Greetings, readers and writers! I hope that everyone had a great summer solstice. In honor of the longest day of the year—which also happens to be my birthday—I am bringing you two book reviews for a novella series titled Emaddin Adventures: A Sequel to the 1001 Arabian Nights by Omar Pasha. This post covers the first novella, simply titled Emaddin Adventures: A Sequel to the 1001 Arabian Nights, Book One.
Sultan Omran is a kind, selfless leader who always looks out for his people. Everyone in his kingdom, especially the capital city of Baghdad, loves him—everyone, that is, except for his most trusted advisor, Aqrab. The advisor, though well compensated and held in his esteem by the Sultan, has a twisted heart filled with greed, jealousy, and unrequited love for Omran’s wife, Bedor. He and his army of assassins, deceivers, and magical beings will stop at nothing to overthrow the Sultan and take both his kingdom and his wife. Yet for every traitor in their midst are many who will lay down their lives for the beloved Sultan Omran, and they are not about to let Aqrab win without a fight.
Will truth and justice prevail? Or is Sultan Omran too far gone to be saved from Aqrab’s spell?
The timing of me learning about this book could not be any better. I just recently saw the new version of Aladdin in theaters (I loved it, by the way), and it reminded me of how much I miss retellings and reimaginings of fairy tales and folklore. To find something that is a bit of a retelling of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” but mostly just a revamping of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights seemed perfect after that. This story has certainly helped to fuel the fire that the new Aladdin reignited.
The plot is nothing spectacular for the genre: a kind ruler is being threatened by an underhanded advisor and someone outside of that relationship will have to save him. It is based in one of the world’s oldest written collections of fairy tales and folklore, after all, so one could expect it to use one of the cookie-cutter plots that comes from said collection. However, I am happy to say that how the Sultan is saved is not what I would have expected—a pleasant surprise that I will leave up to you to discover yourself by reading it. Furthermore, the ending leaves the book open for a continuation, even without the use of a frame narrative as in the original One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Pasha also does well in mimicking the oral storytelling of the original tales. The simple language, incorporation of Emaddin’s poetry, and quick pace all lend to the feeling of being told the story by the author himself. While it used to be our only way of conveying stories, this continuation of oral traditions onto paper do not always transfer so well, especially given the modern literary world’s tendency to prefer show over tell or, conversely, writers’ tendency to strictly tell without many—if any—descriptions when attempting to copy old storytelling. Pasha, however, manages to balance this aspect to closely imitate the feel of such stories.
However, there are ways in which this work could improve. The most important, though, is the writing itself. While the storytelling feel is engaging, is can also be the book’s greatest pitfall. There is so much potential for tension and action in this narrative, even when using the oral storytelling approach, and yet Pasha fails to follow through on them. Instead, the story rushes through these parts, recounting them very matter-of-factly and causing these crucial scenes to fall flat. The story also goes off on many tangents. Some of these relate some critical cultural and/or historical context for the reader, but other times they do not seem to relate quite as directly to the plot. In going on these tangents, Pasha takes his readers away from the heart of the story, and I’m afraid to admit that sometimes I had to reread portions in order to regain the thread of the chapter I was on.
More importantly, though, the book needs to be editing more. I noticed multiple grammatical errors through its fifty-six pages, including missing or misplaced punctuation. These mistakes became distracting, and there were even times when I was a little confused as to whom was speaking because the dialogue was not formatted entirely correctly. I think that even if the book went through just one more round of editing, it would improve greatly and make the story even more compelling.
Overall, I think that Emaddin Adventures: A Sequel to 1001 Arabian Nights, Book One by Omar Pasha is an entertaining read with a lot of creative energy put into it. It really reminds me of the stories I read from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights as an undergrad, and I think that the plot, characters, and setting are a worthy continuation of the collection. However, the writing could do with polishing and editing. Only then will it reach its full potential.
You can buy Emaddin Aventures: A Sequel to 1001 Arabian Nights, Book One by Omar Pasha as a Kindle book on Amazon.
Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!
Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011