Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda

Series: Devil's Kiss, Book Two

Publisher: Penguin

Format: Paperback

Published: 1^st July 2010

Number of Pages: 384

Book: Bought

Genre: Paranormal, Supernatural, Urban Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Action Adventure, YA, YA-Adult Crossover

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Swearing, Loads of Violence... and Death... and Suspense... and Werewolves... Some Alcohol References

No Drug References

Author's Blog:

Billi SanGreal is a Knight Templar and has thrown herself utterly into their brutal regime, shutting herself off from everyone and everything.

But when Billi finds herself at the heart of a savage werewolf attack, she knows their target – a young girl – must be rescued at all costs.

For this is no ordinary girl.  Vasilisa is an avatar with an uncontrollable force within – and it’s not just the werewolves who want her.  The Dark Goddess wants to sacrifice Vasilisa and use her powers to unleash unimaginable catastrophes and devastation.

Can Billi protect Vasilisa from the ancient goddess – and at the same time stop her from destroying the world?

                                                                   Review:

When a book starts with a dead body, you know you're in for a freaking awesome and terrifying adrenaline ride.  I should've expected it anyway.  Those who have read Devil's Kiss will get how good Chadda is at writing horror, deaths, sadness, betrayal, and badass teenager Templar Knights.  Sarwat, you are officially one of my favourite people ever…

The one person Billi SanGreal cared about most is gone.  Her way of coping?  To throw herself into her duties as a member of the Knight Templar.  Fighting the Unholy, saving lives and getting all battered up is a pretty usual night for her.

And then everything goes south.  Because Billi gets caught up in a werewolf attack.  Something unlike anything she's seen before.  

The target?  A little girl named Vasilisa. 

The motive?  Who knows!  

Ok ok, I know.  So does Billi.  And the Knights Templar.  

The girl is... special.  Really special.  Special enough for a secret Unholy organisation with a deadly mission to spring up, intent on stealing her.  

Can Billi keep the girl safe, even when she's totally out of her depth and in a country she doesn't even know?  When she's up against enemies stronger than anything she's ever faced before?

When she's forced to ask a question that could either save or destroy the world...?

And when she starts to fall in love again?

This is Billi Sangreal and she is here to save the world.  Hopefully...

Sarwat Chadda, I officially love you.  Not only have you managed to bring Billi SanGreal back with a bang, but you've brought her back in a story that is somehow even better than Devil's Kiss, in a story that is fast-paced, action-packed, emotional, and at times slightly terrifying.  And how I love every single minute!  

Billi: oh, I love you too!  She's just so funny, so tough, so reluctantly caring, so stubborn and so totally kickass!  I also really love that she just feels so real.  She's flawed but in a totally believable way.  She's tough but also relatable.  She's mature but in a way that's completely truthful to her personality and lifestyle.  She's just the perfect heroine.    And I am just... I don't want to let her go.  I want more of her.  So please, please, please people at Penguin.  Publish the third Billi book!  I will buy a million copies if you'll just PUBLISH it so I can just READ it!!  And damn you, Sarwat, for giving me those first few chapters!  Now I’m even more desperate!

I'm sounding slightly crazy right now so I'll move onto Ivan.  Now, Ivan...  I may have started thinking you were a stuck up Tsarevich, but I love you now and see you for the broken, beautiful, caring, noble guy you are!  I didn't think I'd be able to love someone as much as Kay, but I loved Ivan just as much!  Maybe... maybe even more...  

The rest of the cast was brilliant – and all very varied.  And I'm pleased to say that Sarwat didn't let me down and killed off loads of them!  That sounds really twisted but c'mon!  They're freaking Templar Knights!  I'm sorry, but some of 'em are gonna die.  It's just the way life works, people.  You know, in books about demon hunters anyway...  But still, Sarwat!  Did you have to scare the hell out of me so many times?  I'm not sure how many more of these close shaves and horrible, terrifying fears my nerves and heart can take! 

Right now, in so, so many YA books, it's all about the romance.  Sure, there's like demons or ghosts or whatever, but much of the plot is about the romance.  Dark Goddess is such a refreshing change to that trend!  It's all about the world, the suspense, the horror, the action, the evil and the people.  The romance?  Just the sprinkling on the cake that is this killer of a book.  It doesn't overwhelm the hard, violent story but also adds a nice break – a sweet dash of sugar in this action-packed thriller.  And I loved that.  I really loved it.  And it means that this book, this wonderful wonderful book, is perfect for boys and girls.

