Tag: fantasy

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Review: Stardust

Rating: 4 Stars

Stardust by Neil Gaiman follows Tristran Thorn as he sets off on a quest to find a fallen star; and not just a random fallen star, but the one that his beloved Victoria Forester saw falling!

Tristran Thorn, born under strange circumstances, and brought up in the very boring and sleepy English town of Wall, has been in love with Victoria Forester ever since he can remember. Now seventeen, he wants to marry her and make all his dreams come true. Miss Forester, however, is not of the same mind. While out walking with Tristran one night, she sees a falling star, and since Tristran is making foolish promises at the time, she asks him to get her that particular star if he really wants to marry her.

And so it happens that Tristran sets out to locate this star and ventures to the other side of the wall that borders his town. Everyone knows that what lies on the other side is enchanted and magical, hence the need for the wall and the guards protecting the opening in the wall.

As an ardent Neil Gaiman fan, it is superfluous to say that I loved this book. I’m not a fan of fantasy, yet when Gaiman paints his worlds, I see them with my mind’s eye and start believing in these magical lands. Stardust is about another such place, where every character you meet, no matter how minor, is vivid and alive. Yet, Gaiman is not one for much detail. You will not see pages and pages of characteristics and appearances, which is why he appeals to me so much. I just need to know the basics, the rest I can imagine for myself, and I know that my imagination will be different from everyone else’s, and that will make my experience of the book unique to me!

There are many memorable characters in this book, my favourite being the seven sons of the Eighty-first Lord of Stormhold, and the Lilim. With unicorns, talking trees, talking animals, ships that travel on clouds, and the Fellowship of The Castle, this book is typical Neil Gaiman. I loved it, and no I don’t want to watch the movie. Sorry.

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Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

Rating: 4 Stars

In The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman shows us the world as seen by a 7-year-old boy. The world that children live in is not the same as our adult world. Their realities are different from our realities, and it is a fact that as they grow older, they forget the perspective their childhood gave to their world.

An older man comes back to his hometown to attend a funeral and decides to take a walk down memory lane. Something seems to pull him towards the home where he lived for seven years, from age 5 till age 12. He knows that the house had been demolished a long time back, and that he has no fond memories with that place.

As he passes the house, he realizes that his destination is actually the farmhouse at the end of the lane, where he had become friends with a girl when he was 7 years old. Lettie Hempstock was 11, and the two had become best friends immediately. When he reaches the house he starts remembering things that he has forgotten a long time ago. He is met by Lettie’s mother (or grandmother, he’s not sure) who tells him that she remember him. He asks if he can sit by their pond and reminisce about the past.

As soon as he sits down by the pond, he remembers that Lettie used to call the pond an ocean, and this recollection opens the floodgates of memory long forgotten. Here begins the story of how a 7-year-old boy was saved by an 11-year-old girl, in more ways than one.

Gaiman’s stories are always fairy tales, with elements of magic and surreal settings, but at the same time everything can also be a metaphor for something real. This book is no different. Told from a child’s perspective, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is mostly about magic and other-worldly creatures. But it is also about how children are always aware of what is going on around them, even if adults choose to think otherwise.

A child’s mind can imagine great things, and at the same time it is capable of accepting truths that adults might dismiss as being fanciful or imaginary. This book leaves the differentiation of real from imaginary on the reader, and takes you on a ride into the mind of a child as remembered by an old man. In the end, memory is fleeting and what we once thought was unforgettable becomes a figment of our imagination as we age.

Once again, I find myself lost in Neil Gaiman’s brilliant imagery, and cannot help but think of him as one of the best writers of our time.

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Review: American Gods

Rating: 4.5 Stars

This review has been a long time coming, considering I finished this book more than a week back, and have already written a review for a book that I read after this. The thing is, that I haven’t been able to gather my thoughts into something coherent. There are a lot of things that make me like American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and I want to be able to put them all into words.

Gaiman has a knack of creating memorable characters. From Richard Mayhew, Door and Marquis De Carabas from Neverwhere, to Shadow, Wednesday and Mr. Nancy from American Gods, Gaiman’s characters have a magnetic pull to them that makes you want to go on an adventure with them. They are endearing, exasperating, irritating and funny all at the same time. And they are working on two levels.

