Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. Then at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air. Something went wrong.įar away, back in their village, her sister is mourning. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. And so she is taken in her sister's place. 6, 2015 A loose retelling of The Arabian Nights frame story from Morris Award and Kirkus Prizefinalist Johnston takes ideas of power and gender, belief and love, and upends them. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived.

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. 'A story threaded with shimmering vibrance and beauty, A Thousand Nights will weave its spell over readers' hearts and leave them captivated long after the final tale has been told.' - Alexandra Bracken, New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds seriesĪ dazzling retelling of Arabian Nights, A THOUSAND NIGHTS is a tale of family, love and power that would not feel out of place if Scheherazade herself were telling it.

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston