Epic fail: Salman Rushdie's young-adult novel Luka and the Fire of Life falls far below its predecessor Haroun and the Sea of Stories. That earlier effort echoed Alice in Wonderland and other marvels of inventive wordplay. Luka is more a hybrid between Harry Potter and Ready Player One. Will video gaming metaphors from 2010 resonate in 2020? Elements of Luka already feel sadly dated. Restart and try again ...

^z - 2013-08-07