Taranauts facts for kids
Cover of Book 1
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| Author | Roopa Pai |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Priya Kuriyan |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy Children's novel |
| Publisher | Hachette India |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
The Taranauts is an exciting series of fantasy-adventure books for kids, written by Indian author Roopa Pai. It was the first fantasy-adventure series for children in English from India! This eight-book series is published by Hachette India Children's Books. The very first book, The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds, came out in December 2009. The last book, The Magic of the Dazl Corals, was released in July 2013.
Contents
Discover the World of Mithya
All the amazing adventures in the Taranauts books happen in a special universe called Mithya. This universe has eight different worlds: Shyn, Dazl, Lustr, Glo, Syntilla, Shimr, Sparkl, and Glytr.
These worlds stay bright and alive thanks to the cool, colorful light from 32 stars. These stars together form Tara, which is like Mithya's super-sun! All eight worlds float around in a huge, endless ocean called Dariya. In the middle of this ocean is a grumpy volcano named Kay Laas.
The Great Crisis Begins
The story starts when Mithya is facing a huge problem called the Great Crisis. A super-villain named Shaap Azur has captured all 32 stars of Tara. Shaap Azur is the twin brother of Shoon Ya, who is the brave and wise ruler of Mithya, known as the Emperaza.
With the stars gone, Mithya is plunged into darkness! The only way to bring the stars back is to solve 32 secret riddles. These riddles are hidden across the eight worlds, and they must be solved within a certain time limit.
Meet the Taranauts: Mithya's Heroes
To save Mithya, three special heroes are chosen. They are called the Taranauts! The Emperaza Shoon Ya himself, along with his strong and loyal helper Shuk Tee, picked these three kids.
- Zvala: She is the child of Fire. Zvala can glow with warmth and light, but she can also be very powerful. She is the smartest one on the team and loves Mithya's teen pop star, Dana Suntana.
- Zarpa: She is the child of the super-serpent Shay Sha. Zarpa can move incredibly fast, stretch her body like a rope, and twist into all sorts of shapes.
- Tufan: He is the child of the Wind. Tufan can absorb water when he travels over oceans and sometimes "rains" at funny moments. He can also use his powerful breath to create a big storm or a gentle breeze.
Together, Zvala, Zarpa, and Tufan form a fantastic team. Their big mission is to travel to each of Mithya's eight worlds. In each world, they must find, get, and solve the hidden riddles to save their universe!
The Taranauts Book Series
There are eight exciting books in the Taranauts series:
- Book 1 – The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds
- Book 2 – The Riddle of the Lustr Sapphires
- Book 3 – The Secret of the Sparkl Amethysts
- Book 4 – The Race for the Glo Rubies
- Book 5 – The Mystery of the Syntilla Silvers
- Book 6 – The Key to the Shimr Citrines
- Book 7 – The Search for the Glytr Turquoises
- Book 8 – The Magic of the Dazl Corals
What Makes Taranauts Special?
The Taranauts series uses ideas from Indian stories, music, and culture. You don't need to know about these things to enjoy the books, but it adds a fun layer!
The books also use a lot of "portmanteau wordplay." This means they combine words from English and Indian languages to create new words in Taratongue, the language of Mithya. For example:
- A Morphoroop (from English morph and Sanskrit roop meaning form) is a shapeshifter.
- An Achmentor (from Sanskrit Acharya meaning teacher and English mentor) is a master teacher.
- A meenmaach (from Tamil meen and Bengali maach, both meaning fish) is a sea creature.
In each book, the Taranauts face four challenges and solve four riddles. These challenges can be word puzzles, number puzzles, memory games, logic problems, or visual puzzles. They also test the heroes' physical, mental, and emotional strength.
Taranauts mixes many types of stories, like fantasy, adventure, and science fiction. It also has elements of mystery and humor. The characters in the books are shown as making good or bad choices, rather than being simply good or evil.
