Book of a Thousand Days

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The Ancestors, after all, formed the commoners from mud to serve the gentry. Eventually the girls escape, only to find that the entire realm has been destroyed by Lord Khasar. When the Khan discovers there is a mucker girl in house, he asks for her help. Before long, he falls in love with Dashti. Saren insists not only that Dashti tell Tegus she is actually Saren, but that she even marry him in her guise as Saren.

Dashti tries to refuse, but Saren just slaps her. In the end, the truth comes out about the true identity of the girls. But Tegus still wants to marry Dashti. Khan Tegus is one of the most tender, romantic guys ever. The scenes between Tegus and Dashti, even when separated by thick tower walls, will set many a young girl to swooning. Saren, originally selfish, manipulative and immature, finally grows up a bit, but definitely serves as a foil to the industriousness and goodness of Dashti.

Hale strikes out on a tangent from the Grimm Brothers tale when she adds class conflict to the equation of the story. The story that plebeians were formed out of mud to serve the gentry, for example, has been internalized by the broad masses in the Eight Realms and has become part of common knowledge.

Although Dashti occasionally questions the justice of some of the practices that result from the separation of the classes, she would never consent to subvert the established order. When she switches identities with Saren, it is only because Saren made her raise her hand and swear to the Sacred Nine — the eight Ancestors and the Eternal Blue Sky.

Nevertheless, Dashti is still extremely uncomfortable at what she rightly perceives as a form of resistance.

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However, there are more than a few moments when Dashti observes with surprise that the gentry are far from the perfect beings commoners have been led to believe they are. The diary works wonderfully as a plot device in this book. Thus, as we read through the diary, we come to know and love Dashti exceedingly well. Well, right out of the gate, I know that everything Shannon Hale does is enchanting so why not? This does sound like a good story and Dashti sounds like a wonderful character.

Though I really enjoyed The Actor and the Housewive. Ooh, I have some Shannon Hale on my shelf, but not this one. Glad to see that females are being portrayed strongly in fantasy literature. Wow, high praise from you plus lots of awards make this sound like a must read. A stars for the audiobook narration. A full cast audio and done so well. Shannon Hale you mastermind!!! Awww, it was so cute, and lovely, and emotional, and fairytale-like!

What am I saying? This isn't just fairytale-like, this IS in fact a fairytale retold, and the original is called "Maid Maleen" by the Brothers Grimm. It basically tells the story of two girls, one a princess not really a princess, but the daughter of a very rich and powerful lord the other one her maid, who get imprisoned in a tower because the princess refuses to marry this evil guy. A few years later they manage to escape and find out everyone in the kingdom is dead -- so they travel to a neighbour kingdom and start working in the kitchen of another powerful lord's house, but this one is kind and lovely and everything a woman wants in a man.

I love the irony between this book and my absolute favorite by the author, which is Goose Girl -- the stories are similar, but in Goose Girl the maid is vicious and steals the princess's identity, while in Book of a Thousand Days the poor maid, Dashti, has to pretend she's the princess because the real one is constantly afraid of the world and makes Dashti do things for her. I say, this is quite the flawless heroine. The writing is typical Shannon Hale: Definitely one of the best books I've read this year so far, and a new all time favorite.

I really, really wanted to love this book because I love Shannon Hale and all my Goodreads friends have given it 5 or 4 stars but I didn't like Dashti or Saren. More often than not I wanted to beat her head against a rock. She's stupid, annoying, and a terrible person. Dashti, the narrator, wasn't much better.

While people who like the book would probably say that she's just fiercely loyal, I found her to be kind of an idiot. I think I would've boug Sigh. I think I would've bought the whole "maid willing to be locked up for 7 years to serve her lady" thing if Dashti had been with Saren for years before it had happened. But no, Dashti had literally just met Lady Saren when she agreed to be locked in a tower for 7 years with a whiny brat she didn't even know.

I don't find that to be loyal, I find it to be idiotic. Especially view spoiler [once Dashti figures out how to get out of the tower, and Saren freaks out and cries and takes like 3 days to "work up the courage" to leave, followed by months of acting like a child and refusing to take responsibility for herself. If I had a dollar for every time Dashti said "Ancestors, forgive me" or talked about praying to a specific god I would be able to buy myself a nice, big library of books I actually enjoy.

