E. K. Johnston

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...

A Thousand Nights

E.K. Johnston

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 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, 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.

Briar Rose

*Review also posted at Briar Rose Reads

I had the privilege of reading an ARC of this book (in exchange for an honest review), and it emerged as one of my recent favorites. It features gorgeous world-building and vivid, well-developed depiction of scenery and culture. (I'm not at all surprised to find that the author has spent considerable time in the Middle East.) The characterization is wonderful, with a truly beautiful relationship between the sisters, who remain unnamed, but whose love for each other transforms the world.

I drank in the beautiful, concise prose and the taut pacing, and after I was done reading, my mind kept going back to the underlying themes: the power of storytelling; the power of choosing to sacrifice oneself for another, out of love; the power that can be claimed by women, even in societies where they are afforded little.

I got to read an ARC, but I pre-ordered another copy anyway. I want this book to succeed, and I want more books like it. This is the re-telling of Scheherazade that I've been longing to read.

Julia Lotz

Inhalt: Lo-Melkhinn hat schon dreihundert Mädchen auf dem Gewissen, bevor er in ihr Dorf kommt, um sich eine neue Braut zu suchen. Als sie die Staubwolke am Horizont sieht, weiß sie, dass er das hübscheste Mädchen im Dorf mitnehmen wird: ihre Schwester. Aber das wird sie nicht zulassen. Stattdessen kehrt sie selbst mit dem geheimnisvollen Wüstenherrscher in seinen Palast zurück. Der Tod scheint ihr sicher, doch am nächsten Morgen ist sie immer noch am Leben. Von nun an erzählt sie Lo-Melkhinn jede Nacht eine neue Geschichte und jeden Morgen erwacht sie mit einem magischen Funken in sich, der von Tag zu Tag mächtiger wird ... (Quelle: Verlag)
Meine Meinung: Nachdem ich Zorn & Morgenröte gelesen und sehr geliebt habe, habe ich mich noch im selben Monat an Tausend Nächte aus Sand und Feuer herangewagt. Sehr mutig, denn nachdem ich von Zorn & Morgenröte so begeistert war, hatte dieses Buch es dann natürlich deutlich schwerer. Es ist ein Retelling der gleichen Geschichte und doch so anders, dass mir letztendlich der Vergleich jedoch glücklicherweise nicht geglückt ist und ich so jedes Buch für sich selbst betrachten konnte. 
Für mich ist Tausend Nächte aus Sand und Feuer besonders auch sprachlich eine Besonderheit und konnte mich damit auch überzeugen und kann aus der Masse herausstechen. Die Sprache klingt märchenhaft und ist altertümlich anmutend und hat so sehr zur Atmosphäre des Buches beigetragen. Ich finde immer, es ist ein sehr mutiger Schritt, vom Mainstream-Schreibstil wegzugehen und etwas Neues zu wagen. Das kann sehr leicht auch mal schief gehen, aber hier hat es glücklicherweise funktioniert. Auch viele andere stilistische Mittel der Autorin tragen sehr zur Atmosphäre und so ist diese im Buch generell sehr stark und präsent. Sie konnte häufig über längere Passagen, in denen nicht so viel passierte hinweghelfen und ist für mich sehr gelungen. 
Was damit jedoch auch einhergeht ist eine gewisse Distanz, die man zu allen Personen der Geschichte, vor allem eben auch zur Protagonistin aufbaut. Sie waren keinesfalls blass und ungeschliffen sondern erschienen eher ständig in weiter Ferne und blieben so sehr distanziert vom Leser. Mir hat oft die Nähe zu ihnen gefehlt. Was da auch mit hineinspielt ist, dass Namen im Buch, ausgenommen der von Lo-Melkhiin, im Buch keine Rolle spielen. Statt des Namens benutzt Emily Kate Johnston Begriffe wie Mutter meiner Schwester, Schwester etc. und schafft dadurch auch eine gewisse Distanz, die mit dem Schreibstil zusammenspielt und so eine eher geheimnisvolle, distanzierte und märchenhafte Atmosphäre schafft, bei der ich mir jedoch manchmal mehr Nähe gewünscht hätte, die stilistisch aber sehr treffend ist. 
Bezüglich der Geschichte und ihrer Entwicklung bin cih ebenfalls sehr unentschlossen. Es ist allgemein ein sehr schönes Retelling, das zwar wenig Spannung hat, diese war jedoch auch nicht unbedingt notwendig. Das Buch lebt sehr von der Atmosphäre und dem eher ruhigen Charakter und so hat diese mir auch nicht gefehlt. Viele besondere Elemente, wie Kleingötter und Dämonen wurden passend in die Geschichte eingewoben und blieben lange Zeit über geheimnisvoll, sodass man immer wieder ins rätseln kam. Auf der anderen Seite muss ich jedoch sagen, dass schon sehr zu Beginn vieles vorweg genommen wird. An dieser Stelle hätte ich es schöner und wohl auch spannender gefunden, wenn wir auch hier etwas länger im Dunkeln geblieben wären, denn ich muss schon sagen, dass es mir ein Stück weit wirklich den Spaß an der Geschichte genommen hat.
Fazit: Obwohl Tausend Nächte aus Sand und Feuer einige kleine Schwächen hat, konnte mich das Buch vor allem durch die erzeugte Atmosphäre sehr begeistern. Auch stilistisch muss man Emily Kate Johnstons Werk hervorheben. Es ist ein gelungenes Retelling und sehr ausdrucksstark. 

