The Savage Fortress, by Sarwat Chadda, has been promoted as the next big fantasy adventure to succeed the Percy Jackson books.  In some ways this might be true, in others not.  It is parallel in that The Savage Fortress deals with the deities of an ancient religion brought into the modern world, but the two series are not quite in the same league.  Chadda is a good writer, and the story is vivid and suspenseful; however, his characters lack the endearing realism and entertaining humor of Rick Riordan.  Also, India’s realm of gods and demons is a great deal more intense than the Greek realm, and Chadda does his best to explore the violence and death at every opportunity.  The book feels like a violent horror movie.  There do not seem to be any morals or lessons embedded in the tale; it’s just a full throttle, throat-slashing, heart-ripping rollercoaster ride of blood and gore.  Chadda’s attention to explicit, violent detail brings each scene forcefully to one’s imagination–so don’t read it if you are prone to nightmares.  Some may find great entertainment in the brutal fighting and graphic detail, this reviewer was just revolted and disturbed.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Arthur A. Levine (A Scholastic Imprint)

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 6 religious profanities

Violence/Gore:Character smashes cane into another; depiction of dead body in a river; 2 characters die in a violent car crash; several frightening descriptions of demons; martial arts battle where a character is knocked unconscious; detailed descriptions of battle violence and bodies; a character (demon) is hanged and described; fantasy violence; character threatens another’s family; character dies from attack, arms torn off; a character’s jaw is broken and blood and bone described; humans magically mutated and tortured; character stabs a demon in the stomach, fights and kills; character is head-butted and knocked unconscious; character stabbed brutally in the stomach, blood depicted, dies; character runs straight through a monster to kill it, blood and gore described; character kills another by ripping out the heart and squeezing it. 

Sex/Nudity: Characters kiss twice. 

Mature Subject Matter:

Blood; Gore; Death; Kidnapping; Frightening and Disgusting Images.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None noted