I also loved the history of the Bogatyrs: like the Templars, only Russian and led by long-lost descendants of Tsar Nikolas.  Russian history is one of my favourites.  I love Tsarist Russia and absolutely adored all the elements of it in Dark Goddess.  Especially the one where there's a secret organisation led by a secret Romanov.  That's awesome.  And of Baba Yaga.  She is freaking terrifying...  But also just the tour of Russia as it is today.  Ever since Markus Sedgewick's Blood Red, Snow White and Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, I've wanted to visit Moscow and St Petersburg.  And after reading Dark Goddess I want to go even more!  It all just felt so real – like I was actually there!

One of my favourite things about Sarwat's books is that nothing is sugar coated.  People die.  Like, a lot of people.  There are sacrifices, there are losses and it's not all happily-ever-afters either.  It just completely sets him and his books aside.  Well, that and the plot.  Have I mentioned the plot?  Not really?  Well, it was kickass.  Like seriously.  I never saw the twists coming, I never guessed what would happen next, I never knew who was – and who wasn't – going to die, I never even knew how the book would end – as in, with a fave character's death, more heartache, happy-ever-after or with no world left...  Yup.  That bad.  That good.  Man, I want another book...

Towards the end of the book, I found it really hard to read.  Not because it was a let-down or anticlimactic or anything.  Oh no.  Completely the opposite.  It was just so good I didn't want it to end!  Ever.  Which, if you ask me, is the sign of an amazing book.  And Dark Goddess really truly was an amazing book.  Even better than Devil's Kiss, something I didn't even think Sarwat would be able to manage.  I adored every single moment of this book and just could not put it down, even when I really didn't want it to end...  It didn't make sense to me, either.  But seriously.  If you haven't checked this series out, you absolutely have to.  I don't care if you're thirteen or one hundred, a boy or a girl: you will love this book and you will see it for the unique brilliance that it is.  Trust me.

Dark Goddess started with a dead body and ended with dead bodies – and one hell of a bang.  Now it's time for me to pray, hope and beg for the release of a Billi SanGreal Book Three.  Would it help if I put in a gif of someone begging?  No?  Oh well.  You're getting one anyways, people at Penguin.  This is how serious and desperate I am.  

Because when a series is this good, it should be illegal to stop it.  A death penalty offence.  Which is saying something, since I like in the UK where there is no death sentence, and when I'm against it anyway.  But now do you get how desperate I am?!  I need more Billi, more Ivan, more Templars and more of everything this book is about.  As soon as possible.  Please...

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

The Demon Trappers by Jana Oliver

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

 Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Supernatural

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

2012 Debut Author Challenge (Hosted by The Story Siren)

British Books Challenge 2012 (Hosted by The Overflowing Library)

Happy Reading

Megan

Month of Guests 2013: Sarwat Chadda: Ash Mistry and the World of Darkness Blog Tour - And Giveaway!!

I'm super excited to have the brilliant Sarwat Chadda here today - with a giveaway too!! :D UK and Ireland residents enter for a chance to win a complete set of the Ash Mistry books!! :D 

Enjoy the interview!! :D

Hi Sarwat!  Thank you so much for being here!

A pleasure, Megan, thanks for the invite.

Ok, so I am officially totally biased, being one of your number one fans (I won't say number one definitive, because Laura from Sister Spooky might kill me...), but you are brilliant.  I am currently loving your newest series, Ash Mistry, the third book of which has just come out.  Can you quickly describe what the series is all about?

I love mythology and superheroes and exotic settings and Ash Mistry is a combination of all three.

Ash is your typical 13 year old geek who gets the chance to become the sort of superhero he’s always read about in his comics.

I don’t want to give too much away but he discovers he’s the Eternal Warrior, destined to be reborn again and again throughout history to face evil. He’s battled demons, tyrants and bad guys since the dawn of time.

Now, in Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress, he discovers the demon king, Ravana, is back and its down to Ash to stop him.

Fortunately he gets some help in the of the black goddess, Kali. She’s got six arms, armed to the teeth, has a necklace of skulls and drinks blood. She’s the goddess of death and destruction and has chosen Ash to be her living weapon, the Kali-aastra.

It’s a series about a boy becoming the ultimate BAD-ASS and discovering it’s not as great as he thought it would be. Saving the world is a dirty job and Ash really doesn’t want to do it.

We had a brilliant conversation about ethnic diversity in books - and more specifically on covers.  How important do you think it is to bring more diversity into children's fiction - like Ash Mistry, who's Indian - and how much do you think stereotypes influence books written about 'ethnic’ minorities (sorry: sociology term)?

My issue is that when you have an ethnic lead, it’s always an ‘issue’s book and tied up with the experience of being that ethnicity. It’s about the, say, ‘Asian/Arab/African/Eskimo experience. The Ash Mistry series is about the ‘monster-fighting’ experience.

In truth all cultures have monsters in common. And they all have heroes born to fight them. I love fantasy but, ironically, fantasy has become more and more mundane as all we get is dwarves and elves and castles and knights and long-bearded wizard types.

