The Battle (Gauntlet #2)
by Karuna Riazi (Author)
The game begins again in this gripping follow-up to The Gauntlet that's a futuristic middle eastern Zathura meets Ready Player One!
Four years after the events of The Gauntlet, the evil game Architect is back with a new partner-in-crime--The MasterMind--and the pair aim to get revenge on the Mirza clan. Together, they've rebuilt Paheli into a slick, mind-bending world with floating skyscrapers, flying rickshaws run by robots, and a digital funicular rail that doesn't always take you exactly where you want to go.
Twelve-year-old Ahmad Mirza struggles to make friends at his new middle school, but when he's paired with his classmate Winnie for a project, he is determined to impress her and make his very first friend. At home while they're hard at work, a gift from big sister Farah--who is away at her first year in college--arrives. It's a high-tech game called The Battle of Blood and Iron, a cross between a video game and board game, complete with virtual reality goggles. He thinks his sister has solved his friend problem--all kids love games. He convinces Winnie to play, but as soon as they unbox the game, time freezes all over New York City.
With time standing still and people frozen, all of humankind is at stake as Ahmad and Winnie face off with the MasterMind and the Architect, hoping to beat them at their own game before the evil plotters expand Paheli and take over the entire world.
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Find books about:
More books in the series - See All
Other series you might like
Kirkus
School Library Journal
Gr 3-6—The Bengali-American Mirza family returns in another fast-paced and danger-filled trip to Paheli, the fantasy game world from Riazi's The Gauntlet. This title features Ahmad, now 12 but still experiencing social problems due to his presumed ADHD, who enters the magical game world via a Nintendo Switch, along with his new friend Winnie. This time, the very existence of New York City hangs in the balance. Things have changed inside Paheli; most notably, the world shifts and changes around them faster than ever, and there is ambiguity about the goal of the game and who the pair's true adversaries are. Riazi's choice not to establish solid rules for her fantasy world impedes the reader's ability to anticipate events or attempt solving the problems ahead of her characters, making this feel like simply being along for a ride, zooming from one danger to another with little contemplation or strategy. Ahmad and Winnie develop very little other than strengthening their friendship throughout the narrative. Riazi regularly alludes to events and characters from the prequel. The most enticing elements of this novel are its South Asian and Middle Eastern cultural touchpoints: delicious foods, the sandy souk, monkeys, banyan trees, and the djinn behind it all. VERDICT Fantasy featuring people of color is sorely needed, and while this adventurous sequel could be read on its own, it's recommended to buy both novels for kids who love action-packed science fiction.—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV011020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Asian American
JUV062000 - Juvenile Fiction | Steampunk
United States
Adventure and adventurers
Magic
Fantasy
Games
JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / Gener
Space and time
Muslims
JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic
Virtual reality
JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / Middle E
Bangladeshi Americans
Upper East Side (New York, N.Y.)
