This week we have Roshani's 10 facts about The Star-Touched Queen!
"The Star-Touched Queen transports us to a world unlike our own, rich in mythology and the desire to turn things right for the ones you love, The Star-Touched Queen will have you in its clutches from the first page to the last." - Amber, The Book Bratz
10 Facts:
1. The name “Maya” means “illusion.” It’s also my Filipina mom’s Indian nickname!
2. Hindu mythology has many Otherworlds. The one that most inspired the Night Bazaar scene is a place called Patala, a sort of demon realm filled with beauty.
3. Many Hindu folklore tales have reincarnation aspects. For example, a princess in the epic poem, the Mahabharata, featured a princess (Amba) who is reborn as a man (Shikhandi) just to kill the man who had scorned her.
4. I love Otherworldly fruit and drink. In Hindu mythology, the drink of the gods is known as “soma.”
5. It’s not uncommon in ancient India for a king to have more than one wife. There’s also a famous example of the reverse situation with Draupadi, a princess in the Mahabharata who was married to all five Pandava brothers.
6. When performing funerary rites, the body’s feet are supposed to face south, which is where Hell (Naraka) resides.
7. In Hinduism, hell is just a temporary state of existence. Souls spend time in both Naraka (for bad deeds) and Svargaloka (for good deeds) before reincarnation.
8. Swayamvaras are marriage ceremonies where the woman chooses her husband from a line of suitors.
9. Kamala, the flesh-eating demon horse, was inspired by the kelpies of Scotch-Irish folklore.
10. Maya’s favorite dessert is rasmalai.
About Roshani:
Roshani Chokshi comes from a small town in Georgia where she collected a Southern accent, but does not use it unless under duress. She grew up in a blue house with a perpetually napping bear-dog. At Emory University, she dabbled with journalism, attended some classes in pajamas, forgot to buy winter boots and majored in 14th century British literature. She spent a year after graduation working and traveling and writing. After that, she started law school at the University of Georgia where she's learning a new kind of storytelling. The Star-Touched Queen is her first novel.
Stay connected with Roshani on: Instagram / Twitter / Goodreads
About The Star-Touched Queen:
Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Genre: Mythology, Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: April 26th 2016
Hardcover, 352 Pages
Summary:
Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen? Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire... But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself. A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget
Buy The Star-Touched Queen: Amazon / B&N / Book Depository / Indie Bound
What to expect this month:
- May 1st: Introduction of Roshani + Giveaway
- May 8th: Makeup Look
- May 15th: Q&A
- May 22nd: 10 Facts about The Start-Touched Queen
- May 29th: Excerpt
Giveaway:
Roshani is giving away a signed copy of The Star-Touched Queen! US Only.
I am reading this book this summer, for sure! I love the kamala flesh-eating horse element. Thanks for this stellar giveaway. :)
ReplyDeleteThank YOU for entering! Best of luck!
DeleteLooks like a good read. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you for entering! :-)
DeleteI really enjoyed this novel (: I'm excited for her next one!
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