Review: Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Posted: 02 Feb 2016, 12:21
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie is a young adult fantasy book that follows Luka, a 12 year old boy who is determined to save his dying father by embarking on a quest in a magical world. Luka and his pets, a dog named Bear and a bear named Dog (this got me laughing so hard) will have to steal the Fire of Live from its guardians in the magical world and bring it back to the real world.
Luka is a simple character with the sole purpose of stealing the fire of live and saving his father. I don’t feel attach or especially fond of this Luka character. In fact, I find the old man of the river (a side character in the story) more memorable in comparison. The old man is funny and quirky, though sadly short lived in the story. Also I would love to see more development or focus on Luka’s friendship with his loyal companion, the dog and the bear.
The world building in this book is fascinating. It is an alternate reality set in a magical world that behaves like how video games do. It has all these levels that Luka has to complete in order to save his father. In order to complete a level, Luka has to overcome obstacles or defeat magical creatures. Just like in most of the video games, there are life counters for those who do not belong to this magical world and save points to save the latest progress in the quest. The other uniqueness in this world is that not only there are the author’s invented mystical creatures and beings, but also the gods from mythology and fairy tale. On the whole, it is a very colorful and exciting world.
The writing style is smooth and easy to read, not to mention witty and funny. This is one of the aspects of the book that I enjoy tremendously. There is this one remark in the book that I find it hilarious - “The gods are revolting”, in which some characters interpret “revolting” as verb, while some interpret it as “adjective”.
Overall, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. It is a fun and light-hearted read. I realized this is a second book in the Khalifa series after I finished the book. Nonetheless, I still enjoy this book immensely even though I didn't read the first book Haroun and The Sea Of Stories. I would recommend this book to audience of younger age group who enjoys a fast-paced adventure story with a remarkable world building.
Luka is a simple character with the sole purpose of stealing the fire of live and saving his father. I don’t feel attach or especially fond of this Luka character. In fact, I find the old man of the river (a side character in the story) more memorable in comparison. The old man is funny and quirky, though sadly short lived in the story. Also I would love to see more development or focus on Luka’s friendship with his loyal companion, the dog and the bear.
The world building in this book is fascinating. It is an alternate reality set in a magical world that behaves like how video games do. It has all these levels that Luka has to complete in order to save his father. In order to complete a level, Luka has to overcome obstacles or defeat magical creatures. Just like in most of the video games, there are life counters for those who do not belong to this magical world and save points to save the latest progress in the quest. The other uniqueness in this world is that not only there are the author’s invented mystical creatures and beings, but also the gods from mythology and fairy tale. On the whole, it is a very colorful and exciting world.
The writing style is smooth and easy to read, not to mention witty and funny. This is one of the aspects of the book that I enjoy tremendously. There is this one remark in the book that I find it hilarious - “The gods are revolting”, in which some characters interpret “revolting” as verb, while some interpret it as “adjective”.
Overall, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. It is a fun and light-hearted read. I realized this is a second book in the Khalifa series after I finished the book. Nonetheless, I still enjoy this book immensely even though I didn't read the first book Haroun and The Sea Of Stories. I would recommend this book to audience of younger age group who enjoys a fast-paced adventure story with a remarkable world building.