Thanks to the Harry Potter series, magic has come back in vogue for greater part of the last decade. And there have been a number of writers who have tried to emulate the success of the series.
In most of these cases, the writers have seem to relied upon the same old formula – “A clear Good v/s bad”, “Familiar magical species” and of course, “Unexplainable” magic! Of course, Harry Potter has been ahead on that curve for quite some time, and has even added “Romance” to the formula - possibly with motion picture dynamics in mind!
So its quite refreshing to see a few writers provide a different take on “magic”, as I am sure anyone who is familiar with the world of magic, can confirm, that things are never quite as straightfowrard. Well, more on that confirmation later, but I would like to bring these few mentions to notice for having stretched one’s boundaries of the magical world:
1) Bartimaeus Trilogy: Brilliant – in one word. And far above any of the rest in new thinking. The trilogy explores the rather refreshing relationship between the protaginist and his unwilling djinn through a series of rather interesting adventures and cynical humor. Also interesting is the creation a whole classification system of djinns by the author Jonathan Stroud.
2) Artemis Fowl: While possibly not at the same level of the above, in terms of maturity / age group it appeals to, Artemis has slightly different take with a hero who is not quite on the right side of things. I have to confess I have not read the full series – initial impressions only.
3) Rick Rordan: The reason I have chosen the author, rather than the series is that the author’s creativity is linked across series. The author has his own formula for linking ancient civillizations with modern magic. So far he has chosen the Greek and Egyptian mythologies as a foundation, with both providing ample characters to create quite a plot. Keeping that in mind, it may only be a matter of time before (if you have read my earlier post on ancient civillizations), a Hindu culture based series appeared.
Lets hope we get to see more complex & immersing novels from these writers, especiallyJonathan Stroud/ Bartimaeus, from whom we havent heard of late… but then again commercial sense may prevail to just keep it simple.
Hey Angi
Nice to see you blogging again.
While not really on topic, but one of the “magic” writers that’s absolutely brilliant is Neil Gaiman. Pure genius. Read several of his books. Not sure if you have read any but pick up American Gods, stardust, never where, the graveyard book… when you get a chance.
Guru
Yes, have read Neverwhere, on the strong recommendation of someone. Pretty good and must say very very different take on fantasy writing. I just got a hint of darkness in the writing, but otherwise very innovative. Let me try American Gods as well.
Well written ! And a huge THUMBS UP for the Barthmaeus series !
There is one more book – ‘The Ring of Solomon’ by this same author that I really want to read….