American Gods is a very interesting book even if you read it on a superficial level, without assigning any hidden meanings to it. It is the story of Shadow, who is released from prison after three years, only to find that his wife has died one day before his release. He is recruited by a shady man called Wednesday, who has some equally dodgy friends. What ensues is a roller coaster ride which is reminiscent of Percy Jackson, but for adults. In the middle of all this, is the abundance of mythology from all over the world. Reading it made me wish I knew more mythologies than just the basic knowledge about some gods.

As the events move towards an epic war between the gods, we are introduced to the two sides, the Modern and the Ancient, both fighting for survival and relevancy. And the battleground is the United States of America. It is this country that all powers want to dominate, and are willing to do everything to achieve this end.

If you read this book with an open mind, you soon realize that everything is not as it seems. When you first realize who Wednesday really is, you are compelled to go back and look at the story from the beginning, with new understanding and clarity. As the story progresses, it is evident that this book is also a commentary on present day United States, and how materialism and technology are rapidly taking over the society. Materialism had become the new religion, and as a result, faith in things like gods and divine beings has taken a back seat.

In American Gods, you see these forgotten deities and gods trying to fight to stay alive in the hearts of people. That they do it while being crazy and funny, is what the beauty of this book is. I have to admit, I am a sucker for madcap characters and this book has them by the dozen!

For me, American Gods is a winner, but it is not for everyone. It has mythological creatures and different gods, and for anyone not comfortable with reading about these, this book is not the way to go. If you’re offended by the thought of these mythological beings, then please stay away from this book!

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Review: The Hazel Wood

Rating: 4 Stars

Wow! What can I say about this book? Let me tell you right now that this book is not everyone’s cup of tea. Once in a while, a book comes along that you really like even when you can see the weaknesses in the story. This is one such book. I was transported into a world so dark and fantastic, a world of creepy fairy tales, that I didn’t really care about anything else but getting out of this world alive!

Alice is the grand-daughter of a once-famous author of sinister fairy tales, who she has never met. This is because for the seventeen years that she has been alive, she and her mother, Ella, have been running away from the bad luck that seems to be following them everywhere. When they get the news that her grandmother is dead, Alice and her mother draw a breath of relief and decide to restart their lives, believing the bad days behind them.

Then Ella is kidnapped and Alice decides to find her grandmother’s estate in order to free Ella. Her frustration mounts as she realizes that she has no knowledge of the fairy tales written by her grandmother about the fantastical Hinterland. With the help of a classmate, Ellery, who happens to be a fan of the Hinterland stories, Alice sets off to find her mother, and eventually, the truth about their lives.

As Alice and Ellery start their quest, you realize that nothing is as it seems, and the fairy tales are dark and full of horrors. The characters and the world they inhabit is chilling and deeply disturbing. There are no good guys in these stories, and Alice herself is a part of this world. It is a race against time, because time in Hinterland is not the same as that in our world. Years can pass in the blink of an eye, and days can seem to last forever. It is in this world that Alice has to fight her destiny and change her story before she is sucked back into it forever.

I always love a story that takes you into a dark world where you have to fight the demons inside you more than the ones on the outside. The Hazel Wood took me into this world, and all I can think about after finishing it is that I really want to read all these fairy tales. Someone, please find me a copy of Tales From The Hinterland!

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Review: Neverwhere

Rating: 4.5 Stars

There are some books that I would never even have thought of buying if it hadn’t been for Instagram. This applies to Fantasy more than any other genre. I don’t know why that is, because I have read some fantastic books belonging to the genre during the last year or so. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is one of them.

Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew, who moves to London from a small Scottish town. At first overwhelmed in such a big city, he soon settles into a routine and his awe with London recedes. Then he meets Jessica, who is way out of his league and turns him into a scatter brain, and Richard finds himself engaged to a woman much more ambitious and determined than him.

One evening, when everything seems to be going wrong for Richard, he stumbles upon a bleeding girl on the street, and stops to help her. If things were bad before, they become unbearably worse after his decision to defy Jessica and help a fellow human in need. For the injured girl is the Lady Door from Neverwhere.

Neverwhere is the shadowy reflection of London which exists underneath the London known to man. It is a world with monsters and assassins, angels and demons, and everything that has ever slipped through the cracks of the real world into this underground world.

Richard is drawn unwillingly into this world when it seems that he has stopped existing in London Above. Now he has to stick to Door and her shady companions if he ever wants to go back to his former life. But the Lady Door is on a suicide mission to avenge the death of her family at the hands of the most gruesome and terrifying murderers that history has ever seen, and it seems likely that Richard will just be one of the casualties of this crazy quest.

As grave and serious as the story sounds, it is anything but. It is irreverant and witty, and I fell in love with most of the characters. While Richard is funny as the clueless man being taken on an adventure against his will, and Door is admirable in her quest to find out the truth, it is the Marquis de Carabas who steals the show! And yes, the Marquis is named after the fictional Marquis from the very famous fairy tale, Puss in Boots.

Neverwhere is a roller coaster ride of adventure, as the motley crew consisting of Richard, Door, de Carabas and Hunter, the bodyguard, dashes across London Above and Neverwhere to find the answers needed to solve their problems. The characters they meet on the way are no less remarkable. Whether it is Anaesthesia, the rat girl, the Earl from Earl’s Court or the Angel Islington, every character is tongue-in-cheek and batshit crazy!

It would be remiss of me if I don’t mention the two terrifying murderers who are after Door from the beginning of the book. They are the main villians, and as villainous as a villian can ever hope to be. Maybe even more. They are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. They are filthy and disgusting, with terrible table manners and no sense of humour. And they are hilarious! Even when they are dismembering and torturing living things, their banter doesn’t stop.

At the end of the edition I was reading, is a bonus story about my favourite, Marquis de Carabas. And it was a bonus, because I have not had my fill of this wonderful, mad world called Neverwhere, and would love to visit it again some time. A fun read to take your mind off real world problems.

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Sunday Musings: Celebrating International Women’s Day

It was International Women’s Day on Thursday, and all I saw on social media were posts about empowering women and girl power etc. I wanted to post something profound too, and racked my brain for a good idea. Alas, all I could hear in my brain was cheap Bollywood songs (which I had been listening to all day Wednesday) and how I needed to fortify myself before my son’s friends showed up for their play date in the evening! My brain becomes a useless organ when I need it to function the most. So I just gave up the idea of being deep and profound.

Then I thought maybe I could post something funny and witty (my brain refused to help me there either) but I had to drop that idea too because making fun will only lead to people being offended and telling me that I’m an evil woman who doesn’t care for the suffering of her sisters. It is after all “THE” thing to do – get offended by others’ opinions, while citing “Freedom of Speech” for your own. Le sigh.

So here I was with nothing to say about the most important day in a woman’s life. It’s women like me who bring down other women, not sharing their enthusiasm about such a landmark day! Just the thought of this had me scrambling to write an apology to my fellow sisters for being insensitive and unfeeling. Again, this useless brian of mine! Every word I wrote seemed like it would be offensive to someone, and I couldn’t take the pressure. Also, I thought, no one likes an apologist any way, so I’d better come up with some other idea.

With no ideas forthcoming, I thought I’d better get on with the cooking and cleaning. But it was my day, and I’ll be damned if I cooked or cleaned on my day! No way! My kids should be bringing me flowers, and my husband should be taking me out to dinner! I knew realistically it won’t be possible; said children have school from which they come back in the evening, and said husband was out of town for his office work. Still, cooking and cleaning were out of question for today.

As I was thinking about all this, my cleaning woman came to do her work. Oh, how I wish I had agreed to a man coming to clean the house, when given the option. Then I could have made him work without feeling guilty. I never plan for the future! So, I thought I’d give the maid a day off for Women’s Day, but she looked at me like I was crazy and said that she would rather work since she was being paid hourly. This Women’s Day was turning out to be a nightmare for me!

All was not lost though. I could still refuse to cook. That would show my kids. They need to remember these days, after all! So, I put away everything that I had taken out, and sat down with my book and went on to enjoy the day like I deserved after working so hard.

