Title: Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures
Author: Nomita Khanna
Publisher: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Genre: Fantasy. Pre-teen fiction
First Publication: January 2019
Language: English
Setting place(s): The story takes place in Chapora, a Goan village that sits on the coastline of the Arabian Sea. Later, the troubles that befall Lucky, take him from the fishing village in Goa to the witch Kika’s house in the jungle; to 100 B.C. Egypt, and from the icy peaks of the North Pole to the barren desert of Kutch.
Protagonist: Lucky, a tenontosaurus, a vulnerable yet resilient dinosaur.
Antagonist: Golden-Winged Vultures.
Main characters: Lucky Costasaurus the dinosaur, The human children; the serial cartwheel spinner Peter, and his fearless karate-nerd sister Eva are Lucky’s co-passengers in his magical adventure rides, The Golden-Winged Vultures
Narration: Third person
Book Summary: Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures
‘Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures’ tells the story of LUCKY, a vulnerable, yet resilient dinosaur, who is incessantly stalked by a pair of GOLDEN-WINGED VULTURES. These birds are the first couple of the garuda clan and are shapeshifting HUMAN-VULTURES. They keep a constant watch on Lucky, and his brother; until they reach the age when they can be used as gene donors by the Indian wizard KUBER BHISHANI KIDD to save the scavengers’ race. The story takes place in Chapora, a Goan village that sits on the coastline of the Arabian Sea.
The dinosaur meets PETER, and EVA, Farmer Braganza’s two children and in time, the three of them become friends, and together they tackle the troubles, that befall them, because of the vultures. In no small measure do they owe their success in dealing with these problems, to Peter and Eva’s Godmother, the witch KIKA BHISHANI KIDD’s (Kuber’s sister) magical powers.
When Lucky goes to the Fisherman’s Cove to get eucalyptus leaves to make an oil to ward off the vultures, he falls into ancient (a historical era that co-exists as a parallel world) Egypt.
FAIRY BERENICE, a tough as nails black, gay girl, whisks away lost creatures, to make them work in her pottery kiln in Mut al-Kharab; this time it’s Lucky. Peter saves him with the help of his kind and talented Godmother, whose only shortcoming is that she drinks like a fish. Later in the story, the fairy becomes Lucky’s ally and often gets them out of tricky situations.
In the genome editing trials that he performed, Kuber used the queen of North Pole, QUEEN LOOTY ARLOOKTOO’s magic ulu knife successfully to freeze both the donors as well as the recipients during the process of metamorphosis. Since he would need the magic ulu knife again for the final magic, he abducts Eva to get the queen the girl’s hair for a magical transplant.
Besides the magic ulu knife, there is a magic red ruby cutlass; it can prove to be the perfect tool for Kuber’s genome editing. If he gets his hands on that and uses it instead of molecular scissors to snip the redundant scavenging gene and replace it with the correct one, the chances of a misfire disappear altogether. Its accurate magic can ensure that the genome of the target is not altered in any unintended way. However, this cutlass is buried in the pirate CAPTAIN KIDD’s treasure, the two fragments of the map to which are respectively with the Captain’s heirs; Kika and Kuber. Lucky, Peter and Eva kick off this exciting quest at the behest of Kika, who desires the ruby cutlass for its magic and the treasure for its value. This treasure hunt uncovers a fascinating story from history’s footnotes.
The day the vultures learn that the ruby cutlass that their fate hangs on has been found by Kika in the treasure, they steal it, and imprison her, too. Until the day dawns, they need to arm themselves as well as they can to ensure smooth sailing when the time does arrive. Finally, when Lucky turns eight, he and his brother are tricked into arriving at Kuber’s lab in a ravine, and the vile magic begins. Meanwhile, allies of the ‘garuda first couple’ attempt to murder Lucky’s parents. Lucky hears the false news of his parents’ death while in the ravine, and must fight through the darkness of his feelings, and his fear of the human-vultures to find the strength to save his brother and himself.
Major Characters: Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures
Anita Pinto: A button-down, god-fearing human baker residing in number 9
Berenice: A fairy and a potter in 100 B.C. Egypt
Betsy: A human craft teacher residing in number 10/11, Goa
Black garuda: Prime Minister of the garuda clan residing in the Great Rann of Kutch
Bootsmella: A human vulture
Brown garuda: Wife of the Prime Minister of the garuda clan residing in the Great Rann of Kutch
Captain Kidd: A human explorer and allegedly a pirate
Crankshaft: The cat who found the egg
Eva Braganza: A human residing in number 5
Kika Bhishani Kidd: A witch in Goa
Knobby: A dinosaur in Texas; Lucky’s brother
Kuber Bhishani Kidd: A wizard in Goa
Lucky Costasaurus: A dinosaur
Mugfoot Gida: A human-vulture
Peter Braganza: A human boy residing in number 5, Goa
Thomas Costa: A young man working as a guard, residing in number 10/11
Book Review: Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures
If you haven’t introduced your child or yourself to the Lucky Costasaurus yet, you should right now!
I may have a weak spot when it comes to Children’s Books because I had so many growing up when I was first learning to read.
It is the really fun and cute adventure story of the dinosaur, who is trying to earn his place in the world, and the human child Thomas names him Lucky. Thomas is brave and somewhat impulsive, and together with Dinosaur, they make good team. The book is wonderfully illustrated and is the perfect length for reading to a toddler or pre-schooler or even an older child.
What’s so great about this books is that it combines adventure with learning about so many different things … history, other cultures, geography, animals, and so on.
I also like how the author breaks down the sentences into smaller parts at times to help with comprehension.
Buy Now: Lucky Costasaurus and the Golden-Winged Vultures
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Read the Author Interview of Nomita Khanna
