Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

I'm twenty, and I think I've lost the hang of reading fantasy children's literature. I plodded through Abarat last year and I'm stuck in the middle of its sequel. I read every Harry Potter book that comes out the moment our family gets a copy. But all the same, something just tells me that I'm not enjoying the novel the way I should. I feel like I'm reading something watered down, and my brain feels like it's moving through mush, slowly and not too surely. I chalked it up to age, and the fact that the experience of reading a novel changes drastically with adolescence and subsequent adulthood.

The moment I started Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, however, I knew it was going to be different. It took a lot of time to get into it, but after a couple of pages I realized I was reading this book the same way I used to read books when I was younger — as fast as I could, gobbling up each and every word because I was so excited with the plot and much too in love with the characters. Rather than taking my time to carefully read all the lines (and sometimes in between them), I found myself running instead of treading carefully, and occasionally tripping. I'd go back and reread parts that I had accidentally skipped over in my excitement.

The plot of this novel effects this kind of quick, excited feeling in the reader. The story is that of a young boy named Haroun, the son of a storyteller named Rashid who suddenly loses all will and motivation to come up with new stories for the crowds. At a politician's campaign, he suddenly loses his tongue and ends up croaking in front of thousands of people. Haroun wants to help his father, who is in danger of death at the hands of an angry politician. His quest takes him to the earth's second moon, to a land where half of the world is submerged in light and the rest in darkness, where he encounters mechanical birds, strange gardeners, water genies, and many more.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an incredibly fast read. The plot travels at a lightning pace, with cliffhangers at the end of every chapter and exposition occuring at the mere snap of a finger. I finished this book within a couple of hours, and ended it just a few minutes before writing this review. On the one hand, while the plot realy is rather elaborate and quite "magical," the characters seem nothing more than strange and often irritating creatures. One is instantly reminded of the almost caricatural supporting characters found in Rushdie's other novels.

Yet while it is true that Rushdie may have sacrificed depth thanks to the length of his book, it's still something more than a meaningless fairytale. The slight but not too subtle political jabs could very well lead one to read the novel as being primarily about freedom of speech, or fact vs. fiction (ala The Life of Pi). All the same, doing so quickly erases the kind of breathless and enchanted feeling that can only be experienced when reading a fantasy novel as a child. And really, that's the most enjoyable kind of reading one can do.

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (Book 11 in the Wheel of Time series)

Link to the book on Amazon

On TV, what usually differentiates a mini-series from a series is that a series keeps on going until the writers/sponsors/fans/cast members give up. It's only then when the writers come up with a neat way to tie things up and end the series. Until that happens, you usually get no closure.

Case in point, every Transformers episode ends with "You may have won the battle Prime, but you haven't won the war!". Queue Starscream screeching "Retreat!" and next scene would be a bad joke between Spike and Bumblebee. That is of course, until Transformers the movie, where Optimus Prime gets killed. (yes.. get over it.)

I started the Wheel of Time series in 6th or 7th grade which was.. 1995. The first few books had already come out (about 5 I think). I am now two years past college, and Robert Jordan is keeping faithful to the writeup he places at the end of his novels, which is "to keep writing til they nail shut his coffin."

With a new installment coming out every year or two, it's a pain to try remembering all of the characters in the Wheel of Time universe. Yes, he's taken Tolkien and world-making to a new level. I used to be able to re-read the series from the start every time a new one came out to refresh my memory, but at the 11th book, with each a good 700 to 900 pages long, it's getting to be a little trying.

Some long time ago, I had the feeling that things were beginning to take shape, and that the three main heroes would wind up at the end of their quest at about book 8 or 7. At the end of each book though, you get the feeling that.. they've won the battle, but it's just another battle. Perhaps it's keeping in theme with the Wheel of Time concept, that things just keep getting spun in and out of the wheel, and that the Pattern it weaves repeats itself throughout the Ages. Maybe there is no end to the series?

For those who are not familiar with the series, The Wheel of Time follows Rand al'Thor a typical farm boy as he discovers that he is the Dragon Reborn, a messiah-type figure tasked to defeat the Dark One at the Last Battle. The setting is an alternate universe complete with various races that are a mix from our own universe (maybe you can spot a little European, Japanese, Native American, Chinese, etc.) and its own languages.

Although it seems to dwell in the same genre as Tolkien (a fantasy-type alternate universe), there are differences in Jordan's work. Jordan is a student of history, and it shows in his work. Battles, campaigns, governments and rulers plotting against one another are all more detailed and vivid. Jordan also gives a more prominent role to women. The series is not lacking in strong female characters.

Specific to this installment, it is typical Jordan fare, and it is as always, interesting to follow the character and event development. However, given the fact that Jordan has found the time to write a sort of prelude to the series, A New Spring, it seems like he is taking his time to finish this series.

So if you think you're up to it, be prepared to read until they nail shut your coffin.