My ungrateful kids, though! They came home (with friends, I might add), and asked what we were having for dinner. I told them I hadn’t cooked anything because it was a special day for me. “But you didn’t cook anything yesterday either, or the day before. So what’s so special about that?” Pesky little so-and-so’s. “Mom, it’s Thursday. You never cook on Thursdays. We were just asking about what to order in!” Have I mentioned how I hate my kids?

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Review: Percy Jackson And The Olympians

Rating: 4 Stars

I have always found mythological stories very fascinating. I was very young, around 16 I think, when someone gave me a Urdu translation of Plutarch’s book on Greek and Roman gods. It was most definitely not age appropriate, very extensive, and in old Urdu. None of that deterred me from reading it cover to cover. From there started my love for Greek and Roman mythology, which later went on to include Egyptian, Norse and Hindu mythology as well.

Ever since my son started reading Percy Jackson, some five years back, I had wanted to read it. I like discussing books with my kids. It is the one thing that we bond over the most. Somehow, I never got around to picking up Percy Jackson and actually reading it, even when my kids insisted that I do it. But last year, when I finally managed to make a bookstagram account, Crazy Bookish Love, I started reading all the books that I had neglected previously. So, last week I borrowed the first Percy Jackson book from my son and decided to find out what the fuss was all about.

Percy Jackson And The Olympians is a series of five books that follow the adventures of a dyslexic boy with ADHD, who unbeknownst to him, is a Greek demigod. Demigods are children of gods from mortal partners. If anyone has read anything about mythology, almost all mythological gods are quite low on morality and fidelity. Greek gods are no different. Hence, the abundance of Half-Bloods, or children of Gods with one mortal parent.

Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old with a penchant for getting into trouble. He has never spent more than a year in a single school as he keeps blowing things up or getting almost killed all the time. After he accidentally kills his Math teacher while on a trip to the museum, he realizes that he is not an average kid with dyslexia; he is a demigod. And his awkward friend Grover, who Percy is always trying to help, is actually a Satyr sent to keep him safe. Thus begins his new life that take him to Camp Half-Blood and introduces him to others like him.

At camp, Percy meets Annabeth, Luke and Chiron, who go on to have the most profound impact on his life. He has no idea who his godly parent is until he is shown a sign, and all hell breaks loose. What follows is a roller coaster ride that not only takes him across the country, but also into the Underworld. On the way, he manages to get into some mischief, ruffle some godly feathers, find family, and make some everlasting friends; all while fighting monsters and keeping other worldly threats at bay.

Rick Riordan is one of the most prolific writers of mythological fiction. He is adored all over the world. For me, the best thing about these books is the humour and wit that Riordan manages to infuse in his characters. Even in the direst of circumstances, the characters manage to come up with hilarious quips and one-liners which makes everything easier to read, keeps up the interest.

There are very few things that I didn’t like in the books. The first was how everyone was always hiding things from Percy and exchanging “looks”. It was funny in the first couple of books, but by the last book I was getting really irritated by the whole “we-know-something-you-don’t” vibe. The second was Annabeth. I just couldn’t like her. She was too full of herself and a proper Miss Know-It-All. She kept secrets from Percy, and made him appear foolish. Not something a real friend would do.

Still, I managed to finish the whole series in one week, which just shows how interesting it was. Definitely worth reading.

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Review: Caraval

Rating: 3.5 Stars

When I bought Caraval, I didn’t have much idea about what it was. I had seen it on Instagram and really liked the cover, so I bought it without really looking at it. When I read the blurb, I was dismayed to see that it seemed to be quite similar to The Night Circus which is one of my favourite books of all time. So, it was with mixed feelings that I picked this one up to read.

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Of course, it can never compete with the magic of The Night Circus, but this is as close to it as a YA novel can hope to be.

It is somewhat amateurish but once you let your imagination soar, you can picture everything so clearly in your mind. I feel that is what fantasy novels are all about; if you can see it in your mind’s eye then they have achieved their objective.

