Shannon Hale treads a familiar path in her new “Book”

When I first looked at the synopsis for this book, I thought it would be another story about a princess in trouble.  Fortunately, Hale tells the story from the maid’s point of view as it is truly Dashti’s story we follow.  I was also worried that a story told in captivity might get boring after a while, but the author thankfully breaks her characters out about halfway through the book.  Book of a Thousand Days is the diary of Dashti, a mucker maid who has sworn an oath to stay with Lady Saren.  Saren has refused to marry Lord Kasar, the man her father has betrothed her to and he locks her in a tower for seven years because of it.  Dashti chooses to be locked in there with her and the first half of the book is their struggle to survive in the tower with rats and diminishing food stores.  Saren’s other suitor, Kahn Tagus, comes to visit, but Saren forces Dashti to pretend she is her, as they have never actually spoken or seen each other.  Eventually, the girls find a way out and travel to Kahn Tagus’s kingdom.  There, they work as kitchen maids, as Saren is too scared to reveal her true identity.  As Lord Kasar attacks Kahn Tagus’ kingdom, the action heats up and Dashti plays a pivitol role in the proceedings.  

While the book takes a while to get going, the characters are well drawn and compelling.  Dashti is a fine heroine that most any reader will identify with.  The romance strains credibility at the end, but I needed to remind myself that the story is based on an obscure Brothers Grimm tale set in the Asian Steppes.  Avid fantasy readers at the middle school level are the primary audience for this book.  It is an intense tale about captivity and cruelty, but mature elementary students could handle it as well.