Fantasy
Juvenile adventures
SHEILA KUMAR
|
A mish-mash of tales tried, tested and told many times over.
|
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, IndiaInk, Rs 295.
THERE is no other way to do this but put it to the reader straight. Banerjee Divakaruni's foray into fantasy involves a young boy, his smart and sassy friend who is a girl, a Brotherhood plighted to protect a mysterious relic, a mentor guru, a sinister villain, and magical adventures galore. If thoughts of Tolkien or J.K. Rowling assail you at this point, or tales from the Panchatantra or Chandamama stories come to mind, well, there's nothing much the reviewer can do but bash on regardless.
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming is the second of the Brotherhood of the Conch trilogy. Young Anand, who is now the Keeper of the Conch (yes, it talks, advises and has a sense of humour, this magical shell) in the Silver Valley, is attempting to learn the basics of wisdom and wizardry under the gurus, with his beloved tutor Abhaydutta keeping a special eye on both the boy and his feisty friend Nisha.
And then, Abhaydutta is sent as saviour-savant to a bleak, poverty-ridden hamlet somewhere in Bengal, partly because of a vision Anand has. Soon enough, Anand persuades Nisha to steal away from the magical valley in the dead of night, to go to the Master's side. Which, of course, is where the tale begins to weave in elements like a wise old witch, Tara Ma, a malefic stranger, an imprisoned jinn, a royal family in a resplendent palace, a nawab, a shehzada, a cute elephant named Matangi, a smidgen of reincarnation and much to and fro-ing between times old and modern. Oh, and there's a Ron Weasley-like sidekick, too, called Ramu. And the object of the title, the mirror of fire and dreaming, makes what seems suspiciously like a cameo appearance.
Granted, there is fluidity to the morality tale as it unfolds, and some bits of leavening humour. However, one looks for originality in the teller of that splendid tale of the mistress of spices, and one doesn't find it in this mish-mash of tales tried, tested and told many times over. Magic informs this story yet magic is what the story lacks.
Perhaps Banerjee Divakaruni needs to get this trilogy out of her system and then will return to some inspired story telling. We will wait.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Literary Review
