The Rose and The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

The much anticipated sequel to The Wrath and The Dawn continues the story of Shahrzad al-Khayzuran and her beloved husband Khalid, the murderous Caliph of Khorasan.

In the first novel, Khalid reveals to Shahrzad his terrible secret. He married his first wife in an arranged marriage when he was seventeen. His father wanted him to marry Yasmine el-Sharif, daughter of the Sultan of Parthia, so as to unite the kingdoms of Khorasan and Parthia but Khalid did not wish to marry Yasmine. To avoid insulting the Sultan he quietly married a young girl named Ava. The marriage was not a happy one as the young couple grew apart. Ava was happy when she became pregnant, but when she lost the baby she committed suicide. Ava's father called Khalid to his home and revealed the curse he had laid upon him and paid for with his own life. "One hundred lives for the one you took. One life to one dawn. Should you fail but a single morn, I shall take from you your dreams. I shall take from you your city. And I shall take from you these lives, a thousandfold."

Ava's father wants Khalid to sacrifice one hundred daughters to the dawn so that their families may know his pain and the loss of the future and so that they will hate Khalid as he does. In order to place the curse, Ava's father sacrificed himself through potent dark magic. At first Khalid refused, but a drought began in Rey; the rains ceased and the wells dried up. The people of Rey became sick and began to die. Khalid realized the curse was real and so began to take a bride every night.

The novel ends with Shahrzad's father, Jahandar using the dark magic from the secret book he's found to destroy Rey in an attempt to rescue his daughter. He creates a terrible storm that lays waste to Rey, burning the city. Tariq and Rahim race to the palace to rescue Shahrzad and face the awful truth that Tariq's beloved Shazi loves Khalid, Caliph of Khorasan. Jalal allows to Tariq and Rahim to take Shahrzad, while Reza bin-Latief, father of Shiva meets with the Sultan of Parthia to plan their humiliation and annihilation of Khalid.

The Rose and The Dagger opens with Shahrzad, her sister Irsa and her father Jahandar in the camp of Omar al-Sadiq, the emir of Badawi who has formed an alliance with Reza bin-Latief. Her father Jahandar al-Khayzuran was found by Shahrzad, Tariq and Rahim outside Rey, the night of the fire storm that destroyed the city. He was clutching an old, leather-bound book, his hands and feet burned. They were unable to pry the book from his hands. In the camp,  Reza is not happy when he sees Shahrzad alive; he considers her to have betrayed him and tells her to consider which side she is on.

Meanwhile, Khalid remains in the ruins of his palace and of his city, Rey. The head of the palace guards, Kalal al-Khoury confronts Khalid, telling him he cannot continue to cover for Khalid's repeated disappearances. He also tells Khalid that he has learned he is going to be a father and thinks he may want to marry the woman carrying his child. 

In the Badawi camp, Shahrzad's father Jahandar al-Khayzuran realizes that the book he used has magical powers well beyond what he expected and what he was able to control.  Although he knows the book should be destroyed, Jahandar believes that now that he understands what it is capable of, he may be able to control it.  Although Jahandar feels remorse over what happened in the city, he senses that his daughter Shahrzad has even more power than he. He decides he will teach Shahrzad how to use her powers.

Shahrzad discovers the rug that Musa-Zaragoza,  the magus (magician) from the Fire Temple, gave her is a magic carpet which she can control. Irsa is shocked at Shahrzad's ability to do so. Her hands sense an energy within the carpet and are able to make it rise from the floor. But she has yet to understand how the carpet might help her.

