The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" (Once Upon a Time)
by Cameron Dokey
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I liked this story much more than I expected to. It started out fairly unpromisingly, with a quasi-poetic italicized section written in the second-person. The danger with writing in the second person is that it tends to presuppose a specific type of audience with specific reactions, interests, etc. I rarely fit the author's idea of this perfect audience and so it loses me.
But I was quickly drawn into Shahrazad's story which is perhaps unsurprising given that I find her a very interesting cha...more
But I was quickly drawn into Shahrazad's story which is perhaps unsurprising given that I find her a very interesting cha...more
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Read in January, 2008
I would wager that everyone belonging to GoodReads would say that they love books, and love reading. Those of us that are librarians have decided to devote ourselves to the cause.
Why is the Story so powerful?
In the hands of storyteller Dokey, the maiden Shahrazad who must please the king with her nightly story becomes a metaphor for the Story itself. Will you turn the next page-- or not? Will you open your heart to the story-- or not? Those who do, find that the double power of Story is t...more
Why is the Story so powerful?
In the hands of storyteller Dokey, the maiden Shahrazad who must please the king with her nightly story becomes a metaphor for the Story itself. Will you turn the next page-- or not? Will you open your heart to the story-- or not? Those who do, find that the double power of Story is t...more
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Read in August, 2003
recommends it for:
Anyone
It's a classic re-telling from the "Arabian Nites".
"Once upon a time, there lived a king whose heart was heavy. He had been betrayed by the woman he had loved. Though the queen's schemes were discovered before she could deprive her husband of his life, her dying curse killed soething deep within him: his ability to love and trust.
And so he makes a terrible resolution: He will take a bride for one night only, and in the morning, she will face a horrible fate. Then he will c...more
"Once upon a time, there lived a king whose heart was heavy. He had been betrayed by the woman he had loved. Though the queen's schemes were discovered before she could deprive her husband of his life, her dying curse killed soething deep within him: his ability to love and trust.
And so he makes a terrible resolution: He will take a bride for one night only, and in the morning, she will face a horrible fate. Then he will c...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone who likes the amazing story of Shahrazad
It was the story I already knew -brave girl sacrificing herself to a wicked sultan and telling his stories to try to save herself and the entire kingdom- but it was so new and different, full of traitors and revenge and love and death.
Maju, Shahrazad's mother, the great storyteller, is blind. She reads stories with her fingers from lengths of cloth and tells them aloud to those who listen. She was taken captive a country that had been conquered, and given to the grand vizier of the Sultan f...more
Maju, Shahrazad's mother, the great storyteller, is blind. She reads stories with her fingers from lengths of cloth and tells them aloud to those who listen. She was taken captive a country that had been conquered, and given to the grand vizier of the Sultan f...more
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This book is part of the princess series or something like that. Anyway I thought this book was one of the better books from the series. It is about the Arabian Nights. The story is about Scherezade. She is the story teller. All of the girls in the town are being killed after one night. They get married to the King and then they are killed the next night. Scherazade decides that she will get married and try to keep the King from killing her. Will she succeed? Read the book and find out. I don't ...more
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I really enjoy this particular series because they take fairy tales and go deeper within them. This one is remake of the story 1001 Arabian Nights. I enjoyed the characters and I thought the plot added a lot more to the story. It was interesting how Shadarzad could read stories from the cloth and these stories within the stories were enjoyable. Towards the end of the book I lost interest a little because seemed to kind of fall off. Also I thought there could have been some more romance between t...more
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Read in November, 2006
recommends it for:
fairy tale fans
The story behind The Arabian Nights.
