|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
Review
“In her first novel, author Mahtab Narsimhan combines elements of classic fairy tales, such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’, with Indian mythology for a highly original and entertaining fantasy adventure … readers will enjoy the lushly described Indian setting as well as the cultural references to Hindu gods and celebrations, making this a solid middle grade read suitable for literature circles or book club discussions.” – Rachel Steen, Canadian Children’s Book News Spring 2008
An excellent introduction to Hindi culture.
(Dryden Observer )"... an exciting fantasy novel ... a page-turner; and the descriptions of the village, the clothes, the food and the gods lend authenticity and unique interest."
(Penny Draper Times-Colonist, The )Product Description
For Tara and her brother, Suraj, the year their mother and grandfather fled the village of Morni in the middle of the night has been a nightmare. Their new stepmother is cruel and deceptive, and the village itself is lacking a healer. What's more, men of the village have been disappearing, often returning in a strange, altered form.
When a new healer, Zarku, a mysterious man with a third eye possessing strange power, suddenly appears in Morni, all are mesmerized by his magic -- all except Tara, who sees through his evil disguise.
With nothing but her own courage and wit, Tara tries to find her missing mother and grandfather, the true healer, in time to save her village. But along the way she must enlist the help of the god Ganesh and the lord of death, Yama, or she, like others before her, will fall victim to Zarku's third eye.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good story, well told,
By
This review is from: The Third Eye: Tara Trilogy (Paperback)
An extremely vivid novel. Narsimhan does a great job of putting you in the shoes of her characters and bringing the world to life, and the story is steeped in Hindu mythology. It includes all the requisite action scenes you'd hope to find in such a novel and even has time to deviate for a folktale or two! Tara is an engaging protagonist, and the book also has a couple of really nasty (but well-rounded) villains. An excellent debut for its first-time author.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book,
By Margaret Stawarz "MStawarz" (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Third Eye: Tara Trilogy (Paperback)
You close your eyes and you see everything in a split second - that is how good the descriptions are. Amazing story line, keeps one on the edge at all times. I absolutely love the cultural aspect of the book. Can not wait for the next one. Highly recommend!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonerful Fantasy with a Hindu Flavour,
By
This review is from: The Third Eye: Tara Trilogy (Paperback)
This is a fairy tale, a myth, and a quest fantasy, set in an Indian village, all rolled into one. Tara and her younger brother's mother leaves them suddenly one night with only a hushed whisper that one day she will return. A year later her father is nothing but a walking shell who lets their stereotypical evil stepmother treat them like servants. Tara's grandfather also disappeared the same night as her mother and he was the villages' healer; now a new healer has arrived and some think he is evil but the men in town either turn to his side or disappear. Then one night Tara overhears a plan that involves killing herself and her brother and she decides she must go find her mother and face the forest and the Vetalas (which a google search compares to vampires but the descriptions both on the net and in the book remind me more of zombies) which roam within. Thus begins a journey and a quest filled with Hindu mythology to save Tara's family and villagers.
This was a delightfully wonderful book. With the rather mystical yet staid cover I wasn't sure what to suspect with its pages. The book begins very over the top in fairy tale fashion but not in a satire fashion, just in an obvious tone letting one know that in fairy tales bad thing can happen and probably will happen. The book then turns darker and there are some quite dark images pictured throughout the book, hence I would not recommend for young children. The secondary characters are never fully realized and left to play their parts in the plot by Tara is a wonderful, resourceful, intelligent, strong female character with a deep character and realistically flawed. The plot itself is steeped in Hindu mythology and this is where the whole feel and essence of the book comes from. It's not a particularly common topic in YA fantasy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Certainly well-written and a compelling read. My one main flaw with the book is that it is too short. At times it feels rushed; there are many parts that could have been extended and an extra hundred or so pages could have filled out the quest section and the final ending which seemed to hurry up and finish as time was running out. This can all be excused as first novel symptoms, but then, the book ends with an absolutely brilliant last sentence letting one know there is a sequel in the works and as I look on Amazon The Silver Anklet will be out in November ('09). Well worth a read if you are looking for a YA fantasy a little different than the norm.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
