A Review of Taran Matharu’s The Chosen (Feiwel and Friends, 2019)

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A Review of Taran Matharu’s The Chosen (Feiwel and Friends, 2019)
By Stephen Hong Sohn

 

I sometimes say you can’t really beat a mystery plot, and Taran Matharu’s The Chosen begins with a great conceit. The main character Cade basically wakes up in a strange and alien world. What is he doing there? How did he get transported from a boarding school to a place where a strange creature is hunting him? How shall he survive? These questions animate the beginning and push the reader quite properly forward.

Let’s let the official page give us some more information: “The Chosen introduces the first book in the Contender trilogy, an epic young adult fantasy from Taran Matharu, author of the New York Times–bestselling Summoner series. Throughout history, people have vanished with no explanation. A group of teenagers are about to discover why. Cade is settling into a new boarding school, contemplating his future, when he finds himself transported to another realm. He soon discovers their new world is populated with lost remnants from the past: prehistoric creatures, ancient relics, and stranger still—people. Overwhelmed by his new surroundings, Cade has little time to adjust, for soon he and his fellow classmates are forced to become contenders in a brutal game, controlled by mysterious overlords. But who are these beings and why did they choose these teens? Cade must prepare for battle . . . because hiding is not an option. Fans of fantasy and LitRPG will welcome this new character and world from the author of the Summoner series.”

I’m always a bit disappointed by these overviews; they often have to reduce the complexity of the plot down to its barest elements. In this case, the description focuses too much on Cade as the protagonist. This novel was striking to me for its ambitious character-system. Eventually, Cade realizes that he’s been transported to this otherworldly place with a bunch of his classmates, who include Finch (the novel’s main antagonist and a definite bully), Gobbler, Yoshi, Spex, Eric, and Scott. Later on, they’ll combine forces with a field hockey team who have also mysteriously appeared in this place: Amber, Bea, Trix, and Grace. The field hockey team presents more questions for the boarding school teens because they seem confused about certain time-specific elements and later reveal that they think it’s 1985! Then there’s also the strangely, nonverbal Quintus, who seems to be someone from an even earlier time than everyone else.

When dinosaurs start appearing, you know there’s bound to be more trouble and the group must figure out how to regroup so that they can survive the game that they are being forced to play. Suffice it to say that I was confused by the ending and am hoping that it’s a bit of a misleading reveal, but what cannot be denied is Matharu’s ambition. After the very lively Summoner series, he did not rest on his laurels and went in a very new direction! I’ll be sure to pick up the second in the series, which is slated for a June 2020 release!

For more, and to buy the book, go here.

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Gnei Soraya Zarook

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Gnei Soraya Zarook, PhD Student in English, at gzaro001@ucr.edu