LitPick Review
A boy called Arash lives in the city of Ray in Ancient Persia. His wish is to shoot an arrow across the Oxus River to mark the border of Persia. Doing so will free Persia from the rule of Tooran.
His father, Abteen, decides to show Arash the family treasure, which turns out to be an arrow, made almost entirely of gold. Abteen says the arrow was given to his great-grandfather by King Hooshang, the Fire King himself! Legend has it that Simorgh, Queen of Birds, had given Hooshang a magical arrow containing fire powder. Could this be the arrow?
Simorgh comes to Arash in a dream, giving him a riddle that just might make his wish come true. With King Hooshang's arrow, and a certain bow, Arash sets off to achieve his dream. But he doesn't know that a Deev, a servant of the devil, is plotting against him.
Opinion:
Arash the Archer has the characteristics of a great story, but personally I think the plot unfolded too fast. As soon as the book got interesting, the story ended in a matter of pages! Also, I feel like the author could have defined the characters better. For example, I thought Arash's horse was the King's physician! I would rate this book 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ages 9-11 or anyone who likes historical fiction.