The time has come Hamidreza Shahabadi’s second installment of The Gate of the Dead Series. As we expect from the author, this novel too is such an intricately woven network of evens, twists, and surprises. Also, history again plays a pivotal role in this title; and that is what readers love about his works. Pleasant and plausible dialogs along with dramatic setting has made an atmosphere of unprecedented density and intensity for young adults. The author has created a relatable character, called Nader, who is the symbol of modernity and progress. Nader comes to Reza and his companion’s aid and together, they try to dismantle a gang of child kidnappers. Nader, a graduate of astronomy from the Netherlands, Nader has dreams of making and flying a balloon. On the other hand, we have Reza, who has come back to Tehran with the hope of going to Mirza Hassan Rushdieh’s school. Tehran in Qajar period was plagued with Cholera and what Reza witnesses haunts him for the rest of his life.
Parallel to this storyline, we go forth a couple of hundreds of years to Majid’s house, who accidentally had found Reza’s scripts. He reads and reads and is obsessed with Reza’s fate and that building they found at the end of book 1. He goes back to the old mansion and a strange Indian man catches his eyes. The rest of the book is the struggle between fantasy and history and the narrow line of what men consider reality or fiction. Farrokh and Noyan Khan, the antagonists, still searching for Reza and Shakoor, who fell into the peculiar pond of the mansion, have expanded their range of bad deeds to new levels and that is why Reza feels responsible to face them and save their captured slaves.
The world of dead accepts anyone and let out no one. But when Reza walks his readers into the underground world, we cannot help but recall the ancient Greek mythology of the paid price of coming back to life. The honest confrontation of logical science and superstition, the embodiment of which is Nader, has influenced Shahabadi’s story to be relatable to modern day adolescents, as well as adults. Nader and Reza’s relationship is of paramount value during the course of the story. They face abominable groups of tyrants and criminals and bullies, and with rooted trust and a couple of loyal friends, are able to finish what they started as a single rescue mission. Numerous new characters are introduced in this title, all of whom are representative of different social classes and from historical perspective, can be considered a mirror to what Tehran was like back then.
Shakoor came to rescue. He told me to jump into the pond. I went ahead and stood at the edge. Slowly, I put by right foot on the surface and then, my left foot. Now I too was standing on the water. “Hurry up before someone sees us.” Shakoor said… I did what I did the last time. He pulled me down and I opened my eyes and started breathing. We were surrounded by too many men and women and children floating underwater. We were suspended in a bright space. Their hair was wild and their faces seemed white and frightened. Shakkor faced me and said: “Look Reza, I’ll help you escape Noyan’s mansion and in return, you need to do something for me. “
- Do what?
- I’ll tell you. First, we need to go a bit further down, where you can see someone.
He pulled me down and our surrounding got darker and darker… we floated and everything and everyone was hanging upside down… he then called out: “Rasool, Rasool…”
The boy came out; his eyes lightless and colorless, his lips thin and tenuous. Before I could utter a word, Shakoor said: “he arrived two weeks ago and you are going to save his sister up there!”
