Luka and the Fire of Life
Encyclopedia
Luka and the Fire of Life is a children's book by Salman Rushdie. It was published by Jonathan Cape
, Random House
in 2010. It is the sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories
.
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.
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."
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in 2010. It is the sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1992 children's book by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's first novel after The Satanic Verses. It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name....
.
Synopsis
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.
Characters
- Luka Khalifa, the protagonist of the book, is a twelve year-old left-handed boy, who goes on a quest in order to save his dying father. He shows courage throughout the book and has the ability to curse his enemies, such as cursing Captain Aag, which causes his animals to revolt and his tents to burn down.
- Bear, the singing dog, is a chocolate Labrador. It is revealed that he is actually Barak of the It-Barak, the immortal dog-men changed into dogs by a Chinese curse. Along with Dog he is Luka’s faithful protector and pet. Eventually, he sacrifices his immortality to destroy Nobodaddy.
- Dog, the dancing bear, who is a normal bear that loves Luka. He made up a story saying he was cursed like Bear to impress Luka, but is not. He is Luka’s protector and companion like Bear. Along with Bear, he was once in the Aag’s circus.
- Nobodaddy, the main antagonist, is a bizarre phantom brought into being to consume Rashid Khalifa’s life force. He joins Luka initially to steal the Fire of Life. Eventually he betrays them to the Aalim and is thrown into space by Prometheus. He later completes his task and implodes by consuming the immortality sacrificed by Bear
- Soraya, the Insultana of Ott, the girl with green eyes and flaming red hair. She looks seventeen but is actually thousands of years old. She has the same name as Luka's mother because she lives in the magical story world created by Luka's father, so as its most important woman she has the same name as the most important woman in Rashid's life. She possesses the flying carpet Resham of King Solomon. She commonly insults people, but harbors a sweet side. She helps Luka steal the Fire by helping him get to it and escaping the World of Magic. Her large knowledge of the Magical World has helped Luka through many situations.
- The Aalim, “Jo-Hua, Jo-Hia, Jo-Aiga. What was, What is, and What will come. The Past, Present, and Future” (Rushdie 134). They know everything and are the Ultimate Guardians of the Fire. They rule over the World of Magic and appear as cloaked, faceless figures whose mere voices cause agonizing pain to Magical beings. In the end, Luka leads the revolt that topples them from power.
- Captain Aag, the owner of the Great Rings of Fire circus, and “His original name was Menetius... and he was once the Titan of Rage” (Rushdie 123). He is shown to be very angry most of the time and is covered in blood red hair. He is the one responsible for cursing Rashid Khalifa into eternal sleep.
- Prometheus, the original Fire thief and one of the Greek Titans, is the brother of Aag. He was subjected to an eternity of torment by the Bird of Zeus by the Aalim. He was freed and he helps Luka escape the World of Magic to save his father.
- Coyote, a Fire thief who at Soraya’s insistence, helps Luka steal the fire. He distracts the Gods to help give Luka his chance to bypass the Gods guarding it and steal the Fire.
- Haroun Khalifa, Luka’s older brother who went on an adventure similar to Luka’s eighteen years before in Haroun and the Sea of StoriesHaroun and the Sea of StoriesHaroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1992 children's book by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's first novel after The Satanic Verses. It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name....
. He is a very kind older brother and he and Luka often get along very well.
- Rashid Khalifa, Luka’s father, is the legendary story teller of Kahani, and is also known as the Shah of Blah and the Ocean of Notions. He is cast into eternal sleep by Aag as revenge for being cursed by Luka and is the driving force behind Luka’s journey.
- Soraya Khalifa, Luka’s mother, who is very kind but finds it hard to believe that the Magical World exists. She accepts the existence of the Magic World when both her sons and her husband believe in it.
Background
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."Reception
Despite its focus on younger readers, Rushdie's young adult novel, according to the School Library Journal, "appeals to all ages." 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."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."