Zahak - Farshid Shafiee

In this pocket-size book, illustrator Farshid Shafiee brings the traditional images and symbols of his native Iran to life in stylistically simple drawings that nevertheless form complex constellations. Horses, soldiers, kings, and monsters all spring from his stylus in an unfolding narrative of Zahak, an evil figure in Iranian folklore and Zoroastrian literature who appears in several of the Avestan myths. The Persian meaning of the name is "he who owns ten thousands of horses", and he is described as a monster with three mouths, six eyes, and three heads who is cunning, strong, and demonic. From Shafiee's disarmingly child-like drawings emerge thundering hooves and cries of battle.