A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston → Start Date: February 26th, 2016

[Clementine]

Feel free to join Trisha and me! :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Yay! Thanks! so glad to finally get to this one!

[Clementine]

Chapter 3: (view spoiler)[I don't think I would have been as selfless as walking to my own death even for my own sister... That takes more than guts of steel, I think. (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

ii: (view spoiler)[I wonder if this is a marid or an ifrit (genies in Islam customs) that took possession of Lo-Melkhin... Hmm. :P (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

oh, okay :)
I'll start soon

[Clementine]

Hehehe :P I had some time

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

awe, isn't that nice when you suddenly have some free time to read you didn't think you'd have?

how is it?? You liking it?

[Clementine]

Yes! The narrative style reminds me of the original tale. :)

[Clementine]

Chapter 6: (view spoiler)[I'm surprised that they would give her contraceptive tea... I mean, huh, marriage= babies at that time, no? :P If he is king, I would think that he needs a son. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9: (view spoiler)[I'm surprised about the author including statues in the narrative. Figurative art in Islam culture is extremely rare (and frowned upon, I dare say). (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Chapter 15: (view spoiler)[I knew of the Skepticism philosophy in Greece, so I was curious to see it applied here. (Especially, considering how Arabs were much more advanced when it came to math and astronomy. They had known for a while that the Earth was round.) Anyway, I still don't know if these Skeptics are a nice touch or just an anachronism. lol :P Or comic relief? ahah! (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Chapter 24: (view spoiler)[Admittedly, it was slow paced, but now... ahaha I love that they are at war against each other and there is 0 romance. *_* (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

sorry for my delay, it's been a wild crazy weekend
I'm starting now :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Clementine wrote: "Chapter 3: [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ yes, it's really hard to say what you would honestly do because many would say "of course I'd sacrifice myself"
but when it came right down to it....I'm not sure I could either
but for my children - Yes. Every time (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Clementine wrote: "ii: [spoilers removed]"

oooh(view spoiler)[ that's a great guess. i was just trying to decide :) (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Trisha wrote: "Clementine wrote: "ii: [spoilers removed]"

oooh[spoilers removed]"

I'm kinda bumped we never got a specific answer for that one. :/

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Clementine wrote: "Chapter 6: [spoilers removed]

Chapter 9: [spoilers removed]"

Chapter 6 (view spoiler)[ I agree and was confused by why they would make sure a baby wouldn't take....

I also thought her tales were a little....I was thinking she told him full tales every night
AND distracted him each night with stories that had cliffhangers so he wanted her to keep telling the story the next night...

but this seems to be some kind of....magic that tests her... Fire? Life force? fight? spirit?....each night to see if she's worthy
(hide spoiler)]
does all this(view spoiler)[ hang on the balance of whether or not she's afraid of him? (hide spoiler)]

chapter 9(view spoiler)[ yikes. I had no idea (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Trisha wrote: "Clementine wrote: "Chapter 6: [spoilers removed]

Chapter 9: [spoilers removed]"

Chapter 6 I agree and was confused by why they would make sure a baby wouldn't take....

I also thought her tales ..."

Yeah, it's only loosely based on the actual tale. I liked (view spoiler)[the fire thingy... I guess I understood it as him drawing from her 'life force'? When you reached iii or iv, I guess it will make more sense? :P. I was as confused by it, but I liked the magic. Hmm... I never thought of her fear... I don't know actually. :P I guess I accepted the weirdness of it all. (hide spoiler)]

I guess my comment at chapter 9 was unfair since I was told this was pre-Islamic era. Yet, at the same time, (view spoiler)[veiling under pre-islamic laws was not as depicted in the novel. In many tribes, it were the men who actually veiled because of the sun and sand and never was a woman veiled. In the big cities, only high-ranked women (and sometimes prostitutes who married) were to veil. Commoners never veil. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

The weirdness isn't too bad (view spoiler)[ i just thought there'd be more stories. There are more as she's telling them to the reader as she goes along but there's been so little interaction between her and the actual king, I hope we get more

Loved hearing from the mom though (hide spoiler)]

the veil(view spoiler)[ information is just fascinating. I know so little about this culture that I find it all interesting. How sad to think the author isn't respecting the actual history and culture by at least getting it right. If there's one thing I would think you would want to do, it's DEFINITELY get the history right! (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Well, to be honest, this is why I thought this was Islamic era. I was so confused by the veil and the statues... (view spoiler)[I mean once, she married the king, she would veil but before that...? And the point of veiling is to cover yourself in front of men that you cannot by "the law of men" marry: meaning, veiling yourself before your father and brothers and infants is not necessary... Anyway. I ended up liking it, but I was slightly annoyed that everything else is thoughtfully researched and the veil was just thrown in there for the message. I approve of the message, but god. Please. Women were treated like dirt at that time. They didn't need to be "faceless" to be "voiceless". (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

20 chapters

meh. this one is veering for me and, so far, I'm not loving it (darn it!)
I normally love this re-telling...

dark brain(view spoiler)[ I was really surprised she saved him. it was nice, but completely surprising. I guess it's all for her sister again...but it seemed so much safer to let him....go.
(hide spoiler)]

a thunderstorm is rolling through (it's currently rattling my windows) so I might lose internet/power. If I do, I'll try to post from my phone but I plan to finish this one up :)

[Clementine]

Sorry it's not doing it for you, Trisha! :/

What I loved about that scene is (view spoiler)[ she didn't save him for him. She saved him for her sis and all the other women he would have killed. I mean, in most YA books, she would have saved him for him because she has managed to fall in love with him or something among those lines. :P (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Clementine wrote: "Sorry it's not doing it for you, Trisha! :/

What I loved about that scene is [spoilers removed]"

HA! That's true(view spoiler)[ she didn't stumble over herself to fall in love with him! LOL (hide spoiler)]

I'm done(view spoiler)[ I know, I wish I'd loved it more. I think I read it too close to another re-telling of this story and I liked the other one better....but I did like the end battle and the creatures she created
and that her power wasn't endless and she used it to save him. I wasn't so sure what those last 5 words would be lol (hide spoiler)]

[Clementine]

Well, you're right! Context does matter. I read this after a few contemporary books that made me feel nothing. There was so much more spark to this than to what I read previously. :P Hopefully, our next read will be better. :)