Tariq and the Drowning City by Sarwat Chadda

Book Review

Orchard Books

Absolutely cracking tale.

Squarely aimed at pre-teens, this is enjoyable for all ages, especially those of us who like fantasy but don’t want to read three pages of description of the lead character’s armour.

Tariq is a seer but doesn’t know it yet. He’s haunted by strange dreams, lately one about a drowning city. Nani, his only family, listens to him and knows his gift but helps him keep it silent. In their modern world, seers are thought of as troublemakers to be gotten rid of. A type of person who should be put to death for practising magic.

With him in this tale are two others: Artos, who comes from a wealthy family but elects to join the guard despite his family’s wishes and Livia, an artificer who creates new machines for the benefit of the city and also for her own future wealth.

There is an assorted list of background characters, too, some of whom give a surprising edge to the story as it unfolds.

As the story begins, Tariq’s tribe has to leave its river home due to severe pollution, making their way to Ethrial, like many other tribes before them. The city is the centre of the world and is famed for its trade and inventions. The canals that run through the city lead to the ocean, and it is this ocean that Tariq has seen engulfing the city and destroying it with a huge tidal wave. He recognises the sea wall and the bell tower as they approach the sea gates that are designed to protect the city in the event of a tidal wave or other serious storm.

We get a glimpse of Tariq’s ability early on when he tries to escape the city guard, and this event puts him in front of Artos and Livia. Within a few hours, they have been kidnapped by an underworld criminal who seems to want to help them in return for getting a spiritstone, one of three that once brought harmony to the planet.

Tariq makes a deal with this criminal in order to help his family, who have now, after Nani’s collapse in the city, been removed to an external island for fear of a plague.

The three main characters have to face fears and learn about themselves while getting help from some surprising quarters. There is very little violence in it, but plenty of suspense and some mild terror. There are expected and unexpected twists and turns as the tale reaches its climax with the tidal wave Tariq saw in his dreams about to engulf the city and destroy it.

Given that this is the first of three books, I’m not giving anything away when I say the city survives. The aftermath of the event is at once surprising, but not mainly due to the wonderful writing, the preparation of the characters, and the story itself.

All in all, this a tense, well written book that children who love adventure will enjoy as will those of us who like a good yarn.