I also found that I was annoyed by the healing songs Dashti would sing, mostly because she would ALWAYS preface it by saying "I sang the song for [whatever], the one that goes like this I could go on, but just know that Shannon Hale has done much better. Jan 31, Beth rated it liked it. After reading and thoroughly enjoying Goose Girl and Princess Academy, I was excited to see this new young adult novel another retelling of an obscure fairytale from Shannon Hale. I was even more excited when I saw that it had been given great reviews so far.

Could I possibly enjoy a book from this genre more than Princess Academy?

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

I was anxious to find out. Well, maybe it was my anticipation that left this book feeling flat. It was readable enough, for sure; the storytelling style a diary le After reading and thoroughly enjoying Goose Girl and Princess Academy, I was excited to see this new young adult novel another retelling of an obscure fairytale from Shannon Hale.

It was readable enough, for sure; the storytelling style a diary led to an easy-going, intriguing development of the plot. Even Dashti, who pours her secret thoughts out to the book and us as readers , felt rather one-dimensional: Okay, okay; so maybe the one thing I liked unequivocally was the sweet romance and the happily-ever-after at the end! Does that make me shallow?? Oct 11, Addy S. I actually enjoyed the scenes with romance in them. I really had a problem with this, and I did not enjoy it 2nd Read Review: I really had a problem with this, and I did not enjoy it.

It was NOT really descriptive, which was a plus, but still. Why would you need to include such a part in the book? The romance was not too much either, which was a plus!

Sunday Salon – Review of “Book of A Thousand Days” by Shannon Hale | Rhapsody in Books Weblog

Kind of reminds me of Rapunzel, with the whole tower thing. Overall, a fairly good book, but I would give it a fair rating of 3 stars. I loved this book so much! But the book is more than a thousand pages so you know. I like the characters and the character development. I loved the love relationship and how brave the protagonist is. She truly is looked upon by the gods! I cannot wait to read more of Shannon Hale books. May 31, Faith M: I have mixed feelings on this book. Shannon Hale is one of my most favorite authors, so I had huge expectations for this book.

The culture was really interesting, with the gods, lords, class, setting, etc. The ending was also very good!!! I also found the book to be very slow. It took a while for the book to go anywhere.

Book of a Thousand Days

Not my f I have mixed feelings on this book. Not my favorite book, but not terrible. Oct 04, Sylvia rated it it was amazing Shelves: Kisah yang sangat menakjubkan! Tanpa ragu saya memberikan bintang 5 untuk buku ini. Book of a Thousand Days bercerita tentang kehidupan yang dijalani Lady Saren dan pembantunya Dashti saat mereka dikunci oleh ayah Lady Saren di menara selama 7 tahun karena Lady Saren menolak perjodohan dirinya dengan salah satu penguasa daerah, Lord Khasar.

Kisah ini diceritakan oleh Dashti yang memang pandai menulis dan membaca. Dashti datang untuk bekerja pada Lady Saren di hari kesatu tanpa mengetahui apa yang Kisah yang sangat menakjubkan! Dashti datang untuk bekerja pada Lady Saren di hari kesatu tanpa mengetahui apa yang akan menimpanya ketika Lady Saren menyuruhnya bersumpah tidak akan meninggalkannya. Dashti pun bersumpah dan dijebloskan ke dalam menara untuk menemani Lady Saren. Dashti menuliskan kegiatan dan kejadian yang menimpa mereka selama terkunci.

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Bagaimana persediaan makanan mereka perlahan-lahan digerogoti tikus, dan mereka harus berperang melawan tikus atau makanan mereka akan cepat habis. Lalu kekasih Lady Saren, Khan Tegus, datang. Namun Lady Saren menyuruh Dashti untuk berpura-pura menjadi dirinya dan berbincang-bincang melalui sebuah lobang di menara tanpa pernah saling menatap wajah satu sama lainnya. Setelah tiga tahun mereka terkunci di menara dan tak ada seorang pun yang datang menolong mereka, kecuali Lord Khasar yang mengancam dan menakut-nakuti mereka, persediaan makanan pun menipis, dan Dashti harus berjuang agar mereka bisa keluar dari menara itu.

