Just like any 12-year-old girl, Kiran is just trying to figure out who she is. Unlike other 12-year-old girls, however, she has to deal with titles like ‘princess’ and ‘demon slayer’. She happens to be a princess from the Kingdom Beyond, an interdimensional world attained by traveling through worm holes. A world where gods and demons existed. Now it is up to her to save the kingdom and be the hero, but she also has to come to grips with who her father is, the evil Serpent King and how she never wants to be anything like him.
One part action/adventure and one part coming of age story, Game of Stars in The Kingdom Beyond Series by Sayantani Dasgupta is an action-packed novel that will surely appeal to readers that are looking to something similar to Rick Riordan that ties in ancient worlds and mythologies. Dasgupta uses her heritage and traditional folktales and beliefs from Bangladesh in her story telling. This novel is filled with demons, gods, realms and all the other things that come with ancient mythology.
The thing that sets Game of Stars and this series apart is how the author weaves a story with a modern flare, like flying rickshaws and selfie-taking girls that wear pink saris and ride flying skate boards, but there is also a loving moon goddess, an ancient wise man giving confusing advice, and a talking monkey. The Kingdom Beyond Series is a breath of fresh air in the ‘Hero saving Ancient World’ based on mythology genre.
All that being said, while it was fairly easy to follow along with the storyline, I think the reader would get more out of the novel if they were to start with the first one.
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None
Violence/Gore: Demon queen attacks character in her bedroom and makes a nightlight explode; demon queen threatens to slap character; character tries to attack demon queen who is just a vison and ends up hitting her head on a dresser; character scratched by birdlike creatures to get a sample of blood; demon queen threatens to rip tongue out of character’s head; character bound by metal shackles; demon threatens to eat character (5); demon threatens to tear limbs from character; character shoots arrows at demon; demon pins character down; mention of man being incinerated by confronting a fire demon; character captured in an orb and experiences pain and torture because of it resulting in some injuries; charcter told to kill his brother.
Sex/Nudity: None
Mature Subject Matter:
None
Alcohol / Drug Use:
None