After his wife betrays him, Shahrayar's vows to take a new wife once each month, but to keep her only one night, killing her in the morning. Shahrazad, the 17-year-old blind daughter of a blind storyteller, comes up with a dangerous plan to thaw the king's cold heart. She will begin a story that will not be finished in the morning. Shahrazad, like the characters in the stories she weaves like magic, is a smart, strong woman who is not afraid to speak he...more
After his wife betrays him, Shahrayar's vows to take a new wife once each month, but to keep her only one night, killing her in the morning. Shahrazad, the 17-year-old blind daughter of a blind storyteller, comes up with a dangerous plan to thaw the king's cold heart. She will begin a story that will not be finished in the morning. Shahrazad, like the characters in the stories she weaves like magic, is a smart, strong woman who is not afraid to speak he...more
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Read in May, 2008
Another book in the "Once upon a time" series. I enjoyed this one even more than Before Midnight. Told in an original way and well written this is a retelling of the Arabian Nights (which I now have a desire to read). The following is a paragraph from the book:
A story is alive, as you and I are. It is rounded by muscle and sinew. Rushed with blood. Layered with skin both rough and smooth. At its core lies soft marrow of hard, white bone. A story beats with the heart of every p...more
A story is alive, as you and I are. It is rounded by muscle and sinew. Rushed with blood. Layered with skin both rough and smooth. At its core lies soft marrow of hard, white bone. A story beats with the heart of every p...more
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Read in April, 2008
Yet another reason to make me think that there are very few authors who don't repeat themselves! I liked the first one I read by this author, but by the time I got to his one I was completely unimpressed. The plotline is different, but she twisted an old story into a new story that is strikingly similar to the last one I read by her. For future reference--wait a few years in between reading books by this author.
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Read in April, 2008
This book was a beautiful telling of the fairytale of the Arabian Nights, from the point of view of Shahrazad, the storyteller and wife to the tyrant king. It was a very vivid and gorgeous story rich and heartwarming. The author is herself a skilled storyteller, like her heroine, and transports the reader to opulant palaces and breathtaking nights in the desert.
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Read in January, 2008
Retelling of "The Arabian Nights, or 1001 Nights".
Loved it. Although I enjoyed this story from the begining, it took a few chapters before I was really captured by it. The narration itself mimics the voice of an oral storyteller which was both fitting for the story and enjoyable to read.
Loved it. Although I enjoyed this story from the begining, it took a few chapters before I was really captured by it. The narration itself mimics the voice of an oral storyteller which was both fitting for the story and enjoyable to read.
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Read in May, 2008
I read this in just a few hours. It was much better than Sunlight and Shadow, but I may just be biased by the fact that it was based on the Arabian Nights, a tale I know and love. This was a great collection of tales within tales, with the love story at its core. Definately a good read.
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Read in December, 2003
The first book I read by Cameron Dokey.
She amazes me endlessly with this twist on an Arabian tale. Full of funny dialogue and a complicated love story, the novel, as told from the perspective of the profound narrator Shahrazad, keeps you enthralled until the very last page.
She amazes me endlessly with this twist on an Arabian tale. Full of funny dialogue and a complicated love story, the novel, as told from the perspective of the profound narrator Shahrazad, keeps you enthralled until the very last page.
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Read in March, 2008
This is a re-telling of "Arabian Nights" of which I only knew a few scant details about in the first place. I did like it; another fun quick read. I think Dokey's Cinderella story was better, but this was kind of fun because it has several smaller stories rolled into it!
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2007
A so-so retelling of the 1,001 Nights. It had a lot of potential it didn't live up to. It's nice to see a modern version of the story, but this could have been so much more. Robin McKinley wrote short story fairy tale retellings with more oomph.
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This is a re-telling of the Arabian Nights. I have never read the arabian nights, so I'm not sure if this book comes even close... but I enjoyed the relationships between the characters and their development through out the story.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
readers period
Slow intro, intense beginning, middle and end. Everything is rich in history. The storyteller's tradition and history, the tales told by fabric, the characters weaving in and out of each other's lives, the classic ending.
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Read in January, 2007
recommended to Rachel by:
Aliyarecommends it for: Fairytale lovers.
Yet again, one of the "OUAT" series stories that I really liked - the love for storytelling itself is expressed throughout this retelling of 1,001 Arabian Nights, and it's a gorgeous rendition.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Dawnetta, Katelyn
Like all of Dokey's books, the ending is a bit too quick and convenient. A "fairytale ending" in a different sense from what is usually meant by that phrase, I guess. An enjoyable short read.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Tracy by:
Jenicerecommends it for: Trish, Angie
Nice young adult re-telling of the Scherezade story. I think this author has a series of this type of re-told fairy tales. I'm going to try to get them all. A fun and quick read.
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