Data:
⭐5/5
Author: E. K. Johnston
Pages: 325
Publishing House: Hyperion
ISBN: 1484722272
Synopsis:
Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.
And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awakened by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.
Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.
Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.
<<There is life, and there is living>>
-A Thousand Nights, E.K. Johnston
Review:
This book tells the story of Sherezada, who offers herself as a sacrifice to save her sister from King Lo-Melkhiin's marriage bed. Young women whom the king has taken as wives do not last more than a week in the qasr, and those who are lucky reach thirty days.
Sherezada knows that she is going to die, and still, with her heart grieving for leaving her father's tents, she dresses in her sister's best clothes, braids her hair, and with the certainty that she is going to be converted in a little god, she is ready to be chosen by the fearsome King Lo-Melkhiin.
''I was done with murdering little girls. This one would be my queen.''
-A Thousand Nights, E.K. Johnston
This book was chosen to read during the “To Overcome This Quarantine” lunary for week two, which consisted of reading a classic. The classic I chose was Arabian Nights, a book that I was dying to read, instead, I read an adaptation of this classic called The Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston. And I must tell you, Dreamers, that I realized this almost halfway through the book ...
History.
The Thousand Nights, being an adaptation of The Thousand and One Nights, has many elements of the classic, however, there are many other factors that change. Also, there are many elements of fiction and fantasy in this story that the classic probably does not possess. However, it is a story that having these new elements catches new readers within its pages.
I hoped, being an adaptation, to find many stories like in the classic. However, what I came across was a refreshing new story. Where the protagonist tells us about her life and the magic arose once she left her father's tents.
Although this book is based on Arab culture, I did not see many of these elements reflected on its pages. The story mentions a lot about the desert and how complicated life is there, as well as the family gods, but, there are not many factors that, as readers, you associate with Arab culture.
Prose:
This book is easy and fast to read, the way the author narrates this book makes reading fluid and the reader imagines the environment in which the protagonist faces within the Lo-Melkhiin qasr. In the same way, it is easy to feel the mystery and tension that exists within the pages of this book. This, because it is narrated from the perspective of the protagonist.
However, there are some fragments that differ from the rest, not only because the narrator changes, but also because of the dark tone of this character's thoughts that seems to see everything from another person.
The chapters are short, but clearly show the temperament and thoughts of the protagonist, making the reader empathize with her and feel and imagine everything that she perceives.
Characters:
I have to say that throughout the book, the names mentioned are counted, the most outstanding being that of Lo-Melkhiin. And, I have to say that until now I did not knew the name of the protagonist. Always, the author when mentioning the characters does so by referring to the description of some action she performs or because of the blood or non-blood relationship she has with the protagonist. This can lead to confusion if not read carefully.
Sherezada, our protagonist is a woman who has a personality that is very strong, by this I mean that she fights for what she believes is right and what she believes in, no matter if she can become rational or not, as long as she firmly believes in it. Likewise, she was curious, cunning and intelligent, who knows how to take advantage of everything in her favor. Honestly, she is a protagonist that I loved. Since she managed to keep her essence from the beginning of the book to the end, no matter what obstacles were in her way.
Lo-Melkhiin is ultimately a mysterious and ambitious character. The author gives this character two faces that are clearly shown; the first is a king who has been wise, who is agreeable to his subjects and has made his people grow; the second is a being with a lot of ambition, manipulator and controller over what he wants. An intelligent and cunning character, worthy to wear the crown he has.
The relationship between Sherezada and Lo-Melkhiin is tense, with both of them curious about each other, with a mutual feeling of respect.
Outcome.
I didn't expect as much magic and fantasy as there is between the pages of this story, which made the story a bit confusing in its outcome. What I think ultimately makes it very different from the classic that was written hundreds of years ago.
Conclusions:
It is a story that I loved because of the strength that exists within the protagonist, as well as the mystery and tension between its pages about her uncertain future within the qasr. A retailing of the Arabian Nights that perhaps is a bit away from the classic (with much more fantasy and fiction than I expected), but, which made me want to read the original story.
-Fer 🌻🌻
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