Bardia and the Goolakhes Series (Cap Cloak Prince, The One-Eyed Oracle, The Word- eating Monster)

Mehdi Rajabi, the author of the Genie Conserve and the Dark Sisters, has created a world of fantasy of his own, with monsters and poisonous fruits and obvious saviors and an uncanny hero. The monsters (Goolakhs in Farsi) talk a special way and each special kids and have a special aim at the end: to wake up their master who would eat all the words in the world and therefore, would wipe out the stories in an instant. Bardia an innocent boy who stammers and suffers from low self-confidence, lives with his parents in an apartment complex. He basically has no friend (at

the beginning of course), but his hamster which is no ordinary hamster, of course. Bardia’s grandfather works at a library and loves his grandson deeply. Bardia’s seemingly harmless neighbor, Ms. Soori, is always at the elevator whenever Bardia enters it. A curious turn of events lead to Bardia’s realization that he is no ordinary boy. He is wizard, the chosen one, and must fight off the Goolakhs once and for all. In order to do so, he must face his deepest fears and

enemies from another land; a land in which horses are turtles and fruits are cubic and monsters eat words of books and stories.

Bardia is not alone; his grandfather and a group of his friends, all wizards and witches.

The author’s prose is fluent and appealing to young readers. Rajabi’s imagination is present and has created a narrative unprecedented in Iran’s contemporary young adults’ literature. Elements of modern urban spaces entangled with mystery and wizardry, friendship and trust, responsibility and fear build the framework of this breath-taking trilogy. The illustrations of the series are an added value, for they accompany the readers to a new world of monsters and talking horses and fruits which make your ears grow long.

Along the way, Bardia finds friendship in the strangest of places. His best friend is a weird girl who is tough and honest and sometimes, angry. She has had a tough life and does not remember her past quite well. Her cactus helps them a lot in their quest to defeat the Goolakhs and save the world. Mania is a very special girl, who finds out about her mother and her ancestors and… her father.

Book 1: Cap Cloak Prince

Bardia and his parents recently moved in to a 27-storey apartment complex. The parents work long hours and Bardia stays home alone after school. He stammers and his class-mates make fun of him. He is always hurt and annoyed and his best friend is his hamster. One of their neighbors, Ms. Soori always comes out of nowhere when Bardia goes out or comes back home. When Bardia’s hamster vanished, Ms. Soori told Bardia that she knows Goolakhs took his pet. Soori gave him a cloak full of stopples and caps and sent him to the land of Goolakh and fight Kootoolakh the King. After much adventure and danger even, Bardi and his hamster found themselves free and on their way to run away. Soori told Bardi not to taste anything in Goolakh Land. He didn’t listen, tasted a strange fruit and now his ears have grown long. He is the chosen wizard, but he now faces a real problem: what if his parents see his ears and what if Goolakhs come back to take revenge from the Prince? In this volume, Bardia discovers many new and exciting things about himself and the world and people around him.

Book 2: The One-Eyed Oracle

The story begins where book 1 had ended. Bardia is back from that strange land of Goolakhs the monsters with enlarged ears. Ms. Soori keeps a special liquid with magical effects. Bardia has trouble with two of his classmates, a mean twin who bother Bardia on a daily basis. In the meantime, Bardi meets a girl, Mania, with unprecedented strangeness. Mania owns a cactus, Alice, who can see things and transfer them to Mania in their sleep. This happens to be a crucial bond for their quest to defeat two Goolakhs, who kidnap the annoying twins and take them to their land.

Bardia accidentally meet a man, with one eye, who seems homeless and he gives the boy three old bottle caps to call him from pay phones whenever he needed help. This proves to be a game- changing event for Bardia in time of desperate anguish.

Things do not go as planned in Goolakh land and a great deal of courage, team work, and improvisation saves the day.

Book 3: The Word-Eating Monster

Finally, the monster is awaken: Naghis. Bardia and the order of supporters. This title is packed with adventures and dangers for Bardia. The Two Sisters are separated due to Bardia’s mistake and one is taken by the Goolakhs. Now the monsters can wake Naghis and pass through the Dark Gate and destroy all the books in the world. So now Bardia and the guardians must take action, pass the tunnels of the worlds, and reach the Forest of Hooms. On their way, they face numerous challenges. For example, they must keep away from a river, whose water tastes like Coke, but as soon as they drink, the worst happens. But there are monsters and Goolakhs to fight off and strange creatures to keep out. They must stay focused and united against the enemy of all stories. Towards the end of this volume, Mania faces a tremendous danger and is brought back only through power of love and friendship. She discovers something mesmerizing about her past and her ancestors and meet an unlikely man, to only find out that he might be her father after all.