What some may view as ethnic I view as a fresh perspective. But the hero’s journey is universal.

Ok, the Ash series is awesome - so so awesome!  Pleeaase tell me there's a new one in the works!  I know I'm behind, but I'm loving it so much that I just need to know that there will be another one!!

Ash had a very clear three book arc. I’m incredibly chuffed I was able to explore it to the full. But it has led to interesting opportunities. I’m working on a brand new comic project which will be using Indian settings and myths and history to bring a new superhero team into the world. Stay tuned for that...

Saying that I’m not quite done with Ash yet. I’ve got a new book in the pipeline but would be more than happy to revisit Ash in a year or two.

Sorry about fangirling, Sarwat...  Until you've forgotten that incident, don't look down: there's a bit more...  Anyway: Your original series, the amazing amazing Billi SanGreal series, has a main character who's a girl.  You are, to state the obvious, not a girl.  Was it difficult to write as Billi and what were your influences?

Nope, not hard at all. A character is defined by far more than their gender and to focus on that as a central issue is to deny them a lot more scope. The risk of viewing a character as merely their gender risks all the clichés creeping in. The BIGGEST being romance. I never, ever wrote a YA paranormal romance and hope the first line in Devil’s Kiss made that clear. Billi’s journey is not about finding a boyfriend! I think that took a lot of readers by surprise as it came out during the Twilight peak and was packaged as a YA paranormal romance.

Gender was an issue in how Billi is treated by the world around her. She was brought up in a very male environment, and that brings its own dynamics.

That said I have plenty of women in my life to inspire and guide me including (but not limited to) wife, daughters, agents and editors. They made sure Billi worked.

I've been wondering for a while and just thought I'd ask: I know you're a huge Buffy fan.  Is anything of Billi's character based on the legendary Slayer?

Oh God, that was a bizarre situation. I completely missed the Buffy TV series the first time round, having only ever watched the somewhat disappointing movie. I had written an early draft of Devil’s Kiss when my sisters told me about the tv series and I watched it. BLOWN AWAY!

Billi’s world isn’t the same as Buffy’s. Buffy has the Scooby Gang and is supported and is clearly the lead. Even the others know she’s the hero in their story.

Billi’s just another soldier for the Knights Templar. Her father is the boss and their victories are at far higher cost. They are quite clearly mortal. The body count was an issue with the Billi series and I wanted to dwell on the impact such deaths have. Billi’s world is bloody dark!

Don't say I didn't warn you: PLEASE tell me there's going to be a third Billi book?!?!  And what will it be about?!  You've already driven me insane with those first few chapters, so PLEASE put my mind at ease...  Of course, if you need a proof reader or somethin' let me know.  I'm happy to help.  ;)

Sadly the series got cancelled. The usual poor sales problem. Maybe I should have put some romance in it after all...

How much research goes into all your books?  I mean, the details in the Ash series about India are absolutely stunning.  Well, all the details are - the heritage, the... I could go on, but we'll just go with everything.  And all the Templar, religious, etc details in the Billi series are just as brilliant.  Exactly how much time has to go into all of these awesome details?!  

A lot. I mean A LOT. With Billi I read up on Templar history, mythology, studied the Old Testemant and even Judaism to get the details right. Dark Goddess meant going to Russia to get the Moscow scenes spot on.

Ash Mistry was a trip to India and Pakistan and Tibet and Hong Kong and Nepal. The Savage Fortress is based on a maharajah’s palace in Varanasi I visited and the Lalgur is a building overlooking the ghats. I even attended a funeral. I’ve travelled a lot around the Far East and that travelling probably inspired the Ash series in the first place. That’s probably why the first Ash book took almost two years to write.

If it’s worth doing its worth doing right. Especially for children’s books.

One of the things I love most about your writing is that you never hold back.  Ever.  You write the most amazing fight scenes that are fast paced, gory and dangerous.  You don't shy away from killing people we love off (though I have some serious issues because of that, man.  Like serious serious scars).  Even in Ash, a MG series, you don't hold back.  Do you think some people try to bubble-wrap fights in fiction and why did you decide not to?  And do you think the informal 'rules' should be different for children than for young adults?

Firstly I don’t believe in the division between YA and MG. It’s arbitrary and basically more about marketing than quality or subject matter. The Indian mythology in Ash is pretty complex as it’s unfamiliar to The Western reader and the definitions of good and evil don’t match what we believe in the west. But not to include that would have done the reader is disservice and delivered an inauthentic book. I don’t believe in writing down to the reader. Its far better to push them, challenge them with what’s thrown out of the story. Even if its disturbing. Hence the death of main characters. And that when I kill them, they don’t come back. It should be upsetting and leave scars.