Vielen herzlichen Dank an cbt für das schöne *Rezensionsexemplar.

Ella Zegarra

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

El año pasado fue el año de los retelling de Las Mil y una Noches o de al menos novelas inspiradas en Oriente Medio. Pero, una cosa muy curiosa pasó con este libro, A Thousand Nights fue el ejemplo de lo que sucede cuando saturas el mercado con historias parecidas en un periodo de tiempo demasiado corto. El que siga después del primero, será siempre el que reciba las críticas. En este caso el hype uno de los libros por demás conocido, le causó una mala pasada a este libro.

Por eso, decidí leer este primero.

A THOUSAND NIGHTS

Soy amante de las historias sobre historias, cuando leí EREN quedé encantada. No leí Las Mil y una Noches, aunque siempre ha sido un libro que me ha tenido curiosa, mi problema es que es larguísimo jajaja Por lo que un retelling para mí era perfecto. 

Lamentablemente A Thousand Nights no llego a impactarme tanto como esperaba. Su lectura para mí fue extremadamente tediosa, siendo la lectora vaga que soy, amante de los diálogos, leer párrafo tras párrafo largo, fue agotador.

Es triste porque es una historia interesante, solo que la manera estructurada en la que esta, me dejo insatisfecha. 

Tengo la idea que si el libro hubiera sido narrado más por Lo-Melkiin, habría resultado más interesante. Porque nuestra narradora, de la cual nunca conocemos el nombre, no despertó gran curiosidad en mí. 

Y, sí, nunca se llega a saber el nombre de la narradora. Y tampoco de casi ningún otro personaje, lo cual es sumamente confuso, se refería a algunos como "La Madre de Madre" o algo así. Si eres fácil de confundir como yo, te será difícil diferenciar quien es quien.

FANTASIA

Sin intentar ser cruel, lo mejor fue el twist del final. Me dejo con la boca abierta, literalmente. No voy a arruinarte el final, obviamente.

A Thousand Nights es un libro complicado de cogerle ritmo, no leí todavía el otro libro con el que comparan intensamente a este, así que no puedo decirte cual prefiero de los dos, pero no creo que sea el tipo de libro que salte a recomendar a todos. 

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Becky

This is not a book which is easy to review, or to even describe. It has so many things going on and is so original in its approach that it makes it difficult to find the right words to properly describe it. This book is a slower paced novel with a strong magical quality to it. The writing was stunning and really drew me in to this book. The skill of the writing wraps you in this story until you are fully submersed in the world and it somehow keeps you there, even though the pace is slow and the story is different. It is just an amazing book.
 