Setelah mereka berhasil keluar dari menara, mereka kembali ke kota Lady Saren untuk menemukan bahwa kotanya telah hancur dan semua anggota keluarganya mati. Kini tinggal dirinya dan Dashti yang tersisa. Disana mereka bekerja sebagai pencuci panci kotor di dapur rumah Khan Tegus.

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Sementara itu Lady Saren tetap tak mau memberitahu jati dirinya karena khawatir dirinya akan dibunuh. Keberuntungan sepertinya mengiringi Dashti terus, hingga akhirnya Dashti bisa menjadi juru tulis di rumah itu sementara Lady Saren tetap bekerja sebagai pencuci panci di dapur. Lady Saren yang rapuh perlahan mulai terlihat sembuh, sementara Lord Khasar dan pasukannya perlahan namun pasti menguasai hampir semua daerah sekitar, dan sebentar lagi kota mereka pun akan diserang. Lord Khasar mengumumkan bahwa mereka tak akan menyerang kota itu, kalau mereka menyerahkan Lady Saren.

Dashti tak bisa menolak karena dirinya sudah bersumpah setia. Dashti pun mengaku dirinya Lady Saren, dan mengorbankan dirinya ke Lord Khasar. Menjelang ending ceritanya makin seru dan saya kagum dengan cara bercerita Shannon Hale yang tidak mudah tertebak. Memang, saya berharap a happy ending ya, saya memang kuno tapi bagaimana happy endingnya, Shannon Hale mampu mengantarkan saya ke akhir cerita yang indah. Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.

My copy is coming in a couple of days and I just can't wait!! I am sure this will be just as good! Both covers are so good, but I guess mine is more suitable. This book is based on the Brother Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.

This book is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Maid Maleen, and what a book it is! I really love Shannon Hale's writing style. You would think that staying locked in a tower would be dull and claustrophobic, but for Dashti and Lady Saren it's better than being outside in range of Lord Khaser. I really feel sorry for Dashti, she is full of life and positive energy and to be locked with someone so broken, dramatic and boring is just unfair! This is a story about loyalty and self sacrifice and true love As luck would have it, the very day Dashti enters the service of a lady is the very day said lady is bricked into a tower for seven years to learn obedience.

Dashti goes along with her to keep her company and take care of her. Between fighting off rats, Lady Saren's torpor, and the unsettling attentions of Saren's two very different suitors, Dashti has her hands full. And that's just the beginning. She grows so much in this book! She starts off a simple girl from a simple way of li As luck would have it, the very day Dashti enters the service of a lady is the very day said lady is bricked into a tower for seven years to learn obedience.

She starts off a simple girl from a simple way of life, unquestioningly following the laws of the land, and she becomes a strong woman, confident in herself and her abilities.

The book is really Dashti's diary, so it was interesting to see her thinking and even her writing style change as she grows into herself. Dashti's is the most obvious transformation, but Lady Saren quietly undergoes some drastic changes. She starts out a weak, irritating, ineffective girl who seems to be nothing but a chain around Dashti's neck, but sometime when you aren't looking she becomes something This is my first time reading Shannon Hale, and if this is any indication of the rest of her work, it won't be my last. I sat down to get started on this before spending a little time on the computer, and the next thing I knew I was finishing it.

There was one part that started to drag just a little bit, but somehow a book about two girls in a tower became a page turner. I enjoyed how Dashti's "voice" changed as she changed, and I'm very impressed with Hale's skill in pulling that off. I was thrilled to read a young adult book with a strong female lead and no love triangle in sight! I know I wrote the bit about two suitors, but believe me, there's no love triangle. I highly recommend this all the way around.

View all 7 comments. Mar 05, Heather rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I loved this Young Adult book! Hooray for Shannon Hale! I probably wouldn't recommend this book to girls under 12, but I think Hale has produced a wonderful heroine for the older teen set. I liked this book better than Princess Academy. I felt the themes were more accessible--everyone can relate to having a crush on someone totally out of your league. I loved how the two girls-- Saren, a princess I loved this Young Adult book!

The story begins with Dahti thinking that Saren is so much more valuable as a person because Saren is gentry. However, Dashti comes to realize that Saren is weak and cowardly. I am always looking for books with great role models for my daughters, and this is definitely one of them! How to write a great review. The review must be at least 50 characters long. The title should be at least 4 characters long.

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