Child Soldiers are Role Models, Actually? | Rising Like a Storm by Tanaz Bhathena

Title: Rising Like a storm
Series: Wrath of Ambar #2
Author: Tanaz Bhathena
Published: June 22, 2021
Genre(s): Fantasy
Page Count: 432
Rating:

Summary from Goodreads:

With King Lohar dead and a usurper queen in power, Gul and Cavas face a new tyrannical government that is bent on killing them both. Their roles in King Lohar's death have not gone unnoticed, and the new queen is out for blood. What she doesn't know is that Gul and Cavas have a connection that runs deeper than romance, and together, they just might have the strength and magic to end her for good.

Then a grave mistake ends with Cavas taken prisoner by the government. Gul must train an army of warriors alone. With alliances shifting and the thirst for vengeance growing, the fate of Ambar seems ever more uncertain. It will take every ounce of strength, love, and sacrifice for Gul and Cavas to reach their final goal―and build a more just world than they've ever known.

This book made me feel old.

I’m used to feeling old when reading YA. Usually, though, the reason is that I cannot (nor could I ever) relate to your usual fun teen experiences like going to homecoming, trying to figure out what to major in college, trying to get adults to take you seriously, etc. etc. Rising Like a Storm isn’t a book that made me feel old because of how “juvenile” its conflict and themes were. Rather, this is a book that made me feel old because of how young the protagonists were—and how heavy were the burdens placed upon them.

At the outset, I feel it’s important to  make it very clear that Rising Like a Storm is a very good book. It’s a worthy sequel to Hunted by the Sky (reviewed very briefly here), and it perfectly concludes the story of Gul, a Chosen One with goddess-given magical gifts, and Cavas, a non-magical boy from the slums. In the first book, Gul infiltrated the palace and attempted to avenge her parents’ murder; now in the second, Gul is tasked with leading an army, fulfilling a prophecy, and overthrowing a cruel tyrant (again). The stakes literally couldn’t be higher.

So…yeah. I have no complaints about the book. I really don’t! I’d recommend this duology to literally anyone. Bhathena has created an exciting fantasy story with nuanced, well-rounded characters, an interesting Indian-inspired setting, and a fast, super-absorbing pace. There is absolutely nothing I can point to in this book where I can say “yeah, that’s an issue.” Nada.

Instead, my problem with Rising Like a Storm—the question that kept pinging in the back of my brain, more and more insistent as the war over the fate of the empire waged—is this: “where the fuck were the adults in the situation?”

I get it. This is not a book meant for me. This is a book for teen readers about a teenaged Chosen One saving the world. I fit into Bhathena’s target demographic about as well as Steve Buscemi does. I truly, truly understand.

But folks, I simply couldn’t shut off my brain! At its core, this is a book about two 16-year-olds who are hunted, tortured, and persecuted by the state. They then become figureheads for a ragtag rebellion consisting of outcasts and exiles—and they then act as generals in the war against the same state that crushed any hope of a normal childhood for them. Meanwhile, the adults in the room are encouraging these literal children to “be brave and strong” and to “fulfill your destiny” etc., etc. (ONE OF THESE ADULTS IS THE 500+ YEAR OLD KING OF A RACE OF MAGICAL MYTHOLOGICAL BEINGS!!!)

And in the end? The protagonists sacrifice everything they have, up to and including their lives, magical abilities, and/or mental wellbeing, in defense of the entire kingdom. That “fifteen years later epilogue” showing Gul and Cavas (disabled, traumatized) muddling through life in the aftermath of the war alongside their young daughter? It wasn’t wholesome! It was horrific!

WE DO NOT ASK ACTUAL BABIES TO DIE FOR US. WE DON’T. THIS IS A SOCIETY.

(Funny, isn’t it, how child soldiers are always a bad thing…until you’re inside a YA novel?)

I think what made this issue so stark for me was the way Bhathena doesn’t shy away from the brutalities her characters were experiencing. She doesn’t put a shiny gloss on the cruelties of war or fade to black during moments of violence. And then, in one of the most memorable scenes, we see Cavas and Gul on the eve of the Final Battle (after having spent the entire day fighting in the streets and watching their loved ones get slaughtered), holding each other and weeping, absolutely overwhelmed by the responsibility of being both a literal child and a commanding general. It’s too much!

Like I said, I get it. I’m getting too old for this. It’s not the book’s fault. Tanaz Bhathena did a truly excellent job with every aspect of this novel. I enjoyed reading Rising Like a Storm 100%; I found the world-building to be superb; the plot to be exciting; and the prose to be on-point.

Just, please, spare me. I am a humble, impossibly ancient 26-year-old lady; my day job involves severe child abuse/neglect, including various situations where the adults in the room fail to…be adults. I simply couldn’t root for Gul and Cavas as much as I wanted, because I was too focused on how all the alleged grown-ups in their lives had failed them so utterly.

Maybe next time, the gods could pick a Chosen One who’s at least gone through puberty. Just an idea.