A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

“A retelling with beautiful and philosophical flows”

The book very much reminds me of Patricia A. McKillip’s story-telling style, that of no real beginning, no ending, and yet the story itself is going, and going smoothly. I really enjoyed follow’s the girl’s thoughts and decisions throughout the story: how she gained her strength because of love for her sister and family, and how she regained her confidence and started to understand her power.

Her perspectives throughout the story are simply enlightening. Many ideas in the book, such as the power of believing in persons (or to be more specific, small gods, in the book) and the sacrifice of women in a male-dominated world, are thought-provoking. Still, these notions are added in a subtle way without overwhelming the main plot.  

There has been mostly a perspective of the girl, and we have seen how her activities and life go. Still, somewhat I also want to know about her sister. The girl fears that she re-routes her sister’s life ever since she starts telling the demon how her sister’s life will be: finding a man and getting married. Yet, I feel her sister’s life has been altered permanently the day the girl decides to take her sister’s place and become a sacrifice bride. Instead of marrying the man of power and wealth the loveliest like her can find, the sister has been devoting herself to not only making the girl’s a small god but also making others praying for the girl, which in turn give the girl’s incredible power to stay alive and in the end defeat the demon.

My only complaint is the exorcist of the demon inside Lo-Melkhiin. As a somewhat romanticizing reader, I feel the potential between the demon and the girl more. This is especially true that the person interacting with the girl throughout the whole book is the demon himself, and if he has a capability to start caring for the girl (even if he doesn’t know it yet), he, too, has a capacity to love. On the other hand, although Lo-Melkhiin has known the girl from inside the demon, they are in a way strangers to each other. Therefore, for me, their attachment towards each other seems unreal. But then, they may care for each other through the sense of sharing the same experience, and so automatically feel connected to each other.

Give 4.5.