Yay or Nay: A Thousand Nights (Novel) (Reading Week Special)

Every now and again I peruse through Chapters looking for a book to read, that, hidden in the backs of shelves, is secretly that gem waiting to be discovered.

This is my forbidden fruit of novels, mainly for the reason that I'd been eying it for a very long time, wondering, wondering, what the hell this book, with it's awesome cover art, could be about. 

And, having read the original One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (yes that was a whole afternoon in the park with my special manuscript edition) I was curious to see what a recreation of the whole idea would be like. I've played an otome game that plays around with this idea (in fantasy only) but not in historical reference. I think, anyway, Johnston tries to add that historical edge to it.

If you don't know, the bare base of the original piece is that a there is a King who kills off his wives within a day. He forces two women (sisters), one by the name of Scheherazade to marry him. To keep themselves alive, she tells this King stories throughout the night to live until the next day. The stories are what mainly drives this, rather than the sisters and King. 

Unfortunately, however, I'm not sure I was convinced of it. 

A More Real as Real Retelling...

Same story, different tune. But more confusing, that's the best way I can describe this. There were so many parts of this which confused me, specifically towards the end.

And I hate that. I hate that I don't understand what the hell was going on. One moment, Lo-Melkhiin (our Princely main character who has killed 300 of the most beautiful girls in each village) is this guy, who's just a dick, but is hinted to have a backstory that makes him more likeable), then there's some magic involved? 

Ahead of myself, to the story. Lo-Melkhiin is a raider, essentially, but he's a Prince/King who goes village to village selecting the most beautiful girl to be his bride. In a Hunger Gamesesque twist, he comes to our protagonist's village, nameless, except for "She". He tries to select her sister, but switches clothes with her, hiding under her veil so that he does not know it is her. 

Slowly, but surely she realizes that there is more to Lo-Melkhiin that meets the eye, and that something suspicious may be afoot. But, at the utmost, "She" does what she needs to do to protect her family. 

There is a focus, not unwelcome, mind you, on how one might historically live in a world like that. I have no history of the ancient Middle East, however, I felt like Johnston did try to work on the realism of the overall lore. That does work, there's themes of family, love, and life in the desert in another time that I, at least can believe. 

I had no issues with this part. The desert life was particularly interesting (in how they live, survive etc.) Desert living ain't easy, that's for sure.

But, the first day passes and "She" is not dead. She sees Lo-Melkhiin's court, a mystical place of wonder, of garments readily made of the finest silks and materials--of a life of wonder and luxury that even I was impressed by. Prompting an interesting premise, mainly, what is Lo-Melkhiin. 

LO-MELKHIIN

Lo-Melkhiin is a Jekyll/Hyde situation. 

First: he's reminded me of a R-rated version of Aladdin.

Second half of the story: Demonic Jafar. 

WHY. The way he was going was perfectly fine. Misunderstood guy with a backstory, but then the lore and magic was rushed in last minute! (won't spoil, but I had a tough time understanding it). It wasn't hinted at, like at all, during the novel, unless I'm dense (and fair I am), but it wasn't really hinted at until the climax at the end of the novel. 

Basically, possession is a huge theme in this novel. And I didn't like how it lost me for the first hundred pages of the novel. 

Rushing the Lore

Don't rush the lore, as I felt Johnston did. Totally interpreted it that way, and that's a shame because it could be cool, but it's also a copout for Lo-Melkhiin. Yes, the guy with the scary backstory is cliché however, but doing what Johnston does negates all character development with him. And I think in this case, character development is necessary in the sense that it would've worked better for this specific plot.

Magic!

That's likely my biggest issue with this book. Magic didn't need to be in this, and characters are pretty dull. There was so much jam-packed into less than 300 pages, but it probably, if anything could've been fleshed out more. 

That's disappointing. 

This is a short review, but honestly, I can't even quote something since I just...wow, I was really unhappy with this book.

YAY OR NAY?

Unfortunately, it's a NAY 

If I didn't get this novel as a gift, I wouldn't buy it or get it from a library. It's got a 3.7 on Goodreads, but really, I didn't think it deserved that. I thought it didn't explain it's world very well, nor the lore, and to be quite frank, I thought it presented a watered-down version of stories that I thought were once really interesting. 

I'd try another book. 

~Meghan