A Thousand Nights

by E. K. Johnston

Overview

"A story threaded with shimmering vibrance and beauty, A Thousand Nights will weave its spell over readers' hearts and leave them captivated long after the final tale has been told." — Alexandra Bracken, New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds series

A dazzling retelling of Arabian Nights, A THOUSAND NIGHTS is a tale of family, love and power that would not feel out of place if Scheherazade herself were telling it. And maybe she is...

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. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken 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, back 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. Then 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484722275
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/06/2015
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.90(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she's learned anything, it's that things turn out weird sometimes, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it's about a pairing she likes.

You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for the pretty pictures, or online at ekjohnston.ca.

Editorial Reviews

10/12/2015
Inspired by the Scheherazade story, Johnston (Prairie Fire) introduces a nameless 17-year-old heroine who takes her sister's place as wife to a murderous king. Thanks to her sister's prayers—channeled through an original magic system by which revered ancestors become "smallgods" through the worship of their descendants—she acquires godlike powers while still living. As she struggles to survive her marriage and adapt to city life, she discovers that the king, Lo-Melkhiin, is possessed by a demon fascinated by her newfound powers. Johnston creates a memorable world populated by craft-obsessed demons who prey on humans by forcing them to create art even as it destroys them. The power of sisterhood, both literal and figurative, gives the protagonist the strength to stand between her people and total destruction. Though the ending is slightly rushed, the focus on female solidarity and worth in a male-dominated world, along with the ethical questions raised as the heroine's magic alters the course of her sister's life, make this a powerful read. Ages 14–up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

10/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—This work explores the setting and central characters from the classic Arabian Nights: Tales from One Thousand and One Nights, adding a mystical backstory for why the Prince kills his 300 wives but spares the Storyteller. In this retelling, the unnamed heroine sacrifices herself for her sister, the most beautiful girl in her village, when the Prince comes to claim a new bride. When her sister builds a shrine to make her a small god, the protagonist finds that she can weave more than just stories, and as her time in the Prince's court grows longer, she finds her powers growing unexpectedly strong. The protagonist continues to survive thanks to the tales she spins every night and begins to discover the true nature of her husband's "possession." She uses this knowledge and her burgeoning abilities to overthrow the demon and his kin when they converge on her village to stop the growing rebellion led by her family. The author creates a mystical fantasy world set under a hot desert sun using an elegant, traditional storytelling style. However, the characters are not as well drawn as the landscape, and readers may not find themselves invested in their individual story lines. The plot draws to a very abrupt, predictable end. Teens who love the fantasy genre will be drawn into the world created here but may be disappointed by the story that takes place in it. VERDICT Not as strong an offering as Renée Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn (Putnam, 2015).—Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT

School Library Journal

★ 2015-07-22
A loose retelling of The Arabian Nights frame story from Morris Award- and Kirkus Prize-finalist Johnston takes ideas of power and gender, belief and love, and upends them. Somewhere in the pre-Islamic Middle East, an unnamed girl narrates how, with the intent of saving her beloved sister, she sets herself against a king who has already wed and killed 300 wives before the story begins. Desert spirit Lo-Melkhiin (neither djinn or afrit is used but readers familiar with Arabic tradition will recognize the mythic wellspring) has possessed a king and feeds upon human creativity; he is also the only named character throughout the novel, a bold stylistic choice that shapes the entire tone. This is a story of the unnamed and unnoticed in which women's unrecognized power (from the prayers of the narrator's mother, sister, and sister's mother to the creative genius of women in the qasr, entirely overlooked by Lo-Melkhiin) provides the magic that defeats the demonic presence. Fueled by prayers and love (her family has made her a smallgod, or local deity, something usually done only after death), determined to stop the cycle of pointless deaths, the narrator tells stories that become truths, possibly including her own. Detailed and quiet, beautifully written with a literary rhythm that evokes a sense of oral tale-telling, this unexpected fantasy should not be missed. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

"A story threaded with shimmering vibrance and beauty, A Thousand Nights will weave its spell over readers' hearts and leave them captivated long after the final tale has been told."—Alexandra Bracken, New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds series

* "Detailed and quiet, beautifully written with a literary rhythm that evokes a sense of oral tale-telling, this unexpected fantasy should not be missed."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"This is an unexpected gem of a book about storytelling, magic, and relationships, and romance buffs in particular will find the conclusion immensely satisfying, as hard-won, gradual love has a chance to flourish once the wicked force has been defeated."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A powerful read."—Publishers Weekly

"This fantasy, rich with layers of legend and meaning, will captivate readers ready for an adventure. . . Johnston's writing is densely lyrical, evoking the legendary tales of One Thousand and One Nights, from which this story derives."—Booklist

From the Publisher