Tag Archives: fantasy

Book Review | The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

03 Friday Mar 2017

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The Ocean at the End of the LaneThe Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have always had a little problem with Neil Gaiman. He’s one of these prolific authors who I really want to like more than I actually do. I think everyone has one author that makes them feel that way at least once in their life. What makes it worse, is that everyone I know adores him. I mean, the man is a living legend with a body of work that boasts of The Sandman and American Gods (which is being turned into an epic series by Amazon Prime!) So as you might expect, I feel a little bit left out at times.

So imagine my delight at picking up The Ocean and the End of the Lane and discovering that I had found the perfect ‘Gaiman’ story. I can wholeheartedly say that this is a tale full of magic and wonderment that captures the essence of childhood – which is no mean feat when you are an adult trying to remember back to the golden age of your life. His storytelling is absolutely effortless here, I couldn’t spot a single snag (and that is not always the case).

The plot explores the dark shadows that stalk the corners of a child’s imagination. Our protagonist is a young boy who in the true nature of gothic fiction, is nameless. The story is told through a series of flashbacks, the beginning roof which is triggered by the aftermath of a funeral, as our unnamed protagonist seeks the comfort of his childhood days. He finds himself in front of the house he was brought up in and the memories begin to flood back, especially when he seeks out a puddle in the road that was called ‘the ocean’ by a distant childhood friend.

The story from here, melts into the past, and we are plunged into the distinctively sensory world of the adolescent. The imagery here is especially impressive, as the sights and sounds of the countryside, the cottages, nature itself are ‘painted’ so that I almost felt like I was there.

Yet everyone knows that the world of a child isn’t wholly safe or innocent – and Gaiman artfully turns the world of our protagonist upside down, shocking the reader with just how dangerous and inappropriate it could get.

Of course, this is a fantasy story – but I think everyone can relate to it, especially if they (like me) had an overactive imagination and could switch from reality to the make-believe world at the blink of an eye. A dandelion could become a wand, a fairy could be hiding behind a fallen rose petal, a tree trunk could have a hidden face in it. Thus Gaiman builds a world where our protagonist shows us how a child met a family of witches, and survived (barely) to tell the tale.

The most admirable thing about this story, is the potential for it to be carried on. I have so many questions about this world of witchcraft and magic, especially the way things work. Just how old are the wise women? What kind of creatures live in the fold between our world and theirs? I just hope there is a follow up to this, because it would make such an awesome series.

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Book Review | ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern

28 Saturday Jul 2012

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The Night CircusThe Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”

Erin Morgenstern’s tale of magic and illusion follows in the footsteps of many a famous opening line. For the ‘Cirque des Reves’ is no ordinary circus. Its arrival and departure is a phenomena unto itself, as are its infamous opening hours: from sunset to daybreak. The Night Circus therefore is a strange, beautiful place; a place made up of many stalls that seem to cater to the wildest hopes and dreams of each and every one of its loyal patrons, the ‘Reveurs’.

“You think, as you walk away from Le Cirque des Rêves and into the creeping dawn, that you felt more awake within the confines of the circus.You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.” 

However the ‘Cirque des Reves’ is far more than just a venue of wonderous entertainment. It serves a darker purpose as the enchanted battleground to a magicians duel. This unmarked chessboard binds the fate of two young students of magic who through chance or otherwise became pawns in a cruel wager in which they can never escape. Prospero and his long-time friend and rival Alexander have for centuries made a game out of pitting their students against each other. Their latest victims are no other than Celia, Prospero’s own daughter and Marco, an orphaned street urchin.

The bets are placed and the children are bound through a ritualistic ring, and so begins their gruelling instruction of the dark arts. However, the fight ahead of them is a blind fight, in which the opponent they face is unknown as well as the rules to the game. As you may imagine, the venue for the dual showcases the amazing abilities of both competitors. Complex attractions such as the ‘Pool of Tears’ and the ‘Ice Garden’ soon become not tools for fighting the opponent, but rather love tokens, as Celia and Marco eventually discover each other and slowly fall in love. Much to the chagrin of their Prospero and Alexander, the circus changes from a battleground to a star-crossed ode to love.

