#599 - Wayel Kati : The Quest of the Seven Guardians
by Linthoi Chanu and illustrated by Yaiphahenba Laisham
“Wayel Kati : The Quest of the Seven Guardians” by Linthoi Chanu and illustrated by Yaiphahenba Laisham. Published by Perky Parrot, an imprint of Niyogi Books. A captivating folklore based fantasy story of the quest for a missing scissor of justice by seven chosen guardians.
The divine entities of the upper realm have a huge task looming ahead of them. Seven guardians have to be chosen for an important task in the human realm. The Wayel Kati which is the scissor of justice and maintains balance has been stolen from its place in the central kingdom. Dark creatures from ancient tales and memories have begun invading the human realm. The world is under threat from them. The magical quest for the Wayel Kati will be led by Laiba, a nine year old boy who has the all-seeing eyes of Atingkok, the supreme father of the universe. He is to serve Iwanthanba, the newly crowned Meidingu, a teenage descendant of the serpent king.
Laiba has to find the other guardians with the help of his unusual vision. As per the prophecy from the greater realm, the lost scissor of divine origin could be restored only when the seven chosen guardians would unite. For this to happen, Iwan’s father was destined to die and he was to succeed his father as the Meidingu. This divine task was going to be a gruelling test for not just these two but the remaining guardians too. They were going to face resistance from different kinds of creatures. They will all have to find their true selves along the way and get to know of their powers while trusting each other. What are they going to uncover during the quest? Will they be able to find the scissor? Read the enthralling book filled with magic and fantasy to know about this incredible quest.
The book is a heady concoction of magic, fantasy, legends and myths from Manipur. My almost eleven year old son and I found it very enigmatic and were curious to know more about the guardians and how the quest would go about. The entire setting and characters have been described well creating a beautiful world. Each of the characters have their unique personality traits, vulnerabilities and hidden strengths. For instance, Iwan is struggling with grief for his father and worried about his mother’s disappearance while he tries to step into the role of a king or Meidingu with no training or experience. His confusion with what is going on and his frustration at not being able to do anything about it is so relatable. Despite fantasy not being one of our favourite genres, we enjoyed reading this book. The twists and turns at the end were quite different and unexpected. The illustrations helped us visualise the scenes. One thing which could have been done better was the last part of the book which seemed a bit of a drag for us. I felt that the number of pages could have been reduced a bit because we started feeling distracted towards the end. Nature worship and conservation of the environment are some of the underlying themes which are woven in the narrative. Intimidated by the size of the book and it’s genre, we had not picked it up for reading for more than a year. My son wanted me to read it to him during his exams and it proved to be a refreshing read.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 13 and above.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Niyogi Books, for review. Thank you to Trisha, from Niyogi Books, for sending across the book!