Price: £6.99
Publisher: Puffin
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 10-14 Middle/Secondary
Length: 384pp
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Dark Goddess
This is a second outing for the characters from the previous mythic fantasy novel, Devil’s Kiss.
Billi Sangreal is a 15-year-old Knight Templar, pledged to fight in the Bataille Tenebreuse against the World’s forces of evil. In this case she is battling werewolves, the Russian Maffia and, most evil of all, Baba Yaga, Earth Mother Russia, all-powerful witch. It is imperative that Billi and her friends rescue and protect a child who is an avatar, whose extraordinary power will be used to create another ice age, Fimblewinter.
Chadda cannot be faulted for thrilling, fast moving plotting and exciting, vivid descriptions. There are some engaging one-liners too, especially between the love interest couple, Billi and a Russian Prince. Where he also scores is that the main characters do have a moral compass to counterbalance all the brutal violence and treachery; they follow long-held values and rules of conduct; they acknowledge their profound responsibility for, and duty of care to others.
This should be very popular with fantasy and action junkies.