Alternative Worlds
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The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden.
Catherynne M. Valente
Bantam, Nov 2006, $14.00
ISBN: 0553384031
The female has been shunned for her exotic mystical presence starting with her birth mark tattooed eyelids. The other nobles assume she is a demon or at least a demon’s offspring, but the Sultan could not decide whether she is or is not. Though she is an innocent child, she is to be ignored while being “incarcerated” in a palace garden, a place she is not to leave. She survives on scraps and rotting fruit tossed at her. No one will talk with her for fear of being tainted by her demonic connection or worse by others at the court.
That is no one will speak with her except a curious brave boy who finds her fascinating especially as she begins telling him a fairy tale starring a Prince who killed a goose. However, her story is not finished when it is time for the lad to leave, but she is a Pied Piper as he returns and keeps coming back risking his place in the castle to hear more about magical quests.
Obviously an Arabian Nights derivative, IN THE NIGHT GARDEN holds up very well in comparison to the classic. The tales are delightful and the accompanying art illustrated by Michael Kaluta adds depth. Besides the storyteller’s enraptured audience of one, people of all ages will appreciate the colorful vivid tales that the lonely girl spins.
Catherynne M. Valente
Bantam, Nov 2006, $14.00
ISBN: 0553384031
The female has been shunned for her exotic mystical presence starting with her birth mark tattooed eyelids. The other nobles assume she is a demon or at least a demon’s offspring, but the Sultan could not decide whether she is or is not. Though she is an innocent child, she is to be ignored while being “incarcerated” in a palace garden, a place she is not to leave. She survives on scraps and rotting fruit tossed at her. No one will talk with her for fear of being tainted by her demonic connection or worse by others at the court.
That is no one will speak with her except a curious brave boy who finds her fascinating especially as she begins telling him a fairy tale starring a Prince who killed a goose. However, her story is not finished when it is time for the lad to leave, but she is a Pied Piper as he returns and keeps coming back risking his place in the castle to hear more about magical quests.
Obviously an Arabian Nights derivative, IN THE NIGHT GARDEN holds up very well in comparison to the classic. The tales are delightful and the accompanying art illustrated by Michael Kaluta adds depth. Besides the storyteller’s enraptured audience of one, people of all ages will appreciate the colorful vivid tales that the lonely girl spins.