In Rey, Khalid is surprised to see Despina with the Rajput. Vikram's shoulder has been destroyed by Tariq's obsidian arrow and he tells Khalid he is unable to use his left hand. The Rajput wants to leave Rey and to take Despina as his wife. Despite his shock Khalid agrees to keep their marriage secret and allows them to leave. Khalid continues to disappear into the city at all times, much to Jalal's anger. On one excursion he goes to help repair the city's oldest library where Shahrzad's father once worked. It is here that Jalal angrily confronts Khalid. Jalal believes Khalid sent Despina, the woman pregnant with his child, away as an act of revenge for him sending Shahrzad away from Rey with Tariq. Khalid does not reveal Despina and Vikram's situation to Jalal because he doesn't yet know the reason for her actions. Despite Khalid telling Jalal he did not send her away as a means of revenge, Jalal warns Khalid that he will no longer protect him.

In the Badawi desert camp Omar al-Sadiq listens as Shiva's father Rez bin-Latief argues for attacking Khalid and the city of Rey. With most of the Caliph's Royal Guards killed and the standing army either having fled or been destroyed, Reza believes now is the time to act. But Omar is reluctant to have his people become involved in this war as he his not certain which side to ally himself with. His wife Aisha has warned him that neither Tariq nor Reza could be trusted and the discovery of Fida'i, who are hired assassins in the camp only make Omar more reluctant. He notes Tariq seems disquieted by his uncle's determination to bring about war and decides he must speak with the young man.He is also deeply disturbed by the attack on the calipha, Shahrzad.

One night Shahrzad becomes intoxicated and passes out leaving Tariq to take her to her tent. There he finds a letter written by Khalid to Shahrzad expressing his deep love for her. Tariq now knows that the Caliph does in fact care for Shahrzad in a way similar to how Tariq feels for her. The next morning Shahrzad realizes she must find Musa Zaragoza in hopes he can help her father and know of a way to break the curse on Khalid. Shahrzad sneaks into the desert surrounding the camp with her magic carpet and orders it to take her to Musa Zaragoza. Can Shahrzad find a cure for what mysteriously ails her father. Will she be able to find someone to lift the curse from Khalid and possibly stop the impending war that threatens them all.

Discussion

In The Rose and The Dagger, Ahdieh keeps her readers thoroughly engaged through the numerous plot twists and an enticing array of unique characters. The novel is fast paced as each unexpected twist pulls the reader along towards the shocking climax (which is then undone by a secondary character) and a post-climatic epilogue that continues the story several years into the future. The story is told using third person omniscient so the thoughts and feelings of many of the characters including Shahrzad, Khalid, Tariq Jahandar, Irsa, and Omar are known to the reader.

The strength of The Rose and The Dagger is in the characters, many of whom are struggling with intense internal conflicts. For example Omar al-Sadiq is a wise emir whose people live in the area between Khorasan and Parthia. He has brought Reza bin-Latief and his nephew, Tariq to his camp in Badawi so he can observe them and determine if he should fall in with them in the coming war. Omar has given them horses and provisions but the presence of hired assassins around Reza makes him wary. Reza's determination to attack the Caliph will draw Omar's people into the war and Omar is concerned for his people. He does not know who to trust. He observes that Tariq has a "strange uncertainty" and that he does not partake in the "angry revelry" of Reza's men at a war meeting. This creates further doubts for Omar about Tariq's choice. "Omar was not certain Tariq had chosen right in following his uncle. Not certain Tariq knew how best to choose between right and wrong." The attack on the calipha, whom he respects,  in his own camp also leads to further doubts. Eventually Omar comes to believe that the choice to attack Rey is the wrong one and he convinces Tariq that the choice to ride against the Caliph is the wrong choice.

Jahandar al-Khayzuran is also deeply troubled. He is a man who wants to be noticed and he hopes to accomplish this by attaining great knowledge about magic. Jahandar hoped to find his true calling "As a man of power. A man to be respected. A man to be feared." His plan was to use the book's magical power to save his daughter, Shahrzad. However, its power was far more than Jahandar had expected and it has destroyed Rey.  He becomes obsessed with the book to the point that he will let no one touch it. And when it is stolen from him Jahandar will do anything to get it back even aligning himself with Reza bin-Latief and the Sultan of Parthia. He had hoped by going along with Reza's plan to kidnap Shahrzad and take her to Amardha that he would be able to find his book.  But Jahandar has misunderstood the complex relationships between the Sultan, Reza and the Caliph. He learns that Khalid destroyed the book and in his anger at being dismissed and ignored, Jahandar fatally attacks Khalid. When he realizes that his actions do not change anything, that he has destroyed his daughter, Jahandar uses the magic he has learned from the book to save Khalid at the cost of his own life, thus redeeming himself.

