Coming Up In 2012 #8: Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda

Any new release by Sarwat Chadda is cause for celebratory street parties and church bells to be rung across the land. His Dark Goddess was a truly worthy winner of The Book Zone Book of the Year 2010, and I have been waiting very excitedly ever since to read whatever Sarwat wrote next. In March that next book will hit the book shops and libraries of Britain (start ringing them bells!), and it is a corker. I consider myself very privileged to have read it already, and Rick Riordan had better watch out - there is a new 'myth master' in town and he means business. Here's Sarwat to tell us a little more about Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress:

Holidays in Hell by Sarwat Chadda

My new book, ‘Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress’ is your average tale about a boy during his summer holidays. You know, the type of holiday where the boy meet an evil sorcerer planning to raise an ancient demon king and his army of demons and it’s totally down to the boy to save the day and kick everyone in the arse, pretty damn hard.

I’m sure you’ve had summer breaks just like it.

The book’s set in India and is all about Indian mythology and history. We all know and love the Greek myths, our days are named after the Norse gods so I though it about time we brought in some eastern deities, they’re quite unlike anything you’d have come across before.

Take Kali, the goddess of death and destruction. The hero, Ash, finds something very valuable of hers, a divine superweapon that was lost on a battlefield thousands of years ago. This weapon is the only thing that can stop the demon king but Ash is not your usual hero. He’s not a hero at all. He’s 13 but the kind of boy who still might sleep with the light on. Fortunately he teams up with Parvati, a half-human half-demon girl who’s the world’s greatest assassin. Ash must learn the ways of Kali if he’s going to stand a snowball’s chance in Hell of surviving the rebirth of the demon king and beating Lord Savage, the sorcerer behind the resurrection.

It’s not a story for those with tender hearts. It’s a story about blood, sacrifice and death. You see how far Ash is willing to go to do what’s right, even if he’s terrified almost every step of the way. A true hero is not the one who’s unafraid. He’s the one who, though filled with fear, conquers it and acts in spite of it. Ash Mistry takes the darkest path, the path of Kali, and I hope you’ll come along for the journey. It’ll be like no other.