If “The Neverending Story” and “The Phantom Tollbooth” had a baby and gave it an X-box, the result would be “Luka and the Fire of Life,” by renowned author Salman Rushdie.
It is a return to a world and family introduced in a previous work, “Haroun and the Sea of Stories,” but this new story is centered around the adventure of the youngest — and newest — member of the Khalifa family, Luka.
Luka is a 12-year-old boy known for his cleverness and love of video games. He is the owner of a dancing bear named dog and a singing dog named bear, both freshly escaped from a traveling circus. The circumstances of their escape are only a taste of the strangeness waiting for Luka.
This imaginative epic begins when Luka’s father, Rashid Khalifa,falls into a deathly sleep.
Khalifa is a famous storyteller well-known as the “Shah of Blah,” a man whose limitless imagination was the center of “Haroun and the Sea of Stories.” The same is true for “Luka,” but the stakes are much higher.
Rashid’s stories are not simply stories – in this universe, a whole world of magic exists alongside the natural world, feeding his inspiration and housing all the creatures and deities of legends famous and forgotten. Luka finds himself suddenly immersed in this world, charged with a quest to steal the Fire of Life — an ancient power, which will wake his father and restore his health.
On his journey Luka is joined by bear and dog as well as a strange phantom called the Nobodaddy. The Nobodaddy is Luka’s ticking clock: As Rashid’s life wanes, the Nobodaddy grows stronger and becomes more real.
Like the video games Luka loves, his adventure comes in stages increasing in danger and depth; he even has an inventory of lives and save points scattered throughout the quest.
“Luka” takes the hero and reader on a journey that becomes much more layered than one initially realizes. Concepts of time, life and death take on interesting spins in the world of magic, forcing Luka to learn and adapt — or fail.
Rushdie has a complex writing style loaded with puns and double meanings. From his writing, you get the sense he has a love of language. The way he utilizes hieroglyphics and wingding fonts to convey the strangeness of some of the gods in this novel, helps to add to that sense of complexity.
Through out “Luka,” there are several cameos from famous pop culture icons — Doctor Who and Doc from “Back to the Future” being among them.
Above all of the gimmicks and pop culture references, it is the great sincerity and emotional drive that pushes Luka, and “Luka” to greatness.
As lush and wonderful as Rushdie built this world of magic and intrigue to be, at no point does it feel like he skimped on the development of the characters that really drive this story.
Although, “Luka and the Fire of Life,” is technically a sequel, “Luka” is a strong standalone story, one that you will have fun exploring and visit over and over again.