Tariq Imran al-Ziyad is another deeply conflicted character. He loves Shahrzad and is determined to seek revenge for what has happened to her. Tariq believes Shahrzad's husband is a butcher and a madman. When Tariq accuses Shahrzad of being blinded by love, Shahrzad defends Khalid telling Tariq that the truth of Khalid's situation is not so simple. Tariq's discovery of a letter to Shahrzad from Khalid leads him to understand that their love is no passing fancy. He also begins to suspect that Khalid is not the person everyone believes him to be. His words are not the words of a madman. In fact he finds him to be remarkably controlled and a man of few words. Later on he finds he cannot kill Khalid after he sees how much Khalid and Shahrzad love one another for it will utterly destroy Shahrzad.The behaviour of the Caliph leads Tariq to question all that he thought he knew about him. He discovers Khalid is not deceitful, "Which put to question many other suspicions Tariq had long harbored against him." Eventually Tariq decides to side with Khalid against his uncle Reza.

The Rose and The Dagger is a complex story that incorporates the themes of forgiveness and redemption throughout. It is about the redemption of one man in particular, the Caliph of Khorasan, who has been forced by a powerful curse, to choose between murdering one hundred brides or to see his people die by the thousands. This choice is unknown to all but a few and therefore virtually everyone else believes the Caliph to be a murderous monster. He is seen as a monster by the people of Khorasan. In the Badawi camp the soldiers say as much. "That monster doesn't deserve a grave," another young man chimed in. "His head belongs on a pike..." Shahrzad's sister, Irsa refers to Khalid "The monster of Rey ..." Tariq, Shahrzad's first love tells her her husband is a "butcher" and a "murdering madman". However, gradually the truth is uncovered. Irsa and Tariq in particular cannot reconcile the man they experience as the murdering madman people believe he is. When the reason for his cousin Shiva's murder is revealed to Tariq, he sees "a hint of something more" in Khalid. He sees "more of the man beneath the monster."
And he discovers he no longer hates Khalid.

While not quite as enthralling as the first novel, The Rose and The Dagger is still a finely crafted story, a romantic sequel to The Wrath and The Dawn. Filled with remarkable characters, fast paced action, it is a novel not to be missed.

Ahdieh has once again included a map of the setting in the front of the novel. A full list of the characters is given below:

Cast of Characters

Shahrzad al-Khayzuran - Calipha of Khorasan and wife of Khalid

Jahandar al-Khayzuran- Shahrzad's father

Irsa al-Khayzuran - sister to Shahrzad

Khalid Ibn al-Rashid - Caliph of Khorasa, husband of Shahrzad

Rahim al-Din Walad - friend of Tariq and Shahrzad

Tariq Imran al-Ziyad - Shahrzad's childhood friend

Shiva bin Latief - Shahrzad's best friend who was Khalid's bride before Shahrzad

Reza bin Latief - father of Shiva, Tariq's uncle

Omar al-Sadiq - Emir of Badawi whose lands border both Khorasan and Parthia

Salim Ali el-Sharif - Sultan of Parthia and Khalid's uncle

Yasmine el-Sharif - Salim's daughter and once intended bride of Khalid

Despina el-Sharif - Salim's secret daughter and spy

Vikram Singh (The Rajput) - Khalid's bodyguard

Captain Jalal al-Khoury - Captain of the Guards

General Aref al-Khoury - Jalal's father

Musa Zaragosa - magician at the Fire Temple

Teymur - relative of the Emir of Karaj

Artan Temujin- son of Tolu who lives with Musa Zaragoza

Parissa and Masrur - Musa Zaragoza's guards

Shesha - winged serpent

Isuke - Artan's aunt who possesses strong magic

Fida'is - hired soldiers with no allegiance.

