The Land of the Blind – Körler Ülkesi
The renowned Venetian explorer Marco Polo once said: ‘I have not told half of what I saw’. This is the story of Ran and Lusin Eltanin, the twins who found the diary in which he told the other half of what he saw.
Ran and Lusin Eltanin, twins attending a boarding school in Venice, discover Marco Polo’s secret diary in the school library. In the diary, Polo writes about the secrets he had not wanted to tell anyone and a hidden place in Venice where he stored his treasures. Ran discovers that Polo’s stash is in the ruined tower of Dandolo College, and he goes to investigate. Ran finds a concealed room below the tower filled with bows, swords, chests full of jewellery, a mummy, and a scroll of papyrus. On the map, Ran discovers the ‘Land of the Blind,’ a lost country, and a pyramid in the middle. Before Ran can solve the mystery, he and his sister find themselves in their headmaster’s office, learning that their parents have gone missing in Yemen’s bleak deserts.
The school administration dispatches the children to their great-uncle, Captain Barnekas, in Istanbul, and they take the Orient Express. During the journey, they encounter a beautiful female spy, Süreyya, who tries to steal Lusin’s three-headed snake fossil. However, Kashmir, the gypsy chief, saves Lusin. The twins spend the night with Kashmir and hear stories about Istanbul and the Land of the Blind. When they arrive in Istanbul, nobody is there to meet them. They eventually reach Pera Palace, where their great-uncle, Captain Barnekas, appears and is unhappy with their presence.
Hotel of Secrets – Sırlar Oteli
The celebrated English author Agatha Christie had an 11-day secret in her life. Apparently a key is hidden in Room 411 in Pera Palace that will open the door to this secret. This book tells the story of the three children who find that key and open the door to that secret. These are the Eltanin twins and Hakan, who is staying in Pera Palace with his father and who is also a member of the branch of Vikings living in Istanbul.
Ran and Lusin Eltanin had no idea what they were getting into when they stepped into the grand Pera Palace Hotel. As they explored its opulent halls and hidden corners, they soon found themselves embroiled in a mysterious puzzle with pieces scattered across different rooms. Secret passages, stairs that led to who-knows-where, and rooms no one knew about – the hotel was full of secrets. And the deeper they delved, the more dangerous the puzzle became.
It all started with a tiny key found in Room 411, where the legendary crime writer Agatha Christie had stayed in the late 1920s. The word was that the key opened the door to a big secret. The Eltanin twins deciphered an encrypted message in the first edition of one of Christie’s novels, which led them to other clues hidden throughout the hotel. Eventually, they found themselves in Mata Hari’s room, facing a locked box. Inside, they found an archaeologist’s trowel, a paintbrush, and a tortoise shell. When they realized that the new clues pointed to the Ottoman painter and archaeologist Osman Hamdi Bey, they knew they were onto something big. But just as they were about to uncover the final piece of the puzzle, they narrowly escaped being caught by Captain Barnekas, who had returned to his office unexpectedly.
Unbeknownst to the Eltanin twins, Captain Barnekas had been seeking advice from the Miners, an ancient tribe who had been living in the hidden tunnels and caves beneath Istanbul for centuries. Known for their metallic hair color, tattooed bodies, and garments made from worm skin, the Miners possessed a wealth of knowledge about the city’s secrets. And when they saw Lusin’s fossil, they recognized it as a very strong Seraph – a fossil of the first creatures that ever lived on Earth.
The Guardian of the Seals – Mühürlerin Muhafızı
Date: 19 January 1909. The Ottoman Empire’s first archaeologist, the painter and intellectual Osman Hamdi Bey, records his last message on a gramophone record in a secret room under Chora Church. He says that he is the Guardianof Seals and he provides the clue that his successor can find the hidden seals by listening to the recorded message. This book is about Ran Eltanin being the last guardianof the seals of the city of sultans, Istanbul.
The City of Ice – Buzlar Şehri
Viking marks scratched in the marble in the Imperial Byzantine church, Hagia Sophia. One says ‘Halfdan was here’,another one has depictions of a small Viking ship. But what was it that brought the Vikings down to Istanbul from their northern homelands? They were Byzantine’s Pelekyphoroi Barbaroi, or axe-bearing barbarians. They became the Byzantine emperor’s personal guardsmen. Even King Harald, the Viking king, had been a member of this guard. But they had not travelled to Istanbul just for fairy tale treasures. They believed that this was the place referred to in their prophecies. They were trying to reach a mystery that even went beyond their wildest dreams: Valhalla, the hall where their dead heroes went… This book is the story of the Eltanin twins’ search for the world’s oldest city, a place that appears even in the legends of their Viking friends.
The Labyrinth of Roots – Kökenler Labirenti
Istanbul is founded on the shores of the Sea of Marmara and underneath it is a passage that leads to a big labyrinth. The labyrinth is supposed to run the length of Anatolia. From Istanbul to Van, Anatolia is in its entirety a protrusion of this labyrinth. It is a great gaping abyss. The Vikings called it Ginnungagab, the Sumerians called it Abzu. This place existed even when the world did not. Once upon a time the people of the Labyrinth were as powerful as gods. They were living in peace. They were slow and serene like trees. But among them there was one who did not want things to continue as they were. He was young, strong and ambitious. He was jealous of the short but full lives people who were weaker than himself lived. He wanted to rule, build big palaces and to shape the world as he wished. He was a Pharaoh. The people of the Labyrinth decided to stop him. They turned his power unto himself making his entire body burn. That was when he became filled with wickedness. He attacked anything he came across. He drove the rest of the people out of the Labyrinth and began to torment them. Finally, the Family Council headed by the Eltanins buried the Pharaoh together with the Labyrinth, their ancient land, underneath what now is the Sea of Marmara.
This book is about the Eltanin twins’ and their friends’ search for the Pharaoh’s palace and obtaining the only power they need to defeat him, in short, the story of joining up the First Fable.
Delal Arya 
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