Description:
A warrior's power lies not in his weapons but in his heart.
Batu is just an ordinary kid in present-day Almaty, worried about bullies, school, and his mom's new baby...until the day he meets Aspara, the Golden Warrior. Aspara steps straight out of Batu's notebook cover--and out of Kazakhstan's past. Aspara has been waiting hundreds of years to be summoned to the human world and to finally get his chance to search for the Golden Cup, a magical talisman sent down from the heavens. When the Golden Cup was lost, Aspara watched as many of his friends and family were killed or disappeared.
Craving adventure and a sense of purpose, Batu sets out with Aspara and his own friends to find the Golden Cup, plunging them into an adventure through a world where myths come alive. But there are others looking for the Cup, and they'll do anything to make sure the kids fail. Will Batu and his friends make it out alive (and make it home in time for dinner)?
Brief description:
Zira Nauryzbai is a writer and cultural anthropologist. She is the author of multiple books and of more than three hundred articles, all written in Russian. She is also a translator from Kazakh into Russian. She is the coauthor, with Lilya Kalaus, of Batu and the Search for the Golden Cup (and its sequels), which was a bestseller in Kazakhstan. Links to her publications can be found at www.otuken.kz. She is currently based in Astana, Kazakhstan. In her free time, Zira volunteers in the search for petroglyphs, rides horses, and practices shooting from a traditional Turkic bow.
Review Quotes:
"Culturally significant details--including sensorial descriptions of the smell of dishes such as bauyrsaq and shelpek, and the intricate patterns of traditional Kazakh rugs--ground the characters' journey in Batu's present, even as the narrative swiftly shifts between contemporary action and scenes from Aspara's past. Fans of fantasy adventures such as the Pandava series and Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond will enjoy the easy-to-root-for characters and familiar tropes that populate this action-packed tale." --Publishers Weekly
"A promising series opener that journeys into a thrilling world." --Kirkus Reviews
"Middle-schoolers are bound to be entertained while being introduced to Kazakhstan history and culture." --Midwest Book Review