Set at the turn of the 20th century, ‘The Night Circus’ is a heady clash between late Victorian Romanticism and the opposing ideals of the Enlightenment. It is mechanics meets magic and mystery. The story itself is a delicate clockwork whose narrative feeds off a variety of opposites. The action for instance jumps from one side of the Atlantic to another, then all over the world according to the mysterious whims of the circus proprietors. The characters are also an oxymoron of sorts; as society forces real magicians to carry out their art under the guise of illusion.

“That’s the beauty of it. Have you seen the contraptions these magicians build to accomplish the most mundane feats? They are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to convince the public they can fly, I am simply a bird in their midst.”

I particularly enjoyed the sense of ‘battle without action’, which Morgenstern evokes with a quiet dexterity. The cast is varied and full of weird and wonderful people, all of whom have a touch of magic about them. My favourite has to be the arrogant Prospero and the exotic female Contortionist who is more than meets the eye. I also very much liked the way magic was conveyed in ‘The Night Circus’, as it is refreshingly different from the Harry Potter style of conjuring that we are all familiar with (apart from the use of a ‘Hogwart’s Express’ kind of transportation for the circus).

I must state that I do not read YA as much as I should. On the whole I think YA fiction reviews tend to be overhyped and that is unfortunately a turn off for me. However I really enjoyed ‘The Night Circus’ and glad I picked it up. I have seen a number of favourable reviews around the internet and wholeheartedly agree with them all. But this does not mean that the story was perfect, and there are parts that could have been ironed out. My small objections are as follows: The story having got off to an amazing start takes us straight into the harrowing relationship of Prospero and his poor daughter Celia. We see both young students grow up and the suffering (both physical and psychological) they both have to endure to become the best. The momentum up to this point is fantastic and I kept hoping Morgenstern could keep it up, but somewhere after circus is formed and Celia and Marco ‘discover’ each other, the story sort of starts to fall apart.

The poetic magic of Morgenstern’s storyline gives away at the seams and the direction of the novel for me was no longer clear. Now I could say that this could pass as a device that reflects the disillusionment of the main characters, but it didn’t FEEL that way. Two-thirds of the way into the novel there is a dilly-dallying that does mar the overall quality of the book, therefore my 4/5 stars. However, it did end on a strong note and the small hiccup did not put me off at all.

“I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held. Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.” 

For those wanting a good summer read I recommend ‘The Night Circus’ as it really is a wonderful tale with a bit of everything thrown in. It’s one of those stories that you can totally let yourself be enveloped in and not worry about a thing. It reminded me a lot of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle‘ and ‘The Prestige‘, so if you like fantasy books with duelling magician’s then this is definitely one you shouldn’t miss.

Make sure you snap up a copy in the airport lounge before boarding your plane!

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Book Review | ‘Civil War’ by Mark Millar

13 Saturday Aug 2011

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Civil WarCivil War by Mark Millar

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m amazed by how Millar keeps coming up with these new slants on the Marvel universe. It must require a lot of creative thinking and collaboration with the ‘right’ kind of people. This time Millar explores what would happen if the superheroes that we all loved and trusted got out of hand and began fighting amongst themselves. The reality of that would be (as the title suggests) complete civil war. The story opens on a quiet American suburb in what looks like a ‘reality tv’ raid on a house full of rogue superheroes on the FBI wanted list for illegal activities. What ensues is a pre-emptive fight that gets out of hand – extremely out of hand. Cornered, confused and enraged, Nitro unleashes an explosive attack near a school which turns into a small-scale atomic blast. The result: an entire neighbourhood burnt to a crisp with a death toll of 900.

In the face of this catastrophe, the American public bay for blood, that results in a merciless witch-hunt for all superheroes. Torn between grief, shame and anger for the careless behaviour of their junior peers, established superheroes like the Avengers begin to suffer the wrath of people. There is soon talk of registering, legalising and uncovering the identities of those with powers to make them more accountable for their actions. This soon divides the superheroes into two camps; those who decide to yield to the public demands and those who resist.