The story is not too complicated. It is about two sisters trying to escape their abusive father. Both of them have different ideas about what escape means, but both want the other sister to have a better life even if it means endangering their own. The one thing that stops this book from being amazing is the weak character development. I just felt that halfway through the book, the writer decided to write a sequel and make Donatella its heroine. So, suddenly you find that everything that was being said about her wasn’t true and she is actually a very intelligent and secretive young lady. Scarlett Dragna comes off as a bit dull and one dimensional. The world around her is more interesting than she herself. Same goes for Julian, who somehow manages not to be the mysterious man he was supposed to be. Dante and Lagend, by comparison seem more interesting than Julian, which I’m sure the author was not aiming for.

Despite this, it was fun to go into this world where everyone is lying and nothing is as it seems. Stephanie Garber has created a compelling imaginary world; I wish her characters had also been as compelling.

I liked the book overall which kept me interested enough to want to continue reading. This one is for all YA Fantasy fans.

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Review: The Strange Case of The Alchemist’s Daughter

Rating: 3.5 Stars

This book is another good book from 2017. I find that it is not given the credit it deserves. Reading it was so much fun, something that we forget that we need in our lives. Ever wonder why all the famous monsters in fiction are male? Whatever happened to their female counterparts? Or what if they had female versions, only no one knew about them? This book takes some of the strangest creatures from literary fiction, and makes them into someone you would want to go on an adventure with. Even while facing the horrible villains, you want to stay with this gang of girls and see how they get out of each scrape.

When Dr. Jekyll’s daughter, Mary, is left penniless after her mother’s death, she decides to find her father’s former colleague, Edward Hyde, who is wanted for murder even after so many years. The reason for her interest is of course the reward that still exists on his capture. Mary asks for help from Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson who only agree to humour her.

When she insists on accompanying Dr. Watson to an orphanage, she has no idea that she is about to meet Mr. Hyde’s daughter, Diana, who declares herself Mary’s sister! Diana is an uncouth, untidy, feral child who has no use for rules and etiquette. She tries Mary’s patience, antagonizes Mary’s housekeeper and is a thorn in everyone’s side. But she is more than willing to go along with Mary to search for the elusive Mr. Hyde.

As they set off on an adventure, they gather with them a motley crew consisting of Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein, all considered monsters and misfits in a society obsessed with perfection. In the course of their crazy enterprise, they discover a secret society of mad scientists and gradually realize that some of these scientists are up to no good.

As the author takes them through London, get ready for an insane and funny ride with female monsters who have been ignored by authors over the centuries. A thoroughly engaging and entertaining read.

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These Are Some of My Favourite Things…

The first book I really fell in love with and wanted to read again and again, was A Little Princess. I don’t remember when or how old I was, but I absolutely loved that book. Then came The Chronicles of Narnia and Anne of Green Gables. It’s not as if I grew up hating Enid Blyton or not reading her; I was reading too many of her books as it was, I just didn’t fall in love with them like I did these books.
It sounds strange now, but there were quite a few books in our school curriculum that I couldn’t get enough of, A Tale of Two Cities and Pride And Prejudice being two that I still re-read from time to time. That was the time that I found Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Rebecca. I do love a strong female protagonist in a book! Around the same time, I borrowed a library book called The Seven Dials Mystery written by one Agatha Christie, and thus began my obsession with mystery and crime thrillers. I still stop and buy Agatha Christie books when I see them in a bookshop.
As I look back, it is hard to believe that I found time to read so many books since, like any teenager at that time, I was also reading a lot of Sweet Valley High and Sweet Dreams. Romance novels have been a weakness of mine ever since I started reading them. I still have piles of Harlequin and Mills & Boon books stashed away in my closet where no one can see them! I also happen to have quite a lot of books by Julie Garwood, Sandra Brown and Julia Quinn. And of course, I have ALL the books written by Judith McNaught which I still read from time to time. So I’m not just a Crime Thriller and contemporary literature kind of girl. I love a good romance too. Though, I would rather read a happy ending than a sad one in romance novels. This is one of the reasons I have never managed to read The Fault in Our Stars or The Notebook. I do confess to loving A Walk to Remember beyond anything else, but that may be because that is the only book whose movie adaptation made me cry more than the book itself.
When you have read so many books in your life, it becomes impossible to say which books are your favourites. As I write, I can think of so many books that I want to read again and again. Maybe I will write about those books some time later. For now, these are some of my favourite books!
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