Luka and the Fire of Life is a novel by Salman Rushdie. It was published by Jonathan Cape, Random House in 2010.[1] It is the sequel[2] to Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
| Luka and the Fire of Life | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Salman Rushdie |
| Cover artist | Niroot Puttapipat |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fiction |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | November 16, 2010 |
| Pages | 240 |
| Preceded by | Haroun and the Sea of Stories |
Contents |
The book opens with Luka and his father Rashid Khalifa walking home from Luka’s school in the fictional city of Kahani in the land of Alifbay. They pass the Great Rings of Fire circus, where upon seeing the pitiful state of the animals Luka yells, “May your animals stop obeying your commands and your rings of fire eat up your stupid tent.” (Rushdie 6) Luka’s curse works, as later that very day the animals revolt and the rings of fire consume the tents. Also the same day Dog and Bear, a bear and a dog respectively, two animals from the circus, arrive and become Luka’s faithful pets, “so fierce in his defense that nobody would ever have dreamed of bullying him when they were nearby,” (Rushdie 4) However, one month afterwards Rashid Khalifa falls asleep and doesn’t wake up. After several days, Luka receives a letter via vultures from Aag revealing that he cursed Rashid. Then, thinking that Rashid is awake Luka rushes outside with Dog and Bear and enters the World of Magic.
Upon realizing that the Rashid he saw isn’t his father, but is a phantom-like creature that calls itself Nobodaddy, Luka learns about Dog and Bear’s pasts. Bear is Barak of the it-Barak, one of the immortal dog-men of old turned into a dog by a Chinese curse; and Dog was the monarch of a northern land turned into animals by an ogre who was jealous of their dancing abilities. Now with Nobodaddy to help them, the quartet now journey onwards towards the Fire of Life, but not before Nobodaddy reveals that once someone like him comes into being, someone has to die. Upon arriving at the River of Time, which they must follow in order to find the Fire, they are attacked by the Old Man of the River, who kills Luka. After being revived Luka realizes that this world is like a video game, with lives and levels. Luka eventually bests him in a game of riddles by playing the Riddle of the Sphinx, “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” (Rushdie 55), the one riddle is father did not know the answer to. Thus, the Old Man has to Perminate (permanent termination) himself. They find a boat but are soon capsized by the Eddyfish. They then enlist the help of the Elephant ducks, “a pair of absurd creatures with duck-like bodies and large elephant heads,” (Rushdie 66) who take them upriver.
While traveling up river the group stops at the Respectorate of I, an oppressive city run by easily insulted rats who demand eternal respect. After getting ready to leave after lunch, Luka accidentally insults the Respectorate’s national song. But before the rats can do anything the Otters of Ott attack, led by the Insultana of Ott, “a green-eyed girl wearing a green and gold cloak, her fiery red hair streaming in the wind, nor more than sixteen or seventeen years old.” (Rushdie 78) Luka correctly guesses her name as Soraya, and helps her defeat the rats with itching powder. Afterwards, Soraya joins them on their quest. Her flying carpet helps them pass through the Mists of Time and the Great Stagnation. Soraya sends the carpet extremely high above the Inescapable Whirlpool and El Tiempo to escape them, “perhaps forty miles below them already.” (Rushdie 106) The elephant birds help through the Trillion and One Forking Paths, where the true River of Time splits into thousands upon thousands of fakes. Afterwards, they are temporarily detained by the Great Rings of Fire, the impassable defense of the Fire. However, Dog and Bear reveal it to be both a fake illusion and the handiwork of Captain Aag.
As soon as Bear and Dog disable the illusion Aag shows up along with Nuthog, a magical changer in the form of a dragon. While Aag gloats Nobodaddy tells Luka, “His original name was Menetius, and he was once the Titan of Rage.” (Rushdie 123) Right as Aag orders Nuthog to destroy Luka and company, Soraya arrives, having freed Nuthog’s three sisters, who were imprisoned in ice by the Aalim. With her sisters now freed, Nuthog betrays Aag and incinerates him. With the changers now with them, the group passes through the land of the ex-gods. After meeting up with Coyote, one of the original Fire thieves, the Fire Alarm goes off, alerting the gods that someone is going to try and steal the Fire. Instead of running, Luka and the group head towards the danger. After making it past the guards, by using Nuthog’s sister’s one time transformation into Slippy, the Horse King, they wait for Coyote to begin the diversion. Coyote begins the diversion while Luka goes behind the Mountain of Knowledge, “with the Lake of Wisdom lapping at its shores, its water clear, pure, and transparent in the pale, silvery light of the Dawn of Days,” (Rushdie 160) to find the Abysm of Time. Luka then enters the Left-Handed version of the Magic World, where he is soon captured. Then, the gods arrive and Luka makes a speech to them whereas the World begins to fall apart. The gods, inspired by Luka’s speech, allow him to take the Fire. Soraya arrives, and the group begin the journey back towards the entrance.
With the world now ending and Nobodaddy nowhere to be found, the group is flying as fast as they can towards the dying Rashid. They are now joined by Prometheus, the original Fire Thief and brother of Aag. After barely escaping El Tiempo, “the Carpet being sixty-one miles above the Earth’s surface,” (Rushdie 193) they enter the Mists of Time when Prometheus dissipates them. They are then captured in the cloud fortress of Baddal-Garh, now under the control of the Aalim and Nobodaddy, who has betrayed Luka in order to complete his task of killing Rashid Khalifa. Prometheus grows to his full height and hurls Nobodaddy into outer space. Then, the Aalim finally show themselves whereas they begin speaking, causing everyone but Luka, Dog, Bear, and Prometheus to collapse in pain. Luka then curses the Aalim, and then as if one cue, the gods revolt, destroying the fortress. Luka and the group speed towards the entrance, the gods defending them from the deadly Rain Cats, the Aalim’s final card. Luka makes it home and gives the Fire to Rashid, “the color returned to his face; after which a glow of health spread across his cheeks, almost as if he were blushing with embarrassment.” (Rushdie 212) Then, a deformed Nobodaddy arrives, whereas Bear sacrifices his immortality to destroy the phantom once and for all. Then, the Khalifa’s enjoy a wonderful, happy dinner, with Soraya now having to “put up with the stories of the Magical World from her husband and both her sons.” (Rushdie 217) Soraya then puts the Fire of Life away somewhere, where hopefully it will return to the World of Magic.
Salman Rushdie said that he "[used] video games for inspiration for his new book." He "wrote the book for his 13-year-old son" and called it the "second book for younger readers."[3]
Despite its focus on younger readers, Rushdie's young adult novel, according to the School Library Journal, "appeals to all ages."[4] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette critiqued Rushdie's technique, calling it "[a] hodgepodge of [clever] references to mythology, folklore, and popular culture" and added that it was an "assembly-line story welded together from parts of this and that" while similarly adding "A DeLorean car, Alice's Restau-Rat, a boat called the Argo, and transformer dragons."[5]
The novel inspired a university animation competition in 2010. Design Week Online explained: "Luka and the Fire of Life will be animated" by 17 Kingston University Students (enrolled on the Illustration and Animation course) to produce 4 animations and added that it would be "[s]hown on the Random House website" and that "Rushdie [would] choose the overall winner on December 21."[6]
Rushdie, Salman. Luka and the Fire of Life. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.
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