One of the earliest stories put to writing was A Thousand and One Nights, a collection of stories from all over the Middle East and East Asia. When it finally reached the English-speaking world, it was also known as Arabian Nights. The story of Aladdin is often associated with the tale as it is sometimes included depending on which version you read. And with Disney celebrating the Diamond Edition release of their animated classic, it seems fitting that Hyperion is releasing an updated retelling of the original A Thousand and One Nights, now known simply as A Thousand Nights.
E. K. Johnston reimagines the story at the center of A Thousand and One Nights in a way that makes it accessible to modern readers. In the original tale, a beautiful young woman is plucked from her village to be the next bride to a tyrannical king who has been marrying girls and killing them when they fail to please him. This girl manages to survive his murderous warpath by telling the king a different story every night, each one ending with a cliffhanger to buy herself another night.
In A Thousand Nights, our nameless heroine is not a storyteller and the king, Lo-Melkhin, is not exactly as he seems. The girl disguises herself as her older, more beautiful sister to save her from being the king’s next victim, igniting a chain of events that she couldn’t foresee. As her family and village begin to worship her as a “smallgod,” she finds herself with a power that can match the mysterious force within the once kind king. Other girls have turned to dust at his touch, but not her. She must be strong and unravel the mystery behind his evil cruelty to stay alive and hopefully bring peace to her land.
While aimed at a teenage audience, Johnston has told such a captivating tale that adult readers who enjoyed books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games will likely love it just as much as the target audience. In some respects, The Hunger Games borrowed from the original A Thousand and One Nights, and this seems to lightly borrow from The Hunger Games in regards to the sister relationship. However, being set in the past and at a time when women’s rights were non-existent adds themes and rich layers that most teen novels lack. In the same way that The Hunger Games has widened the world for readers who now realize that Panem isn’t quite so fictitious, A Thousand Nights will expose readers to what it’s like to be a woman in a country that expects you to walk behind a man and be subservient to him. It doesn’t beat you over the head, but the message is a powerful takeaway.
I really loved the cultural details that exist in A Thousand Nights. Johnson is an archeologist and clearly did a lot of research to bring this time period to life, but also seems to have added her own magic to it as well. Like in Harry Potter, the magic has limits. Unlike the Potter books, there’s no school or wizard to teach this chosen one how things work, creating intellectual challenges for her to figure out and limits for her to discover made for a really fun read.
If you’re looking for a solid story that doesn’t get slow and that introduces you to an immersive world, look no further than A Thousand Nights. I found it hard to put down and loved the themes and lessons in this engrossing story. While it’s based on a tale almost as old as recorded time, E. K. Johnston’s version is fresh and spellbinding.