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A review by athirah_idrus
The Keepers of Stories by Suffian Hakim
4.0
To be honest, I did not know what to expect prior to reading other than the fact that it was a fantasy book written by a Singaporean author. Before long, I found myself deep within the mystical Anak Bumi community whose existence on Changi Beach was distinct and separate from the modern capital.
The story centred around two siblings, Hakeem and Zuzu, whose lives were rudely uprooted from their flat on Haig Road in the dead of the night when their father Sujakon announced that they needed to go on the run, or the bad guys would take them.
Sujakon took them to Anak Bumi where they found shelter and forced to accustom to a new way of living. I enjoyed the stories within the story where the Anak Bumi regaled stories from various cultural fantasies; hybrids of historical legends and myths during their nightly storytelling known as Wayang Singa. Not to mention, the book felt unapologetically Singaporean; embedded in the characters, colourful stories and languages used, which I appreciate.
If you enjoyed Daryl Kho’s Mist-Bound, then you might like this.
The story centred around two siblings, Hakeem and Zuzu, whose lives were rudely uprooted from their flat on Haig Road in the dead of the night when their father Sujakon announced that they needed to go on the run, or the bad guys would take them.
Sujakon took them to Anak Bumi where they found shelter and forced to accustom to a new way of living. I enjoyed the stories within the story where the Anak Bumi regaled stories from various cultural fantasies; hybrids of historical legends and myths during their nightly storytelling known as Wayang Singa. Not to mention, the book felt unapologetically Singaporean; embedded in the characters, colourful stories and languages used, which I appreciate.
If you enjoyed Daryl Kho’s Mist-Bound, then you might like this.