Locked 7 Years in a Tower?

Book of a Thousand Days

By Shannon Hale

Genre: fantasy

Rating: 4 stars

Plot Summary: "When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows."

Plot summary taken from amazon.com

 What would you do if you were locked in a tower for 7 years because of something the lady you served did?  If you're Dashti, you journal.  And sketch pictures of your dismal life in the tower and of your harrowing adventures after you escape from the tower.  And you sing beautiful songs that bring healing to people.

This was a beautiful retelling of the Grimm's Fairy Tale Maid Maleen, set in medieval Mongolia. Although the story started out a little slow, it quickly gathers momentum and keeps on rolling.

The characters are (I think) what are so compelling that I kept turning the pages long into the night.  Dashti is so strong, so brave, while Saren slips into depression and begins hallucinating due to their imprisonment.  The suitors are also interesting characters.  I longed for Dashti to find true happiness and wanted to to find out what is really causing Saren so much inner turmoil.  I could't help but want the very best for both of them, though sometimes, I wanted to slap Saren for being such a weepy wimp.

My only main issue with the villain.  I know this is a fantasy piece, but the climax with the villain made the story much more unrealistic.  I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it at that.

Hale is an excellent writer.  She uses beautiful imagery and interesting metaphors.  Her description of rotting flesh in one scene made me wrinkle my nose in disgust.  That, my blog friends, is the sign of a true writer.  She creates a unique and magical land for the characters to roam and interweaves interesting religious culture.

Dashti's mama says "You have to know someone a thousand days before you can get a glimpse of their soul."  I got to know Dashti's and Saren's in only two. :)