Midnight's Children prize winners in 1993 and 2008 to celebrate the Booker Prize 25th and 40th anniversary. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels". It was also added to the list of Great Books of the 20th Century, published by Penguin Books. "Midnight's Children" is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment when India became an independent country. He was born with telepathic powers, as
Luka and the Fire of Life Luka and the Fire of Life Luka and the Fire of Life is a novel by Salman Rushdie. It was published by Jonathan Cape, Random House in 2010. It is the sequel to "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". Rushdie has said "he turned to the world of video games for inspiration" and that "he wrote the book for his 13-year-old son". The book opens with protagonist Luka and his father Rashid 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