Book of a Thousand Days

Shannon Hale’s Book of a Thousand Days (2007) has all the elements of a classic, young adult fantasy novel: a genuine, relatable hero, mythical creatures, evil villains, and a (slightly) forbidden romance. Hale takes the reader on an adventure that mirrors the old Brothers Grimm fairytale Maid Maleen, taking modern liberties that bring her main characters to life, building a fantastical world in their wake.

Like most fairy tales, the hero Dashti’s story begins in a not-so-glamorous fashion. Dashti is from the plains of the Eight Realms, notorious for its low-class and poor residents. Dashti’s only family member is her mother; when she dies from illness, Dashti is left entirely on her own at fifteen. She is considered a “mucker” or a cleaner. Seeking a better job, Dashti becomes the maid for some of Titor’s Garden’s royalty, the supposedly spoiled brat Lady Saren.

Just sixteen, Saren is in the midst of a heated battle with her father over an arranged marriage. She tells her father, the Lord of Titor’s Garden, that she refuses to marry Lord Khasar of Thoughts of Under. Not only does she fear Khasar for mysterious reasons, but she is also already engaged to Khan Tegus of Song for Evela. Livid at her refusal to obey him, her father calls Saren worthless. He decides to punish her by locking her away in an isolated tower for seven years. Dashti, with nothing else going for her, joins Saren.



The two girls sit in silence as the days start to tick by. Dashti, naturally a healer, tries to calm Saren down any way she knows how. She sings her songs and tells her tales, but Saren remains retreated into her own self. Whatever she knows about Khasar has led her into a deep depression and state of constant fear.

Frustrated with her mistress, Dashti questions why she couldn’t just give in and marry Khasar – he couldn’t be that bad, and if she did, they could be set free. Dashti also firmly believes that she was placed in the tower as Saren’s maid and companion by the gods in order to protect her, so she tries to remain calm by reflecting and doodling in her diary.

Despite the tower being heavily guarded and in the middle of nowhere, the girls receive a handful of visitors. One is Khan Tegus, the man that Saren was engaged to. Saren, lacking self-esteem and paranoid about everything, demands Dashti pose as her. Because Tegus cannot see into the tower, he is clueless about the ruse. Dashti, on the other hand, starts looking forward to her talks with Tegus.



Tegus brings Saren a cat one day to help with a rat infestation that’s taken over the tower. Saren despises it, but Dashti takes a liking to it, naming the cat My Lord.

Khasar also visits the tower, and as a result, Saren retreats into a deeper, more crippling depression. He tortures the girls by throwing flaming sticks into the tower and threatening them with the howls of wolves. One day, when a menacing wolf appears at their small window, My Lord attacks it and runs off.

As Saren withdraws, Dashti starts to grow more desperate to escape. Their food supply is dwindling and they have been locked away for almost a thousand days. In a clever moment, Dashti follows the rats to a portion of the tower wall where the brick has been eaten away. She claws away at the weakened wall. On day 932, it finally collapses, setting Dashti and Saren free.



When the two girls venture into the outside world, it is clear that things have changed drastically in the Eight Realms. Titor’s Garden has been destroyed at the vicious hand of Khasar, who has declared war. They begin a journey to Song for Evela, which is thankfully still standing.

Dashti once again makes it her mission to care for Saren even when she doesn’t want to be cared for. She gets them both jobs as scrubbers in Tegus’s kitchen, unbeknownst to him. The weight of the secret on Saren’s shoulders is obvious, but Dashti can’t seem to heal her.

Believing that Saren died in the devastation of Titor’s Garden, Tegus feels he has no choice but to marry someone else to protect his realm. He becomes engaged to Lady Vachir of Beloved of Ris. Dashti pushes Saren to reveal her identity to Tegus so they can be together and save the realms, but she refuses.



Dashti’s uplifting powers are discovered, and she’s promoted from a scrubber to Tegus’s personal healer. Dashti sings to him and they spend more time together until they start to fall in love. Dashti is happier than ever, especially because of her blossoming romance with Tegus.

However, Saren, remaining stuck in a rut, is more miserable by the day, even though they’ve escaped. Dashti, desperate to uplift her mistress and newfound friend, forces Saren to spend time with My Lord, who has returned to them. Saren is reluctant at first, as usual, but warms up to him. Eventually, she finds solace and comfort in the cat, growing happier and more confident.

The threat of war is still imminent as Khasar is nearing their new realm. Dashti encourages Saren to reveal herself to save Song for Evela, but Saren is still too nervous. She begs Dashti to impersonate her again, but for once, Dashti stands her ground. Saren finally confides in Dashti, revealing the secret that has been over her head for the last thousand days: Khasar is actually a bone-chilling, shape-shifting wolf.



Armed with this new knowledge, Dashti feels brave enough to take Khasar down herself. Khasar refuses to leave the realm alone until Saren is forfeited to him, so Dashti poses as her mistress one last time.

As she gets closer to Khasar, Dashti sings a song revealing him as a wolf. Outraged, Khasar’s armies turn on him and kill him. Finally, the two girls aren’t just free of the tower – they’re also free of Khasar’s wrath. Dashti prepares to move on, accepting that Saren and Tegus were once happy together and will be again, until Lady Vachir, bitter about her called off engagement with Tegus, steals Dashti’s diary. She reveals that Dashti is a mucker. Saren, finally feeling as brave as Dashti, stands up for her friend. In the end, Tegus chooses Dashti, and the two get married.