Flights of Fancy

A survey of bookstores like the Starmark and the Oxford Junior reveals that Poalini’s Inheritance Cycle comprising Eragon,Eldest and Brisinger are flying off the shelves. That the series,which revolves around the exploits of a boy named Eragon and his dragon Saphira,has caught the imagination of an entire generation of children and youngsters,comes as no surprise feel authors and readers. “The genre is a wonderful means of escape. Children are over exposed to violence of all sorts these days. So,if they seek departure from all that through books like these,it’s not surprising,” says author Sonja Chandrachud,an ardent fan of the genre,whose pentalogy Hilarious Hauntings Adventures itself follows the format.

“I like The Twilight Series a lot. I think it is fascinating,” says 11-year-old Nishka Dasgupta,a Stephanie Meyer addict. And can you blame her? The visual feast that most of these novels offer through words magically strung together is extraordinary. Take for example Meyer’s series. The author (who claims that a dream about a girl and a vampire in love with her,but who also wants her blood sparked the idea of the novel) weaves her story with haunting images of a world that is not ours with one that we are overtly familiar with. “The genre is very visual in nature. No wonder it fascinates one and all,” says Chandrachud. Seconds Sujata Sen,director,east,the British Council Library. “Most of these works are complimented with extraordinary illustrations. In fact there’s a new crop of superb illustrators who almost paint out the dream world exactly like the children want them to be,” says Sen.

Add to it,film adaptations. “There’s no doubt about the fact that the film adaptations of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter has a lot to do with reviving interest in the genre,” says Ishani Dasgupta,who works with the Delhi branch of an international publishing house. When you are treated to visual extravaganzas like the Potter films,LOTR,or even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was,no doubt you are left craving for more similar things. In fact Eragon was made into a movie in 2006,Pullman’s The Golden Compass was made into a fairly appreciated movie,an adaptation of Riordan’s The Lightning Thief of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series will hit theatres across the world in 2010. “For this genre,often films have resulted in inciting interest in the book,” laughs Chandrachud. We are not complaining…