I want to write the best book I can. I never second guess the reader and don’t really tailor it to suit anything but my passions. Life’s too short to be worrying about what other people want, or worse, should have.

You have got  to be one of the funniest people I know.  But in Billi especially there isn't that much laugh-your-head-off humour.  I mean, there's a dark humour, but nothing like your own funniness (is that a word)?  There's more in Ash, though.  Is the difference in humour a reflection of how Billi was born into the life of a Templar and Ash just kinda... stumbled across it?  Or is it more due to the target-audience differences?

Billi and Ash come from two different worlds, as you point out. Billi’s is grim so the humour reflects that. It’s very black. That said the joke about Arthur needing shovels still makes

Ash is a geek, so his humour will have that sort of references within it. Hence all the stuff about superheroes and Star Trek and Doctor Who. That’s his world.

It’s not to do with the target audience because I don’t know who that is.

My personal humour is about me. And if you want to know the truth, I only have three amusing anecdotes.

All of your books are fantasy-paranormal-action-adventure types.  Something I love about them?  No one falls for one of the Unholy.  Let's face it: no one in their right mind would love Dracula!  Do you think that there's a difference between female and male writers: like do some female writers romanticise the paranormals more than men?  For example, Twilight versus Billi SanGreal?

YA has become very female-orientated, both as writers and audience. Twilight’s success has slewed the style of stories being published to being more romance-based. That’s just the market which I don’t have issue with.

My issues about the romance is the questions it raises about expectations and gender balance. I’ve said it before (and so have others much cleverer than me), but Twilight did the cause of feminism no good at all.

I’d recommend readers to go to Angela Carter’s books, especially the ‘Burning Your Boats’ collection of stories which include A Company of Wolves. Then pick up ‘Women who Run with Wolves’ by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Billi has been inspired by those heroines.

Ok, onto fun questions now!  If you could have any superpower ever, what would you choose?

Flight. It’s a classic. Flight and really, REALLY fast.

One of your books needs to be made into a film.  It's criminal that they aren't...  Anyways, if they were, who would you cast as the lead characters in both series?

Well, given how slow these things are either daughter would play Billi as she was based on them! James Purefoy for Arthur.

The guy who played Pi, Suraj Sharma, in Life of Pi would make a cool Ash. Benedict Cumberbatch as Lord Savage.

If you could have a dinner party with any two 'real' people (dead or alive), two fictional characters and two mythical/paranormal beings, who would you choose and why?

Wow. Off the top of my head Genghis Khan and Caligula for real just because they would be the most insane guests imaginable!

Fictional probably Lestat and Conan the Barbarian.

Mythic lets go for Helen of Troy and Aphrodite for obvious reasons.

Last question: I believe you are obsessed with a certain actor, yes?  Can you tell us who that is and whether or not they would beat Billi in a fight?

Yes, you mean Christian Bale, right? Ah, my love for Christian is a deep and pure and beautiful thing. It all started when I saw him in American Psycho. The showers scene at the beginning but that’s another story.

WRT him and a Billi smackdown do remember he is actually an actor while Billi is a highly trained killer. I’ll leave you to decide the result based on those two facts...

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Yay, thank you so much for letting me interview you, Sarwat! It was so much fun!! :D
Hope you all enjoyed the interview!! And don't forget to follow Sarwat's Site, follow him on Twitter and check out his books on Goodreads! :DAnd keep up to date with MonthOfGuests on Twitter using #MonthOfGuests2013! And stop by tomorrow for an awesome Top Ten post by the brilliant Philip Reeve and Sarah McEntyre!!

Now, UK and Ireland dwellers:

Enter the giveaway!! 

 You'll win a complete set of the Ash Mistry series!! The giveaway is open only to people in UK and Ireland (sorry!) and will close 14th October 2013!

Tweet and let people know!! :D 

Check out The Book Addicted Girl's Giveaway Policy before entering.

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Sarwat Chadda has lived and travelled throughout the world, from China to Guatemala. He’s been lost in Mongolia, abandoned at a volcano in Nicaragua and hidden up a tree from a rhino in Nepal. Not to mention being detained by Homeland Security in the US and chased around Tibet by the Chinese police. Maybe he just has that sort of face.Anyway, now he’s trying to settle in one place and stay out of trouble. Hence his new career as a writer. It’s safe, indoors and avoids any form of physical danger.Throughout his travels, Sarwat has soaked up the myths, legends and cultures of far away places. Now, with the Ash Mistry series, he aims to bring these unfamiliar tales of ten-headed demons and blue-skinned heroes back home and put them beside the exploits of Achilles and Thor. His heroes are Prince Rama and the demon-slaying Kali. Isn’t it about time you met them too?