You are all probably aware that another 1001 Nights retelling has been released this year, The Wrath & The Dawn, and you are also probably concerned this book will be a similar read, you will be thrilled to hear this is not the case. The two cannot even be compared as their approaches to the tale differ so completely. A Thousand Nights very much follows the magical path and keeps true to the original fairytale, expanding upon it and altering it to tell a tale which feels real and genuine. The world created within the words is magical, mystical, and feels very real. Whilst the two books are based upon the same fairytale, you would never be able to compare them as the stories they tell are completely different. For that, I am glad.
 
It is a slower paced book, but it is not boring. I often complain about the slow pace in books, but this isn’t one of those times. If this book moved too fast you would lose some of the wonder in the writing. This is not a huge action-packed adventure where you jump from one significant event to another, it is a slow book filled with magical stories, quiet courtly intrigue and excellent characterisation with a complex belief system. This book is all about the beautiful writing and realistic world, if it wasn’t written at a greater pace or with more action involved it would not create the same awe in the tale being told. It won’t be a book everyone can appreciate, but I certainly did.
 
I also loved that the entire story is told from the perspective of one young girl. You get occasional glimpses from a different perspective, but the main story is told from one voice and that really makes the book for me. Often this can make or break a book, the voice it is told from, but the entire tale is told from the viewpoint of Scheherazade, at least you assume that because you never in fact get told the name of your main character (I didn’t realise this until I finished and began writing this review, I am bad with character names at times, but no so bad I can’t remember her name). Scheherazade’s voice makes the entire story a bit more personal and real, and this connection you get with her from the start helps add to the book. I think if I had not enjoyed her thoughts and perspective in this book I would not have enjoyed it. She is not necessarily the strongest of characters, nor is she without flaws, but she is easy to connect to. I think this is from her connection to her family and the very intelligent thoughts she has on the world she inhabits, despite her more humble upbringing.
 
A Thousand Nights is one of those books that sounded realistic and genuine and was simply astounding. It is difficult to fully describe it you without revealing too much and spoiling it, but I can confirm it is utterly unique. I felt like I was reading a fairytale, but it was more than that, it felt like a genuine story from history. Whilst reading, you felt like this was a folktale told around a campfire whilst you travelled across the desert, one of those stories passed down to each generation. The world created felt so real and I don’t think I have ever said this about a book before, but the belief system described in this book was utterly fantastic. Johnston creates a religious system centred around what they call ‘smallgods’ which were peoples ancestors who were worshipped for different feats they did in life. They gave power to these ancestors celebrating them for their achievements. I loved that the religious system was explained so well, I mean it is a part of the story so if you read you will understand why, but it is nice to have the religious beliefs explained so well with it very much being a woman’s role in the family to honour the ancestors of her husbands family.
 
I think the greatest part of this book, for me, was the fact that women and their roles were looked over so quickly by men, but this entire book is about the strength of women and what they can achieve even though men would look past them. It was amazing, again I won’t reveal too much, but I definitely got a strong sense that women were important in this book. It has a strong feminist vein to it, but it is not overwhelming, I know some people can be turned off by the word feminism (I would ask why, but this is not what my review is about) but you definitely not get put off in this book. You will want to stand up and celebrate the strength of women after reading this, it is amazing.
 
Overall, I love this book. No, it is not the most thrilling when broken down to the basic story, but it doesn’t need to be. You do not need action and adventure to make a good book, and Johnston demonstrates this in A Thousand Nights. Instead, you need strong characters, a very believable world to be created, and a tale which invokes a strong connection to this world and characters. Johnston invokes a sense of wonderment and power with the words written and I adored it. I will say now, not everyone will enjoy this book, but I hope you will be willing to give it a chance, because you may find something really beautiful in it.

"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 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 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, 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.

Toni Turner

I am obsessed with the atmosphere of the desert, which I have lived in and don’t like much in real life, and stories where the characters have to travel by horse WHICH I AM TERRIFIED OF IN REAL LIFE. Horses freak me out and I believe we should have left them alone. Humans should not have contact with horses.

