Book of a Thousand Days | 
 enlarge | Author: Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $9.93
You Save: $8.02 (45%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 14865
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 1599900513
EAN: 9781599900513
ASIN: 1599900513
Publication Date: September 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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.
With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 Fine Fairy Tale Revisited Option September 4, 2008
Hale has mastered these other kingdoms so unlike our own, yet so familiar. Book of a Thousand Days brings to life a little known Grimm's tale (not for the Disney-hearted) and a way of life from long ago, far away. However, the book resonates with teens who are beginning to question social order, traditions, and justice. The story links an orphaned maid, a princess, a yak, a chamber pot, magicians, ankles, and a cat (along with many other things) into a romance-courtroom drama-growing up-suspense novel with numerous humorous moments. I actually wanted it enough to pay for a hardcover based on the cover notes and the author's other work. Having read it, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
 Disappointing August 24, 2008
I started reading this book with high hopes; everyone seems to really like it. But I found I had to force myself to finish. It certainly wasn't worth the effort. The plot is boring, the characters are one-dimensional and hard to understand, and the prose itself is awkward and doesn't flow well. I suppose you could argue that since the book is supposed to be a diary written by a young woman who has only recently learned to write, the poor quality of the text could be intentional. If that's so, it's a bad choice on the part of the author, and it doesn't explain why the 18 year old protagonist seems more like an 8 year old.
The book does pick up a bit at the end, and I actually enjoyed a few pages at that point. Nevertheless, this book doesn't deserve all the praise it's been getting. People searching for young adult fantasy books with strong female protagonists might want to try someone like Robin Mckinley instead of Shannon Hale.
 Good Book August 10, 2008
I enjoyed reading this book. This is a clean book. There is no bad language which is unusual especially for a young adult book; so I appreciated that. I would love to hear the rest of the story; meaning what happens next in the life of the mucker maid, honored lady, Dashati. Any thoughts, Ms. Hale??
great read July 19, 2008
This book was definitely a great read, I just couldn't put it down until it was over, the story may be old but it's written in such a fantastic language and all the characters are so vivid, Dashti in particular. I couldn't quite symphathisize with lady Saren being so week, but by the end of the book she sort of finds herself. It was my first book by Shannon Hale but now I'm lookingfor further reads from her.
Another Great Book from Shannon Hale July 15, 2008
Dashti, a lady's maid, is locked in a tower with Lady Saren, her charge. Lady Saren is being forced into the tower as punishment for refusing to marry Lord Khasar, the man to whom her father has betrothed her. Instead, she favors the much kinder Khan Tegus. The story is told from Dashti's point of view, and things get really interesting when both suitors show up at the tower. This is the starting point for many other adventures.
I've been a fan of Shannon Hale for years, and this book did not disappoint. I really liked that Dashti had a valid cultural reason for being submissive, as opposed to just being a weak-willed martyr, which one sees so often in other novels. Also, her growth as a person over the course of the story was written gradually and patiently and ends up being very effectively relayed. It's details like this, obviously crafted with care by Hale, that make this book so wonderful. The characters are believable, the plot is exciting, and the romance is sweet, but never cloying. Fans of Shannon Hale will surely love this book. If you haven't read anything by Hale yet, this would be a fine place to start, along with The Goose Girl.
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