Two Tame Offerings by Rushdie : Books: With a new novel and collection of essays, author moves far afield from ‘Satanic Verses.’ But the controversy still dogs him.

Still in hiding following death threats from the spiritual leader of Iran, Salman Rushdie has written two new books of a decidedly nonpolitical nature.

“Haroun and the Sea of Stories,” a novel Rushdie wrote for his son, and “Imaginary Homelands,” a collection of essays written between 1981 and 1990, will be published under a joint arrangement of Granta Books of Great Britain and Penguin USA in this country.

Penguin USA is the parent company of Viking, publisher of Rushdie’s last novel, “The Satanic Verses,” in February, 1989. The book so enraged the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that he called on Muslims to execute Rushdie. Rushdie, a British citizen, has been in hiding ever since.

Penguin also holds paperback rights to “The Satanic Verses.” However, no date has been set for its paperback publication, although such books generally come out about a year after the hardcover edition.

Paul Slovak, a Viking spokesman, denied the company has bowed to pressure in delaying--or deferring entirely--the paperback edition. Threats were also directed at Viking and at some U.S. bookstores after publication of “The Satanic Verses.”

“We have never said we would not publish the paperback,” Slovak said. “All that we will say is that no date has been set for publication in paperback.”

Slovak said the hardcover edition of “The Satanic Verses” continues to sell briskly. B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, two of the country’s leading book chains, each sell “between 50 and 120 copies” of the book weekly, Slovak said.

Rushdie’s literary agent, Andrew Wylie, denied published reports that he had trouble selling the author’s new books because of the troubles surrounding “The Satanic Verses.” He would not disclose the price the two books brought.

Wylie said that “Haroun” was “begun and finished in the last year,” while Rushdie has been in forced seclusion.

The book is a fable about a professional storyteller named Rashid, or “the Shah of Blah,” who loses the gift of storytelling after his wife leaves him. “It is very Salman, very identifiable,” Wylie said.

He said that, even without the extreme circumstances accompanying “The Satanic Verses,” Rushdie almost certainly would have written “Haroun.”

“I think it is the same book he would have written in any case,” Wylie said.

The 72 essays in “Imaginary Homelands” cover “a wide range of topics,” said Viking spokesman Slovak.

Neither book is regarded as controversial in tone. But as Peter Mayer, chief executive officer of the Penguin Group, said, “We did not think, and publishers all over the world did not think, when ‘The Satanic Verses’ was bought that ‘The Satanic Verses’ was an incendiary book.”

Still, debate over the book continues, particularly in Great Britain, where newspapers report regularly on “l’affaire Rushdie.”

“It is still a raging controversy over there,” said one source close to Rushdie who asked not to be identified. “There are still articles in the paper every day about the book.”

According to one such report, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the latter’s death last year, has called for Rushdie to be killed by British Muslims for “blasphemy” against Islam.

Novelist Marianne Wiggins, Rushdie’s wife, spent part of last year in hiding with him, but now lives in the United States. She has denied reports that she and Rushdie intend to divorce. In a telephone interview, Wiggins declined to discuss Rushdie’s latest two books.

While conceding that comparisons are probably inevitable, Mayer of Penguin said he hoped “Haroun”’ and “Imaginary Homelands” would be read for their own virtues and not for how they do or do not relate to “The Satanic Verses.”

“I do not think that the excitement that these two new books will engender for their own sakes needs to be set in the context of what happened surrounding the publication of ‘The Satanic Verses,’ ” Mayer said, adding, “I think that Mr. Rushdie would like them to be seen for their own intrinsic value.”

Wylie, Rushdie’s agent, said the writer is at work on another novel. But he declined to discuss what the new book might cover: “We’ll see another novel, and when we see it, we’ll know.”