Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi

From my Kirkus column about Aru Shah and the End of Time:

The one question I’ve been getting again and again and again from patrons about the new Rick Riordan Presents imprint is this: “But will the books read like Percy Jackson???” Based on the way I giggled and gasped my way through Aru Shah and the End of Time, I can finally give them an answer: “Yes, yes, unequivocally, yes.”

Aru Shah has the same blend of comedy and adventure, magic and interpersonal drama, action and heart. It follows the same basic arc, in that a realistically-flawed protagonist learns that she is a demigod—in this case, she learns that her father is Lord Indra, the Hindu god of lightning and thunder—and then has to risk everything to save her mother (and the world). It also shares a lot of the same textual elements: funny chapter headings; tons of pop culture references; smart and creative and again, funny modernizations of ancient figures from religion and myth and legend; entertaining digressions and jokes for readers of all ages. So, similarities galore—and exactly the sort of similarities that make for a dead-on-the-money readalike—but this is also very much an original story.