Description

• Read Riordan did a spotlight on up-and-coming Camp Half-Blood Campers and this seems to be mostly focused on characters from The Trials of Apollo.
• 
  Fury of the Dragon Goddess by Sarwat Chadda is now officially out in the world!
• Read a Fury of the Deagon Goddess excerpt on Read Riordan.
• Kristen tells us about her experience attending the Fury of the Dragon Goddess virtual tour that Sarwat did with Books of Wonder.
• Did you know Kwame Mbalia is writing a short story for the Star Wars anthology From a Certain Point of View?
• Mark Oshiro will be at the National Book Festival on August 12.
• Make sure you check out Daniel José Older’s new podcast Inkbottle.
• We also talk about some SAG-AFTRA updates that will affect the podcast.

• At long last, it’s time to talk about Fury of the Dragon Goddess, the second book in the Adventures of Sik Aziz series.
• What is this book about?
• How did we feel about this book compared to the last one?
• What was it like reading about Sik and the others being in London instead of NYC?
• There are a lot of themes shared between these two books, but there are also some specific to Dragon Goddess.
• It’s so interesting that we’re reading this book at the same time we’re talking about The Red Pyramid!
• Sik is still not a warrior, and we LOVE that about him.
• We’re so happy he got to travel this time around…even if it all went horribly wrong.
• Daoud is, like, super famous now.
• We loved that this didn’t solve all his problems, and we still got to see him (and his relationship with Sik) grow over the course of the book.
• Is Belet no longer looking for her mother?
• What’s the deal with this tablet?
• Did we like that this book dealt a lot with (female) rage?
• Have you read “The Loneliest Demon” from Cursed Carnivals and Other Calamities?
• Who is Rabisu and why is she so great?
• Why does she want to kill Belet so badly, and why can’t she?
• Everyone likes a pigeon sandwich…right?
• Wait, Rabisu has been WHERE?
• Who’s Dumuzi, and how did he get with Ishtar?
• He might not be the greatest dad, but he seemed like a pretty good person.
• Lugal, on the other hand, seems to be a lot more complicated.
• And if you’re looking for another character to compare him to, maybe try…Ultron.
• The spoiler section starts at 00:49:37.
• Let’s talk about that black market party and how utterly racist those old ladies were.
• What did we think of Daoud’s reaction to it all?
• Did we believe Mo was really back when we first saw him again?
• The repercussions of this mistake are huge, and Lugal just makes it worse.
• And you thought Belet was full of rage before…
• Sik’s changes happen slowly, but some of them are pretty cool.
• Okay, we have to talk about the asylum scene.
• What’s Lugal’s ultimate purpose?
• During that final confrontation, Sik wins in his own way.
• We thought we lost Mo all over again, but Sik wasn’t gonna let that happen.
• How does this story end, and what could possibly be next?

• We’re so excited to talk about Fury of the Dragon Goddess with Sarwat Chadda!!
• How does he get into (and stay in) the mood to write?
• Any go-to snacks?
• Sarwat gives us a great breakdown of what inspired this story.
• How did he balance the horror in this book for his audience?
• Which came first, this book or the short story with Rabisu?
• Sarwat talks a little bit about having Fury of the Dragon Goddess take place in London.
• And yes, he definitely remembers the Kane Chronicles!
• He also gives us a fantastic answer regarding the topic of repatriation.
• What did he want to accomplish with a character like Lugal?
• Can rage ever be used as a force for good?
• What makes Daoud so compelling?
• It’s time to talk about those Percy Jackson references!
• Who would Sarwat choose from Greek mythology to have as a godly parent?
• Which Rick Riordan Presents book would he love to live inside?
• Any book recommendations for us?
• Has Sarwat thought about what comes next after Fury of the Dragon Goddess?
• You’ll never guess how many more projects he has coming up!
• Thank you for talking with us, Sarwat! It was a pleasure.

• We hear from a couple listeners about their experience reading Fury of the Dragon Goddess.