…but in books. When you have to travel. Maybe across a desert? Idk. Idk. I eat it up. And I don’t know why. But yeah. The good and the vibes and the bath scenes were her hand maidens washed her and got her all pretty. Those types of scenes are top tier. It’s just such a fun dynamic to read about. And the sister relationship made me cry. I was so sucked into this one night I didn’t want to put it down but I had to and I couldn’t go to sleep bc I was so touched by the strong sisterly connection. 

So yeah this was great and exactly what I wanted to read. I liked the direction it went towards the end and I liked the ending but what if…ya know? The possibilities were endless at one point and I had ideas but I respect the end we got.

Jen Estrella

Good men fall to monsters every day.

The truth is, I do not have much reading experience when it comes to retellings. However, the main frame story (Shahryar and Scheherazade) behind the One Thousand and One Nights Collection has always fascinated me. Hence, my interest in its most recent retellings - The Wrath and the Dawn and this book, A Thousand Nights. I started with A Thousand Nights partly because I couldn't remember the last time I'd read something with lyrical writing, magical realism, or just anything with more prose. 

And prose was what I got. This book started off really interesting. I was, as usual, drawn to the writing. It really gave prominence to this book's supposed magical/otherworldly atmosphere. However, to those of us who've read quite a number of books with the same writing style, we'd know that this kind of writing becomes tedious to read as the story goes on, UNLESS the plot offers interesting events or moves at a slightly faster pace; none of which happened in this case. 

I could air some compliments here and there - its feminist approach, the focus on familial relationships rather than romance, the nameless characters that gave uniqueness and power to the story - but every good thing about this book is blotted out by its incredibly sluggish pace. You cannot deny the existence of this drawn-out lull from the time the protagonist became Lo-Melkhiin's wife until the time she understood what she was capable of. Every scene, minus her encounters with Lo-Melkhiin, was so unexciting that the only thing that kept me reading was my curiosity as to how the story would end. 

I almost skimmed through some of the chapters because it took so long to describe something like walking in the garden or doing a chore. Then of course we have the metaphors. Case in point:


  Again, I wished that I could pray, but there was no one to hear my words; even if I could have said them to my own shrine, I feared the power they might unleash if I said them. It was though I were a water jar, nearly full when the bucket had come out of the well. Instead of pouring the water into another vessel, or back into the well, more water kept coming into my jar. I should have overflowed, spilling the precious liquid onto the sand where grasping roots would find it, but instead the jar kept filling. I knew that soon I would swell under the pressure, but surely the water must overflow. It could not be packed more tightly into the jar.


Okay, so it sounds like I hated the book. What's with the rating then? Well, despite its lengthiness, the story, with its message, is still something worth knowing. Also, I liked how this book attempts to empower using the context of an ancient tale.

Moreover, can I just say that this reminded me so much of my experience while reading Bone Gap. The only difference is that A Thousand Nights was more engaging during the first half. Bone Gap drained so much of my concentration before I even got to appreciate the beauty of the story. Well, I'm not quite sure why I'm even comparing those two books; probably just popped into my head because of the writing style. The ending was well, suitable, but let's just say it wasn't as rewarding as I thought it would be. 

Altogether, I'd say I did find myself enjoying this book for a longer time (vs. other books with the same writing style, yeah you know all that already), but I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. If you're about to read this book because you're curious about the romance, don't. There is about 5% romance in this book, and surely, not all those parts would be considered 'romantic' by everyone. 

If it's the story you're after, then I'd have to tell you that it isn't something twisted or one of a kind. The blurb pretty much says it all. I'm not trying to discourage you from reading this book. I did love it for quite some time, but I think you'd have to have a certain love for lyrical writing and slow-paced stories filled with magical and cultural elements to appreciate this one. You'd need some love for retellings too. 

 On a totally unrelated note, that cover is gorgeous.

María Belén

Everything about this book is perfect, especially the heroine. The writing is beautiful and the story is simply magical. 

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I loved it from start to finish.

