Book Review: Fury of the Dragon Goddess by Sarwat Chadda

Published in 2023. Fantasy. Fourteen-year-old Sikander Aziz, or Sik, visits his cousin, Daoud in London. Daoud’s good looks has landed him a high-paying job as a model, and he plans to show his young cousin the town. But they are joined by Belet, the daughter of Ishtar, and her deadly enemy, Rabisu, a demon, complete with horns and a tail. Belet convinces them that they need to go to an auction house to buy an ancient tablet for Ishtar. They don’t know why she wants it, only that she does. The tablet is mysteriously withdrawn from sale, so the crew attempts to find out why, and it leads them into a major battle with Lugar, the god of insanity. He plans to use the tablet to resurrect his mother, Tiamat, the dragon goddess, which would lead to complete destruction of everything. They can’t let that happen and pursue Lugar to retrieve the Tablet of Destinies.

I had difficulty following the plot because so much was going on, and the crew didn’t seem entirely committed to one thing. Then they turned on each other because the tablet changed who they were. In fact, Sik was both the son of deli store owners and a refugee at the same time since he had two different destinies. Also, the title refers to a character who doesn't get involved in the story until the end,

This story used the mythological stories of the Middle East, and the main characters were Muslim. The book was supported by Rick Riordan Presents, who is promoting entertaining books from underrepresented cultures and backgrounds.