| $@%&! level: None “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low (One fistfight, and various threats of punishment, which can be, um, imaginative.) Back Cover: “His dreams are coming true! Young merchant Abdullah leads a humble life. Or he did until a stranger sold him a threadbare—and disagreeable—magic carpet. Now Abdullah is caught in the middle of his grand daydreams. Waking one night in a luxurious garden, he meets and falls instantly in love with the beautiful and clever Flower-in-the-Night. But a wicked djinn sweeps the princess away right before Abdulla's eyes, leaving the young man no choice but to follow. This is no ordinary quest, however, for Flower-in-the-Night isn't all the djinn has stolen. Abdullah will have the so-called help of the cantankerous carpet, a cranky genie in a bottle, a dishonest soldier, and a very opinionated black cat. Will this motley crew be able to find the djinn's mysterious dwelling and rescue a castle full of princesses?” |
Diana Wynne Jones brings the comedy again, and this time she's included a grand quest into the bargain. Abdullah's way of speaking is a constant source of amusement. I wonder how much time it took to think up all those flowery compliments, and it gets even better when he finally gets frustrated enough to stop talking like that. I also really enjoy the genie's honest duplicity. Yeah, that sounds like an oxymoron, I know. But it's also accurate, because the genie is very open about his determination to make any wish he grants go as wrong as possible. I suspect that most genies share that goal, but most of them don't admit it. And my very favorite bit—which my friends and I occasionally quote to each other—is the reward Abdullah requests.
The other thing I like about this book is that the princesses very nearly manage to save themselves. And most of them aren't the stereotypical princess, either. Even the ones who look like it don't act much like it, and I find the stretching of the definition of fairytale princess very refreshing. It was also refreshing to find that just about everyone got a happily ever after in the end—even the guy who caused all the problems in the first place.