Mollee Clingenpeel

This book had promise. I liked the concept, however it fell flat for me. Very few things actually happened throughout the book, and when they did it felt like they were rushed. Most of this book took place with our main character sitting around being bored, missing her family, and trying to find things to occupy her time. This boredom definitely translated to my own feelings. Another thing, A Thousand Nights is a fantasy, so you expect a battle scene. What I didn't expect was that the battle scene would take place 90% of the way through, and only last ONE CHAPTER. The big fantasy battle scene lasted ONE CHAPTER. Talk about disappointment and feeling rushed. It didn't even feel like a battle, and was extremely anticlimactic. The premise was great, but the execution was definitely lacking and came across as rather rushed and boring.

Tyler Rodrigues

I loved the style, very much reminiscence of 'Things fall Apart". However didn't get super good until the last forty pages. With that being said the beginning 200 pages are entertaining, just nothing super exciting happens.

ella

Although I started this book with certain expectations which were not met, I still think this is a great book. Once you get past the fact that the characters are anonymous and the only person with a name in the entire story is the villain, this book reads like a piece of art. 
I will admit that it is not one of my favorites and I do have certain issues with it (hence the 2 star rating), but it was written in such a beautiful way that I couldn't help but finish it. 
I had a hard time getting through the first few chapters as it started out quite slow, but once I got into the rhythm of the story, I got through it just fine. 
This book is definitely worth a read if you want to be swept away by the magic and mystery of it all and you don't mind anonymous characters.

 Bruna Acioly Leão

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.


One of the most unique books I've ever read. This book was so beautifully written, so full of whimsical magic and rich description. Yes, the main character and most of others don't have names. I understand this creative decision made by the author. It made the story more magical somehow, more like a fairy tale. The characters were close, but at the same time pulled apart from us, living in a realm of fantasy.

A Thousand Nights is a reimagining of the One Thousand and One Nights collection of stories. Much like in the original tale, there is a king that has killed all his wives previously and at some point he visits the main character's village. The main character, suspecting that he will choose her sister, the most beautiful and noticeable woman in the village, decides to lure him into choosing her instead. This kind of self sacrifice is found within the original tale of Scheherazade as well. Going from there the book sort of diverts from the original tale in the sense that the main character does not tell stories to the king to stay alive every night. Instead she discovers a power within her. A power that surged from her sacrifice and from her sister's the termination to turn her into a smallgod, which is this world are kind of like saints, people who other people pray to and who acquire powers to answer this prayers after their death. But the main character somehow is able to access this power while still alive. Her power crashes with the king's own power, as he has been long ago possessed by a creature in the desert (and we also hear bits from this creature's perspective). He is not able to kill the MC, and instead he seeks to turn her power onto him.

There is much more to it, but I don't want to spoil the gist of the story. Now onto what I liked: mostly the writing style and the idea behind the story. I could connect with the main character, we were inside her head and we knew what she was thinking and feeling, though it was a bit harder to connect with the other characters. I also liked the settings - EK Johnston is able to describe the desert beautifully - and the bits of Arab culture throughout the novel. Nothing felt force or contrived. This isn't much of a plot-driven novel, there isn't a lot of action or anything like that, but the plot did have a direction, I could see where it was headed and the end result was satisfying. There wasn't any romance, as was appropriate given the way the author chose to tell the story.

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the synopsis or in the original tale. I would not recommend if you prefer action-packed plots or if you need characters to have names. I would not recommend if you don't usually like books solely for the writing style (which I do).
I would recommend it if you're interested in a book that empowers female characters and their relationships with one another. 

As a final note, how much do you just *want* that UK hardcover? Because I do, 100%.

"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...

Lisa Beasley

I was really hoping I would like this more than I did. The physical book itself is stunning, but sadly the story inside just didn't pull me in. The fact that we don't discover hardly anybody's name (including our main character) definitely did not help and I got really sick of reading 'my fathers fathers father' and 'my sisters mother', I was like seriously just call them by their names love. Because of the lack of name I found it really hard to connect to our main protagonist, the writing was pretty but I just found it lacking something. Bit of a shame.

A Thousand Nights

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