There is more to this story than meets the eye: Nitro’s suicidal attack and its’ devastating effects mirrors the 9/11 attack on America’s twin towers. It is a commentary on fanaticism and the way the Western media have turned the conflict in the East (be it Afghanistan or Iraq) into ‘big brother’ style entertainment.

However having said that, I’m not that happy with the WAY it was told. The graphics were beautiful as always, yet there were some plot-holes that made it a little too unbelievable. There were fights a-plenty, in fact too much violence. I felt the frequency of the brawls eclipsed the storyline too much. Every other page was a fight or a tussle. It was interesting to see who would side with whom and in this version of events Tony Stark (Ironman) takes precedence as he tries to ‘do the right thing’. There are a few shocking events such as some heroes get killed, while others relinquish their well-guarded identities.

As a comic book fan I would like to have seen more of the Punisher and I feel he wasn’t given the credit he deserved. After a brief stint working for the rebelling superheroes, he is quickly cast aside as ‘insane’ and never heard of again. The very thing that makes the story weak is probably the fact that there are too many superheroes. There is an impressive cast, but I felt it truly overwhelmed me. Less could have been more. This felt like Millar was trying to find ways to include as many of his creations as possible.

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Book Review | ‘Peter Pan’ by J.M. Barrie

09 Monday May 2011

Posted by in Audiobooks, Authors, Book Review, Excerpts

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Peter PanPeter Pan by J.M. Barrie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.”

I’m surprised I didn’t get round to picking this up when I was younger. It’s a lovely book, perfect for children and full of all the little quirks and funny thoughts that kids have at that age. I had a lot of fun comparing the Disney version with the original and discovering that there was quite a bit more to the story than I thought.

“There is a saying in the Neverland that, every time you breathe, a grown-up dies.”

The language is typical of its time; a few words like ‘mea culpa’ and the likes might baffle todays younger audience (and even the older ones I might venture to add) so have that dictionary at hand to quench the thirst of inquiring minds. But on the other hand it’s nice to have the occasional hard phrase in there. I don’t like it when authors dumb down the text for children. If they don’t come across these words in books then when will they ever learn them? It’s also a reflection of how Barrie always revered and respected the intelligence of his audience.

The story itself is a lot more than just a fantasy adventure. If we look beyond the rambunctious Peter, the naughty Tinkerbell and the awe-inspiring Neverland, there are some very important lessons to be had. A few years ago I happened to watch a documentary all about Barrie’s life and work and was particularly fascinated by the incredibly morbid subtext of ‘Peter Pan’. Academics have it that the novel was based on Barrie’s own experience of child-loss within his family. Before he was born his mother had given birth to a boy who died not long after. With his birth, he had not only inherited the dead child’s name, but also grew up hearing about it. If living in the shadow of a brother you never knew wasn’t bad enough, Barrie was also to experience the further loss of a younger sibling that would leave an everlasting impression on his psyche.

“There could not have been a lovelier sight; but there was none to see it except a little boy who was staring in at the window. He had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know; but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be for ever barred.”

The notion of ‘never growing up’ was inspired by the death of these children, as the worst thing any family who has suffered a similar loss is the notion that they will never get to see their children grow up. ‘Neverland’ therefore is the aptly named heaven for such lost souls. A child’s paradise full of adventure and all sorts of fun things. But as Barrie is adamant to underline, it is ‘Never’ land after all, and a place no child should really end up going to.

“To live will be a great adventure.”

Therefore I had a few mixed feelings before I started this one, but to my relief found no overly morbid indicators as to the origins of the tale. Instead, the motif of ‘mother’ is worked over and over again, as if the sanctity of the home for the good of children and also some hints as to how parents (especially father’s) should never take their children for granted or worse, consider them a burden. There are, in short, lessons for all to be had, if you know where to look.

Definitely a read for bedtime, as children will love looking forward to the next chapter every night.

Note: My version was an audiobook accessed via Librivox.

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