#Rick Riordan publishing handfuls of queer characters under Disney Hyperion

[tybalt-you-saucy-boi]

You can't, and shouldn't be able to, control the interpretation or fan works people make of your creations (plagiarism aside). Otherwise we'd have a lot of angry bigoted creators shooting down our diversity headcanons and fics rn

BUT that doesn't mean you should be afraid to create, especially what others are not creating. Create for the people who WILL interpret your work how you meant it, for people who will learn from your work, those who will benefit from seeing something that goes against the status quo, that represents them, that shows them kindness and love, that cries with them. Create for yourself, for the person you were when you needed your creations. For the person of now who needs them too. I promise it will mean something.

Because you know who isn't afraid to keep creating? Those aforementioned bigoted creators. They don't want you to create. They don't want you as competition. They certainly don't want you challenging or changing the status quo. Do it anyway.

Being an aromantic writer is frustrating because you want to show aromantic people but you know damn well people would misinterpret their relationships as romantic and ship them, ignoring the orientation of them for aromantics like you to finally get more recognised within in or out of the community. It really says something that I know I have to be explicitly clear that these characters are aromantic and I don't want them shipped for people to even slightly get the message across.

[la-knight]

Books I Read in 2018: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

“Maybe that's why superheroes wore capes. Maybe they weren't capes at all, but safety blankets, like the one Aru kept at the bottom of her bed and pulled up under her chin before she went to sleep. Maybe superheroes just tied their blankies around their necks so they'd have a little bit of comfort wherever they went. Because honestly? Saving the world was scary. No harm admitting that.”

“It is not failure to fail.”

“This is what we get for thinking that scaley orange skin and fake hair could keep that former demon out of elected office.

“You are the Daughter of Death," hissed Aru. "You don't walk into a telephone pole because of a boy.”

“Aru was twelve years old. Even she knew that half the time she didn't know what she was doing.”

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur? One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again. But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them. The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that

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I first heard about Roshani Chokshi when her novel The Star-Touched Queen debuted back in like 2016. The elevator pitch I’d heard for it was “Hades and Persephone but with Indian mythology.” I’m a HUGE sucker for Hades & Persephone, always have been. So of course I snatched that up, and fell in love with Maya, with the beautifully lyrical and poetic prose, and with Roshani Chokshi’s way of painting her different worlds. Out of the four books she has out right now, I only have one left to read (A Crown of Wishes). She’s brilliant, and when I found out she was expanding to Middle-Grade, I knew I had to see what was up with her newest book

So what can I say about Aru-Shah and the End of Time? Well, some people might compare it to Percy Jackson - it’s a somewhat similar concept, the children of gods fighting monsters to save the world. Probably why Aru Shah is the first book from Rick Riordan’s new imprint from Disney Hyperion (the man is doing the Lord’s work, not gonna lie). But if I were to compare Aru Shah and the End of Time to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief...it’s better. It’s SO MUCH better (no offense, Rick).

See, I like Percy. I like the series and I like him. But the first book was a bit shallow. To be fair, it came out at a time when middle-grade was still fighting to be allowed to hold the same depths as some of the “more risque” YA of the time, like having queer characters, or characters with mental health issues, or what have you. At the time PJ:LT came out, most middle-grade fantasies weren’t allowed to have that kind of stuff. Thankfully Rick Riordan helped pave the way for publishers to realize, oh, shoot, middle-grade can have a lot of the same depth as YA, holy gosh (other helpers in the cause are Tahereh Mafi and JK Rowling, although more points go to Ms. Mafi). So why is Aru Shah better than Percy Jackson?

It’s deeper. It’s richer. It’s more diverse. Some of you might think, well of course it’s more diverse, it’s Indian mythology. No, no, no. You don’t understand. It’s amazing. We have two Indian girls teaming up to save the world, one with extreme anxiety and OCD who wants to be a doctor, who casually mentions her gay hero brother without it being a big deal. We have a series set up to put together a team of five young Indian women who fight monsters and save the world. 

There’s a former villain who learns to love, who does honor to the two female leads. The tasks and challenges are clever and fun, with a touch of whimsy but still as action-packed and engaging as any adventure in Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter. We have a girl from a single-parent home who’s always wanted more of a family, and she gets one - as soon as Aru meets Mini, one of the other reborn Pandavas, they start calling each other “sister” and vow never to turn their backs on each other. There’s a brief moment where this is put to the test, but the girls get over it and reconcile easily.

