Ring of Solomon

King Solomon is a darling of Jewish education. Schoolchildren everywhere put on plays about the bee that allowed him to solve the Queen of Sheba’s riddles. High school students delve deeper, learning about how clever Solomon tricked Ashmedai, king of Sheidim, into helping build the Temple. But few are aware of the criticism of Solomon’s reign. Sure, we all know about the too-many-wives thing, but any other substantial debate is largely relegated to the halls of academia. The rest of the world simply sees what it has been taught to see.

In Ring of Solomon, author Aden Polydoros once again plays with the theme of societal perceptions and how people define monstrosity. Although this is his MG debut, fans of Polydoros will recall how his earlier YA fantasies feature characters discovering that classic definitions of ‘hero’ and ‘monster’ are not always accurate. Ring of Solomon is no different, although at a level appropriate for younger readers. It asks the reader to see more than what they have been preconditioned to see.

When the main character, Zach, accidentally acquires the ring that Solomon used to bind Ashmedai, he sets off a disastrous chain of events. Now, to prevent the apocalypse, Zach must team up with Ashmodei and defeat a roster of Jewish mythical beasts. His best friend Sandra and his tag along little sister Naomi are his only back up. Sheidim are Jewish demons with a reputation for trickery and evil, but Zach soon discovers there’s more to Ashmedai than the stories suggest. In fact, he finds himself weirdly relating to this centuries old creature.

Zach, who is queer and crushing on a classmate that has aligned himself with the class bully, is also misunderstood and an outcast. In an important side plot, Ashmedai helps him find the courage to stand up to an antisemitic bully. More impressive, by pivoting away from any traditional romance arc, the narrative allows Zach to become a fully realized character in his own right without his identity depending on validation from anyone else.

The action is fast paced and the social commentary percolating underneath adds some more personal stakes to complement the end of the world monster fighting. We all have our demons, both large and small, and fighting them isn’t always the answer. Sometimes a little deep exploration, a look beyond the surface, will reveal that the monsters are the ones that would shame us for simply being ourselves. Zach and Ashmedai learn that lesson together.

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BookishlyJewish received a free e arc of this book through Netgalley

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.