The cover drew me in and three things convinced me to read this book:

It is a retelling of the Scheherazade tale with alien conquerors;
It is a Subterranean press book and they do great work; and
It discussed the author Robert Silverberg’s genius and I didn’t know who he was . . .

The fact that it was a sci-fi Scheherazade tale would have been enough in and of itself. And this book was a wonderful one. Our Scheherazade, Laylah Walis, is a human from Earth. Earth has been conquered by an alien race. She travels to the forbidden city of Haraar which she knows is punishable by death. Her goal is to meet the emperor. But for what purpose?

Of course the fun of this tale is that the reader is learning Laylah’s story at the same time that the emperor is. She certainly is a compelling character and her stories sped along. The cliffhangers at the end of each night’s tale bothered me as much as the emperor. I needed to know more! The only downside is that by the end of the book, I could have listened to many more of Laylah’s stories. The ending was good but I still need more!

As for the author, I learned from sandy @ fantasyliterature‘s review of this novel several amazing facts. Apparently Mr. Silverberg is the author of no fewer than “78 sci-fi novels, almost 450 short stories and novellas, around 70 books of nonfiction, and around 185 novels of, um, “adult fiction,” in addition to having edited over 130 anthologies.” Talk about prolific! He is currently 82 years old. Goodreads says that he has won 5 Hugos and 5 Nebulas. Also he is a 2004 Grand Master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Sheesh!

I am regretful that I didn’t know about him before but am delighted to have remedied that fact. If ye be not familiar with this author then mayhaps ye should pick this book up. I certainly enjoyed the foray.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Subterranean Press!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/