s story.   

 

Theme: Chokshi’s novel has themes based in universal truths of Hinduism, specifically of the religious belief in reincarnation and rebirth of life, with the subject of reincarnation treated with seriousness and respect throughout the story, being a significant plot point in Aru’s hero’s journey. Another key theme the importance of family, through Aru’s complicated feelings about her absent father and the value of adopted families, depicted though Aru’s close bond with her spiritual sister, Mini, her sibling from a previous life.

 

Setting: The real-life setting of Georgia, along with the fantastical setting of Aru’s quest amongst Hindu gods blended well together. The setting feels appropriate to the narrative as it placed importance both in Aru’s life in Georgia and life as a reincarnated Pandava from Hindu legend.    

 

Style: Chokski has an amazing sense of imagination, incorporating words, phrases, and symbols to give life to Aru’s world. The author masterfully balances the ethereal elements of Aru’s hero quest, alongside her sarcastic sense of humor as a pre-teen girl and the emotional depth of her relationships to her parents and adopted sister, Mini.  

 

    Barnhill, Kelly. The Girl Who Drank the Moon. 

    Workman Publishing, 2016. ISBN 978-1-61620-567-6

Plot: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, follows mischievous thirteen-year-old Luna, was abandoned as a baby by the elders of her village, Protectorate, to the forest witch, whom the villagers believed demanded a human sacrifice each year. Instead, Luna becomes the adopted daughter of Xan, the forest witch, after Xan accidentally gave moonlight to Luna to drink as baby, gifting Luna with extremely powerful magic. The story follows Luna’s quest to keep her bottled up magic from becoming destructive, and reclaim her past from Protectorate. Barnhill has created an original, fantastical world, removed from realism. The story has a dream-like quality, as Luna’s adopted family are all supernatural creatures, with Luna’s backstory and quest all to control her magic read as a modern fairytale. The otherworldliness of Luna’s life interconnect with genuine heart and engaging relationships between Luna’s adopted family in a natural, believable manner.        

 

Theme: Central themes of Barnhill’s novel are about the strength of holding on to hope and love over despair and sorrow, lest one be consumed by grief. Another key theme is about the danger of judging people without knowing them, and the negative consequences of refusing to try and understand another person’s perspective, just as the villagers who misjudge Xan and the forest out of pure fearmongering.

 

Setting: The setting of Protectorate village has naturally sad, fearful atmosphere, whereas the nearby bogs and forests have an ethereal quality that gives the impression of there being equal wonder and supernatural horrors hiding around the corner. The setting reflects greatly of Barnhill’s creativity as an author, as she creates an original world that feels it could just as gorgeous as it could be dangerous in the story’s environment.

 

Style: Author Barnhill skillfully creates imagery of Luna’s world through the emotions and spoken words of the characters, rather it is the somber, fearful world of Protectorate, the warmth and unearthliness of Luna’s chosen family and friends amongst the forest and swamp bog, in order to create fairytale-like atmosphere throughout the story.