The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Formats: Print, audio

Publisher: Salaam Reads

Genre: Dark Fantasy, Demon

Audience: Children

Diversity: South Asian characters, Bangladeshi characters, Middle Eastern characters,  character with a Cognitive/Learning Disability/ADHD

Takes Place in: New York City, USA

Content Warnings: Child Endangerment, Forced Captivity, Gaslighting, Violence (Highlight to view)

Blurb:

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair. When twelve-year-old Farah and her two best friends get sucked into a mechanical board game called The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand—a puzzle game akin to a large Rubik’s cube—they know it’s up to them to defeat the game’s diabolical architect in order to save themselves and those who are trapped inside, including her baby brother Ahmed. But first they have to figure out how. Under the tutelage of a lizard guide named Henrietta Peel and an aeronaut Vijay, Farah and her friends battle camel spiders, red scorpions, grease monkeys, and sand cats as they prepare to face off with the maniacal Lord Amari, the man behind the machine. Can they defeat Amari at his own game…or will they, like the children who came before them, become cogs in the machine?

Belated Eid Mubarak! I hope all my Muslim readers had a happy Eid Al-Fitr, and that Ramadan brought you peace and prosperity. In the spirit of the holiday I decided to review this gorgeous children's chapter book from Salaam Reads. Like the blurb said, The Gauntlet is basically a Middle Eastern steampunk Jumanji, and it's SO cool. The story is overflowing with creative ideas: clockwork monkeys, liquid moonlight, giant games of Mancala played in the graveyard, the dream gardens, and the dark carnival Lailat (Arabic for "nights"). It reminded me of the Wizard of Oz combined with the PC adventure puzzle games from my childhood. It's educational, but in a fun way that doesn't break the flow of the story. I found myself frequently running to Google so I could learn more about Islam, or Bangladeshi and Middle Eastern cultures, or to look up what chenna murki was (and now I want to eat it). And there were even fun little references to Labyrinth and the Bollywood film, Paheli snuck in there. The book is bursting with creativity and originality, and has so much potential, but it could have been a lot better. Maybe this is a nitpicky complaint, but everything in the book felt too rushed, and it seriously marred an otherwise flawless novel. To be fair, this is Riazi's first book, so it's understandable that it still has some rough spots, and I have no doubt we'll see even more amazing work from her as she hones her craft. But for now, Riazi's work still needs more polishing and refinement before it can really shine.

When I say everything felt rushed I don't mean in a thrilling, "we have to retrieve the McGuffin before time runs out" sort of way. Instead, it's more "Riazi had a rapidly approaching deadline and had to cut out half of the story to meet it". Which sucks, because I really wanted to spend more time appreciating all the little details put into the world of Paheli (which is Hindi for "riddle"). There were all these amazing ideas in the story that never got to be fully explored or realized, and it's really unfortunate. For example, the book’s description mentions "Sand Cats”, but they never make an appearance in the story itself. What gives? Was it cut out at the last minute? And everything in the story went by so fast it made some parts difficult to follow, and never gave the suspense a chance to build. Farah and her friends solved each challenge before I even got a chance to think "Oh no, will they make it?" Even the editing seems rushed. At one point "tail" is written as "tale", words will frequently get repeated as if the author changed a sentence without deleting the old one, and there are some grammar errors. It's not Cacy and Kiara bad, but there are enough mistakes that it makes me wonder how closely the editor reviewed The Gauntlet before publication. So it's reasonable to assume many of the book's problems may have been due to a looming deadline rather than Riazi's writing, but that will only be revealed by reading her future work (and oh man, I hope this book gets a sequel). That, or the walrus who edited Cacy and Kiara somehow got involved.

I just assume all bad editing decisions are made by walruses.

Another issue with having a story that feels rushed is that there's not enough time to get to know the characters, and the characters all seemed really interesting too! Well, except for Farah's little brother, Ahmed. His character just seemed unnecessary and annoying. So, SO annoying. Like, D.W. from Arthur, but less entertaining. Farah and her friends could have just as easily gotten sucked into the game on their own, and there's already enough suspense trying to survive and complete the challenges in Paheli that forcing Farah to try and find her little brother on top of that just seems excessive.  It's also hard to feel any sympathy for a character, when nearly every memory Farah has of her little brother involves him being obnoxious and bratty. So kudos to her. If I had to deal with Ahmed, I would've fed the little brat to a mechanical camel spider or whatever, or left his butt in the middle of the desert. But hey, that's why I'm not a Y/A protagonist. Lucky for Ahmed, Farah has much more patience than I do.

I'm sure he'll be fine.

Now, in all likelihood, my strong dislike of Ahmed is due to my own bias. I was the oldest of four, and I HATED taking care of my younger siblings with the fiery passion of a thousand blue giant stars (Y'know, because blue stars are hotter than our yellow sun? Look, if I had to learn all these useless facts then so do you!) To this day, I'd still rather get a root canal with a rusty drill from Dr. Szell (okay... no one in this book's age group has seen that film, have they? I'm just vomiting random trivia at this point) than watch someone's kid. So the idea of taking care of a bratty younger brother without being forced and not hating every minute of it is completely foreign to me. I mean, my version of "watching" my siblings was to basically go "Meh, there are enough of you that mom probably won't miss one or two kids. I'm going to go take a nap." (They all managed to survive to adulthood by the way.) So it's more than possible my disbelief stems from not being able to relate to someone who's actually a good older sister. But I still think Farah just has an unnatural amount of patience. Even Sara, from Labyrinth, wanted the Goblin King to take her baby brother, and he wasn't nearly as annoying as Ahmed. 

Other than being weirdly tolerant of Ahmed, Farah is a pretty awesome character. She's brave, resourceful, and incredibly clever, totally the kind of girl you'd want with you on a dangerous adventure. She acts as a balance between her friends, the impulsive Essie and the overly cautious Alex, the Ego to their Id and Superego. Finding good representations of Muslim characters in horror and fantasy is hard, which is sad considering Islam is one of the most widely practiced religions, and there are 3.3 million Muslims in the US alone. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to find a Muslim, Middle Eastern, or North African character in an English language horror novel? In fact, it's nearly impossible to find Muslim main characters in fiction at all, unless the book is about war, forced marriage, or dealing with Islamaphobia. Not that these aren't all serious issues worthy of being written about, but it seems unfair that that's ALL there is. Why can't Muslim kids enjoy fun, escapist fiction where they get to be the hero? Thank goodness Farrah is joining Ms. Marvel as another butt-kicking Muslim heroine in a genre that desperately needs them!

Yes, the book has problems, but frankly, I don't care. I freaking loved it. I wanted to get lost in the world of The Gauntlet, and the book left me craving more. I'm really looking forward to seeing more from the talented Ms. Riazi, and I sincerely hope she has a sequel in the works.