Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents CITY OF THE PLAGUE GOD, an adventure based on ancient Mesopotamian mythology written by Sarwat Chadda, author of the Ash Mistry series.
Characters from the Epic of Gilgamesh populate this high-stakes contemporary adventure in which all of Manhattan is threatened by the ancient god of plagues.
Thirteen-year-old Sik wants a simple life going to school and helping at his parents' deli in the evenings. But all that is blown to smithereens when Nergal comes looking for him, thinking that Sik holds the secret to eternal life.Turns out Sik is immortal but doesn't know it, and that's about to get him and the entire city into deep, deep trouble.
Sik's not in this alone. He's got Belet, the adopted daughter of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, on his side, and a former hero named Gilgamesh, who has taken up gardening in Central Park. Now all they have to do is retrieve the Flower of Immortality to save Manhattan from being wiped out by disease. To succeed, they'll have to conquer sly demons, treacherous gods, and their own darkest nightmares.
REVIEW: Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was really excited to read this book because I am a HUGE fan of all the Rick Riordan Presents imprint books that come out. I love that this imprint and Rick Riordan celebrate all cultures, diversities, folklore and mythologies. When I found out this would be a book about Mesopotamian mythology I couldn't wait to read it because this is one branch of mythology I knew very little about going into this book. City of the Plague God included a lot of information about Mesopotamian mythology. It talked about all the basics of the myths which I really enjoyed. It was really slow in some places which I feel like would lose it's intended middle grade audience. There were some big battle scenes though which were very exciting but a touch chaotic to follow. Overall I had to give this book a two out of 5 for great historical info, but not a lot of action.
Publication Date: January 12, 2021
My local indie book shop: Blue Willow Bookshop
Comments