A Thousand Nights
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
"Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village, looking for a wife."
When Lo-Melkhiin - a formidable king - arrives at her desert home, she knows that he will take her beautiful sister for a wife. Desperate to save her sister from certain death, she makes the ultimate sacrifice - leaving home and family behind to live with a fearful man.
But it seems that a strange magic flows between her and Lo-Melkhiin, and night after night, she survives. Finding power in storytelling, the words she speaks are given strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. But she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king . . . if only she can stop her heart from falling for a monster.
Set against a harsh desert backdrop, A Thousand Nights by E K Johnston is an evocative tale of love, mystery and magic that would not feel out of place if Scheherazade herself were telling it.
And perhaps she is...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
