Luka and the Fire of Life

The childhood fantasy of saving the life of a parent plays out against the backdrop of an alternative video-game-based universe. Narrated with a modulated tone and perfect pacing by Lyndam Gregory, this quasi-sequel to Rushdie's first young readers novel, HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES, brims with clever puns and imaginative plot twists. Gregory affects a childlike sense of wonder as Luka, the young hero who must save his father and avoid video-game hazards. This is not the next masterpiece from the renowned literary genius, but it's involving and entertaining for the whole family, especially as enhanced by the talented Gregory. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

July 26, 2010
Rushdie unleashes his imagination on an alternate world informed by the surreal logic of video games, but the author's entertaining wordplay and lighter-than-air fantasies don't amount to more than a clever pastiche. A sequel of sorts to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, this outing finds Haroun's younger brother, Luka, on a mission to save his father, guided, ironically, by Nobodaddy, a holograph-like copy of his father intent on claiming the old man's life. Along the way, they're joined by a collection of creatures, including a dog named Bear, a bear named Dog, hybrid bird-elephant beasts, and a princess with a flying carpet. As with video games, Luka stores up extra lives, proceeds to the next level after beating big baddies, and uses his wits to overcome bottomless chasms and trash-dropping otters. Rushdie makes good use of Nobodaddy, and his world occasionally brims with allegory (the colony of rats called the "Respectorate of I" brings the Tea Party to mind), but this is essentially a fun tale for younger readers, not the novel Rushdie's adult fans have been waiting for.