One of the best things about Aru, the character, is how accepting she is of Mini after they meet. Mini can be a little high-maintenance, and at first Aru’s a little exasperated, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize Mini has severe OCD (instead of high-fives, they bump elbows) and anxiety. In fact, Mini’s a lot like me. And while sometimes Mini will say something and Aru will be like, “Wait, really?” after a minute she’s just like, “Okay, sure. If that’s what you need.” 

When they pull off some daring-dos near the end of the book, Aru offers her elbow for a bump without having to be reminded of the no-hands rule. Even better, Mini doesn’t just decide to high-five Aru at the end. She’s still OCD, still freaks out over germs, and Aru doesn’t mind. And while Mini does sometimes panic, Aru is mostly very understanding and helps her get through her panic attacks. When Mini expresses fear that Aru will abandon her because of her anxiety and “other flaws,” Aru not only promises she won’t, but puts a spin on it that helps sooth Mini’s fears (Aru gets hung up about this and wonders if she’s lying; I’ll touch on that near the end).

The villains were interesting, the mythology is fairly new which means explanations can be provided in a fun way and it’s not stuff we readers have been told ten million times. I was honestly surprised by the identity of Aru and Mini’s fathers (who aren’t their biological fathers; these Indian gods imbued the girls’ souls with...soul DNA? That’s not what they call it, I just don’t know if I can explain it any other way). Also, as a fan of The Star-Touched Queen, I had to wonder - did Maya have anything to do with Mini’s powers?

You know how in Percy Jackson the kids get neat doo-dads that turn into magical stuff? Like a pen into a sword, Thalia’s bracelet into that one shield, Luke’s winged sneakers, blah blah? Aru gets a golden tennis ball and Mini gets a purple compact. Not a big deal? Ah ha, au contraire. Those items are the glamoured belongings of the god of thunder and the god of death, and they’re actually pretty cool - but also pretty!

This book is just...fun. It’s SO FUN. The monsters are new, the tasks are original, the characters are cute, and I loved it.

Let’s talk about the thing I love most: Aru Shah. Roshani Chokshi has the interesting ability to create characters that are basically me. Not physically, not according to age or race, but with Night, with Maya, and now with Aru, she creates female leads who speak to me on a fundamental level. 

This time, it’s Aru, who’s basically Loki from Loki: Agent of Asgard except female instead of genderfluid, 12 years old, and Indian. In L:AoA, there’s a scene in the final bindup where Loki indentifies themself (first in femme-presenting form, then in masc-presenting form) as the moon goddess, the god of stories. Aru is the personification of that. 

Something that gets said a lot in the book is, “You’re a liar, Aru Shah.” But she’s not. She’s a storyteller, a world-changer, someone who refuses to view the world as bleak and terrible and uses the gift of words to make it better for herself and the people she’s loves. She’s an optimist who fights with words and thinks fast on her feet. She’s a daughter of Lord Indra the Thunderer and a reincarnation of the greatest of the Pandava Brothers. She’s the moon goddess, the god of stories, someone I would’ve idolized (or possibly gotten a crush on) if I’d read this as a kid, and I love her. I will follow her to the end.

Also she better get as many books as Percy did (so like...15 books).

There were only two complaints, really. One, Aru was rather preoccupied with boogers (it came up like 5 times). I mean, I know she’s a tween, but still. Two, I saw the plot twist with her dad coming from a mile away.

Plot: ¾ star Characterization: 1 star World Building: 1 star Word Choice: ¾ star Realism: 1 star 

- ¼ star for copious snot (ew)

+ ¼ star for positive portrayal of a character with anxiety and OCD

+ ¼ star for having a 12-year-old girl in Spider-Man pajamas saving the world, okay? 

In total: 4.75/5 stars

Would I Buy It: I did! Now I need the next one!

Would I Recommend It: READ THIS BOOK, PEOPLE!!! It’s so cute, seriously.

I was asked to tag @magic-in-every-book so here’s my Aru review! :)

All pics were stock photos manipulated by me in Photoshop or in the public domain. Except the painting of the Pandavas. That’s from Wikipedia.