ALA Booklist (Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 1998)

The power of story is the drama in this account of the amazing Shahrazad, who saved her life and that of many other women by keeping the sultan spellbound with her tales for 1,001 nights. Fletcher adds several characters to the original tale and tells it from the point of view of Marjan, a young, crippled servant girl and storyteller, who is brought to the harem and kept there to help the desperate Shahrazad find stories. Hidden first in a chest, then in a jar, then in a carpet, Marjan is smuggled out of the palace to the town to seek out an old storyteller who can give her tales for Shahrazad. The pace is slow, with long, lush, descriptive details of palace and bazaar; the plot is contrived; there's no real suspense. What holds you is the storytelling action. In fact, the best parts of the book are the short, lyrical comments at the start of each chapter about how we find ourselves in our stories, how sharing stories brings strangers together.

Horn Book

Fletcher offers a plausible explanation of how Sheherazade (rendered here as Sharazad) acquired her vast repertoire of stories. In a suspenseful first person novel, crippled orphan Marjan becomes involved in palace politics as a handmaiden to the fabled princess and as a discoverer of new stories. Boxed "Lessons for Life and Storytelling" precede each chapter and are shrewd observations on the potential of language and literature to effect change.

Kirkus Reviews

A young girl, Marjan, rescues the fabled Shahrazad from the Sultan's wrath in this exciting and thought-provoking novel from Fletcher (Flight of the Dragon Kyn, 1993, etc.). With her crippled foot, Marjan never expects to be dragged off to the palace, but that is what happens after a chance meeting with Shahrazad—the storyteller who wins her life each night with cliffhanging stories for the sultan, and who obtains a story from Marjan. Heartbroken at leaving her Aunt Chava and her Uncle Eli, Marjan confronts cruelty within the palace's lush interior, where wives and concubines can be executed at the sultan's whim, and where the Khatun, the sultan's mother, spies on everyone. Dispatched by Shahrazad to find more stories, Marjan sneaks out into the marketplace, where she eventually finds an old storyteller who tells her the end of a story of which the sultan has become fond. Beaten and imprisoned by the Khatun, Marjan escapes the palace, only to return and tell the sultan an allegory that enables him to realize his love for Shahrazad, and to spare her life. Despite the licenses Fletcher takes with the story of Shahrazad, the novel may entice readers into the pages of Richard Burton's far richer work; they will appreciate the power of storytelling—that it may expand the soul of even the most hardened listener. (Fiction. 12-14)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9--Marjan, a young storyteller in ancient Persia, inadvertently takes a new story to Shahrazad. The Queen has been entertaining her husband for nearly 1000 nights and she's growing desperate. The Sultan loves the tale, which he vaguely remembers from his childhood, but requests the ending. Shahrazad makes the girl a part of the harem in order to get it, but learns that she has told all that she knows. Marjan leaves the harem, a dangerous move indeed, and tracks down an old man at the bazaar who was the source. She makes some surprising connections between the outside world and the harem and, in a final face to face with the Sultan, reveals much about herself, the power of story, and the grace of redemption. There are no weak spots in the telling of this tale. Even the minor characters make real impressions. The voices are clear and the dialogue works beautifully. As strong as these points are, it is the structure that really makes this book sing. Everything is carefully laid out for readers in a measured fashion that keeps the pages turning. The "Lessons for Life and Storytelling" that open each chapter boldly state the truths any storyteller knows and are echoed in the narrative. Marjan's crippled foot perfectly mirrors the Sultan's crippled trust. In both of their cases, it is a story that breaks through the flinty walls around their hearts. After much tension and adventure, there are believable, happy endings all around. An elegantly written novel that will delight and entertain even as it teaches, just as any good tale does.--Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA