When Salman Rushdie published Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I wondered what it would be like to have Salman Rushdie as my father. And I wondered again with Luka and the Fire of Life. I suppose it would be like having a ringleader or parade master as a parent (like the Pied Piper but the nice fairy tale version, not the one where the kids die).

(Random House has a channel with a number of Rushdie interviews and book trailers.)

If you’re too pressed to watch the trailer, know this … at the age of 12 Luka’s brother Haroun crossed the border into the magical world, and such is the case this year for 12-year-old Luka. The adventure begins one fateful day in the land of Alifbay, when Luka curses a circus master and causes mass revolt by the animals. A bear named Dog and a dog named Bear (who dance and sing) become Luka’s loyal companions. And it’s a lucky thing too because shortly after Luka’s father Rashid, the legendary storyteller of Kahani, falls ill and only Luka can save him by entering the magical world and stealing the fire of life. It’s super handy to have a magical dancing bear and singing dog.

Parents (like children) can often be very demanding.

Luka’s exceedingly treacherous task is recorded as a series of video game levels with lives earned and lost. And, it doesn’t feel like a forced metaphor. Rushdie neatly brings this element to the story in a mad-hatter kind of way that really works.

I love quirky, magical books and Luka and the Fire of Life is no exception. Delightful, magical, and, as expected, well written.

Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
published by Knopf Canada

Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife will not be disappointed by Audrey Niffenegger’s latest novel Her Fearful Symmetry.

Julia and Valentine Poole are 20-year-old sisters who are mirror twins. They are identical but also mirror images of each other. Valentina’s organs are even in the wrong spots. The twins are the daughter of a twin and the story opens with them inheriting the aunt’s apartment in London.

The English aunt, Elspeth, has very specific instructions. The girls must live in the flat for 1 year before selling it and under no circumstances is their mother Edwina to enter the apartment.

The flat borders the vast Highgate Cemetery, where Robert, Elspeth’s lover works. He also happens to live in the flat below theirs.

To say the least, without giving things away, this is a modern-day ghost story with twins. Smart, eerie and a nice page turner.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Published by Vintage Canada
Read an Excerpt

One of the best books I read this year is The Retreat by David Bergen. Bergen hails from Winnipeg and The Retreat is set close to there in an area that I know well, Lake of the Woods.

It’s 1974, during the summer of the Ojibway occupation of Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Ontario. Raymond is a native boy who falls in love with a white girl whose uncle is in the police force. The family is not keen on their relationship and manage to drive them apart (quite literally). Raymond later meets Lizzy Byrd, who is holidaying at Lake of the Woods at “The Retreat”, a commune run by a woo-woo guru named Dr. Amos. Lizzy’s mother is a fan of Dr. Amos. Lizzy’s father is not, but in an effort to satisfy his wife, he’s brought the family here for the summer.

The summer is a long period of time.

With a cast of characters at the Retreat, as well as the locals, Bergen’s weaves a multilayered story. Kids get lost and almost drown. Family’s break up, and come back together. Regardless of the storyline, each character is complete. Bergen’s characters aren’t two dimensional, even if they only have supporting roles.

The Retreat is a beautifully written novel. Each word finely crafts the story. I really, really enjoyed this book and think Bergen is as gifted as the critics claim (nominee 2008 – Scotiabank Giller Prize, winner 2009 – McNally Robinson Book of the Year, winner 2009 – Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction).
Read an excerpt.

The Retreat by David Bergen
Published by McClelland & Stewart

Scott Chantler is an acclaimed graphic novelist who lives in Waterloo. And he draws in a style that I totally love for graphic novels. Apparently I’m not the only one who loves his stuff, Chantler’s books have been nominated for the Eisner, Harvey, Russ Manning, Joe Shuster, and Doug Wright Awards, and I don’t see why he didn’t win.

Two Generals is a graphic novel set during the Second World War. I think this is his ninth book, although there are only 5 books to buy in his store. Regardless of what number this book is, it’s worth buying.

The thing I love about Seth’s work is the packaging. There’s something about a graphic novel that deserves artistic attention. And I was really pleased to see the incredible package and designed for Chantler’s book (designed by Jennifer Lum at McClelland & Stewart).

In March 1943, Scott’s grandfather, Law Chantler, left Canada for active service with the Highland Light Infantry in England. Also on board was his best friend and fellow officer, Jack. After grueling training and weeks of boredom and anxiousness to get going, they were crossing the English Channel for the Allied invasion of Normandy. If you know your military history, you’ll know that this operation was fraught with difficulties.

The novel is a story of friendship and the absurdities of war rather than a straight account of events. And I enjoyed the subtleties of the illustrations, the side winks, the knowing glances and the quiet gestures that tell the emotional story of the lives of these two men.

Scott has also launched a research blog for Two Generals where you can view early sketches and also the photos and images that he used to inform this story and illustrations. I recommend having a look!

Two Generals by Scott Chantler
Published by McClelland & Stewart

Certainly a weirdly good read. Charles Yu first came to my attention with Thrid Class Superhero, his collection of short stories. Now, he’s on the radar with How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe, his debut novel.

Minor Universe 31 is a vast story-space with interconnected yet separate universes. It’s a time when time travel is something anyone can do, like microwaving food. People have a personal time travel device, which they mostly use to visit moments in the past that they want to relive–usually bad moments that they are hoping to change or from which they hope to gain insights.

Quote: The base model TM-31 [TM-31 Recreational Time Travel Device] runs on state-of-the-art chronodiegetical technology: a six-cylinder grammar drive built on a quad-core physic engine, which features an applied temporalinguistics architecture allowing for free-form navigation within a rendered environment, such as, for instance, a story space and, in particular, a science fictional universe.

A box. Get in. Push some buttons. Visit different times. The operating system is called TAMMY (or TIM–depending on what you chose at start up).

Charles Yu, time travel technician, saves people from themselves. Or rather, he fixes their time travel machines that break due to human tampering. But ultimately he ends up trapping himself in a time loop.

If you’re not a fan of science fiction, then this is a good literary spin on that genre. If you are a science fiction fan, I think you’ll enjoy the science and philosophy described in the novel.

1-line summary: This novel is The Big Bang Theory meets a dysfunctional Family Ties, without the laugh track, although there are some funny moments.

Clever. Geeky. Nostalgic. (Can you be nostalgic for the future? In a science fictional universe, I think you can be.)

Related Links

Charles Yu in the Huffington Post before finishing the novel.
Lev Grossman’s review of Science Fictional Universe on Amazon.com
Pantheon: US publisher
Pantheon: CDN publisher

The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart is a strange but lovely book about what happens at the Tower of London after the tourists go home.

I did not know that the employees of the Tower of London , the Beefeaters (or more correctly, the Yeoman Wardens) , their families, the reverend, landlady of the pub and Ravenmaster actually live within the walled village of the Tower. No one is allowed in or out between midnight and 6 am.

The main characters are Yeoman Warden Balthazar Jones and his Grecian wife Hebe Jones who have lost their son Milo and are adrift in their grief. Hebe works at the London Underground Lost Property Office, which supplies no end of curios to the storyline. Balthazar, through strange circumstances, becomes the Head of the Royal Menagerie. In his care are 4 giraffes, a raft of penguins, a stinky zorilla, an albatross, some cheeky monkeys, and among others, a stolen bearded pig.

Not quite a modern-day Greek tragedy, this novel is full of comedic drama, human vulnerabilities, follies and divine acts.