Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's novel by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's fifth major publication and followed The Satanic Verses. It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so sad and ruinous that it has forgotten its name. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is an allegory for several problems existing in society in the present day and especially in the Indian subcontinent. It looks at these problems from the viewpoint of the young protagonist Haroun. Rushdie dedicated this book to his son, from whom he was separated for some time. Many elements of the story deal with the problems of censorship: an issue particularly pertinent to Rushdie because of the fatwa against him backed by Ayatollah Khomeini. The book is highly allusive and puns in multiple languages. Many of the major characters' names allude to some aspect of speech or silence. It was made into an audiobook read by Rushdie himself. Plot summary At the beginning of the story, protagonist Haroun Khalifa lives with his father Rashid, a famous storyteller and doctor, and his mother Soraya, until the latter is seduced by their neighbor 'Mr. Sengupta' to leave home. Thereafter, Rashid is hired to speak on behalf of local politicians but fails his initial assignment. The two are thence conveyed to the 'Valley of K' by courier 'Mr. Butt', to speak for 'Snooty Buttoo', another politician. Attempting to sleep aboard Buttoo's yacht, Haroun discovers 'Iff the Water Genie', assigned to detach Rashid's imagination, and demands to speak with Iff's supervisor, the Walrus, to argue against this decision. They are then carried to the eponymous 'Sea of Stories' by an artificial intelligence in the form of a hoopoe, nicknamed 'Butt' after the courier. In the Sea of Stories, Haroun learns the Sea is endangered by antagonist 'Khattam-Shud', who represents "the end". In the Kingdom of Gup, King Chattergy, Prince Bolo, General Kitab, and the Walrus announce their plans for war against the neighboring kingdom of Chup, to recapture Bolo's betrothed Princess Batcheat. Rashid joins them here, having witnessed Batcheat's kidnapping. Thereafter Haroun and his companions join the Guppee army of 'Pages' toward Chup, where they befriend Mudra, Khattam-Shud's former second-in-command. Haroun, Iff, Butt the Hoopoe, and Mali, the stories' gardener, investigate the Sea's 'Old Zone' and are captured by Khattam-Shud's animated shadow, who plans to plug the Story Source at the bottom of