Book Review: The Stone Lions

The Stone Lions by Gwen Dandridge

Disclaimer:  I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.

Ara is the daughter of the Sultan of Granada in the early  15th Century.  She has lived all her life in the Alhambra, the Red Palace.  Frustrated by her cloistered existence,  Ara sneaks out of the walls to see the arrival of her distant relative, the Sufi mathemagician Tahirah.  Before she can re-enter the palace, Ara witnesses a strange scene involving the Wazir, Abd al-Rahmid.

She has little time to think about this, as she is caught by her tutor Suleiman, a learned eunuch, and returned to the women’s quarters.  Suleiman worries that Ara could have fallen into the hands of evil Christians.  Turns out that Christians are the least of the dangers afoot, as the magic that protects the Alhambra from disaster and summons its faithful stone lions is under attack from within.

Suleiman soon falls victim to dark magic,  and it is up to Ara and her graceful cousin Layla to learn the seven symmetries from Tahirah  to restore the Alhambra’s defenses.

This is a children’s edutainment book, supported through the National Science Foundation.    The science part is teaching the concept of band symmetry, one of the mathematical foundations of geometry.  In addition, there’s some history and cultural information that could be helpful to a young reader.  The back has glossaries, maps and a summary of the symmetry lessons taught in the story.

The story itself is pretty good, if perhaps a little heavy-handed at points; the Wazir is a little too obviously evil to have kept it a secret so long.  Ara doesn’t have much of a character arc, her job is to learn the symmetries so she can spot the problems.  Layla has a bit more growth, learning that math can be easier to learn than she thought.  The real character development is for Suleiman, who must learn wisdom from his curse and the changes it brings.

This book is primarily aimed at children about 10-12 (Ara is ten in the back cover text, but twelve in the story) but  should be engaging for readers up to junior high level, especially girls interested in geometry.  Parents may wish to bone up on Spanish history of the period and Muslim culture of the time so they can discuss the book with their kids.