Well, there it is. The (still) long-awaited Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Release date is set for late September 2007. How did I get it? I got lucky. I'm no official book-reviewer or librarian, I just got lucky. Real lucky. So don't ask me how to get an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) because I don't know. I wish more than anything that I did, but I don't. The end. ;)

Book of a Thousand Days is abosolutely enchanting. Of course hardly anything less could be expected of Shannon Hale. This tale is based on the Brothers Grimm "Maid Maleen." I would not recommend reading the fairy tale until you have read B1000 for fear of spoilers.

Dashti and her Lady Saren have been locked away in a tower for seven years after Saren refuses to marry the man her father has chosen for her Book of a Thousand Days is the story from Dashti's, the lady's maid, point of view.

Originally set in Mongolia (but then moved to the fictional setting of "The Eight Realms") B1000 is so discriptive and amazing that I truly believe that Dashti once existed. The book is written entirely in diary format so you really get to know her. I will admit that the first ten pages were a bit slow to me and I fear others will find this and not continue reading. Oh I hope not. Because only the first ten pages are slow. The rest of the books sweeps you up and carries you away to a land of muckers, yaks, gentry, and ancestors.

I wept for Dashti, I laughed with Dashti, my whole soul longed to be more like Dashti. She is truly one of the most amazing heroines I have ever read about. Ever. How anyone could not fall in love with Dashti is beyond me. (Hey, I never said this wouldn't be an unbiased blog)

All I really have to say is thank you Ms. Hale. Thank you for this classic that I will read again and again. It's only a matter of time before you are widely recognized as the finest author of young adult literature of our time. Can't wait to see that shiny gold Newbury medal adorning B1000 's cover. Thank you.

~Enna Isilee