Book Details:
The Rose and The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 2016
416 pp.

The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

"He murdered my cousin. And now he has Shahrzad. This is a man with nothing but evil in his blood. The only thing to consider when it comes to Khalid Ibn al-Rashid is how many times I wish he could die at my hands. And how unfortunate it is that the answer is only once."

Renee Ahdieh's debut novel is an imaginative retelling of the story of Scheherazade, a Middle Eastern folktale. Scheherazade was the Arabic (Persian) queen who told her husband stories to stave off being killed the next morning. In the story, known as the Arabian Nights, Scheherazade, the daughter of a vizier, volunteers to marry Shahryar a Persian King who has been taking a virgin bride only to have her killed the following morning. The King began murdering his brides out of anger over the unfaithfulness of his first wife and the infidelity of his brother's wife. Believing that all women are the same, he sets out to murder each wife. Scheherazade manages to stay alive for 1001 nights, each of those nights telling a story that leaves the King wanting to learn the ending and so sparing her life. When she no longer has any stories to tell her husband, her life is spared because by this time Shahryar has fallen in love with her.

The Wrath and The Dawn opens with the murder of yet another bride of the King in the early morning. Although not explicitly mentioned, this is Shiva, Shahrzad's best friend. General al-Khoury and his son, Jalal are on the rooftop terrace of the King's palace in Rey, Khorasan when they receive word that the King's bride has just been killed. It begins to rain and Jalal tells his father that the murders cannot continue as the people are rioting. The General indicates that they must if the kingdom is to stay safe, seeming to imply that the rain is a sign of this.

Sixteen year old Shahrzad has volunteered to be the King's next bride to avenge the murder of her best friend, Shiva. As Shahrzad is being prepared for her wedding night her father, Jahandar al-Khayzuran visits her, bringing a single budding rose. Her younger sister, fourteen year old Isra, has remained at home. Shahrzad comforts her father telling him this will not be her last sunset. Strangely, the rose he gives her begins to unfurl, releasing a strong scent, then withering and dying. Then Shahrzad is led to the throne room where she meets Khalid Ibn al-Rashid, the Caliph of Khorasan.

Meanwhile, Tariq and his friend, Rahim have been out riding, accompanied by Tariq's falcon, Zoraya.When they return home, Tariq's father tells him they received a letter from Shahrzad revealing that she has volunteered to marry the Caliph in an attempt to avenge Shiva's death. Tariq is in shock because he loves Shahrzad who is his childhood friend. His father tells him they must all deal with this and that Tariq will learn to love another woman. Furious,Tariq leaves determined to save Shahrzad.

Shahrzad awaits the Caliph's appearance in her bedchamber. After they make love, in a passionless manner, Shahrzad requests that she be allowed to tell him a story and in return for explaining why she volunteered to be married to him knowing she will die at sunrise. As expected, he is captivated by her story of Agib, a poor sailor and a thief who discovers a magical chalice. Accusing her of trickery he grants her one more night to finish her story. The next morning Shahrzad meets her handmaiden, Despina who tells her she has been sent to spy on her.Despina reveals that the Caliph is so taken with her that he has assigned a member of his personal bodyguard, the Rajput, to attend her at all times. Shahrzad is told that Khalid is an excellent swordsman, meaning he is likely a brilliant strategist as well, something she will have to take into account.

Shahrzad decides to explore the palace, and along with Despina, finds herself at the training grounds. There they encounter Jalal al-Khoury, Captain of the palace guards and son of the Shahrban of Rey. Shahrzad asks Jalal to help her learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. However, Shahrzad has been expertly trained by Tariq. As they practice, Jalal tells Shahrzad that he has known Khalid since he was a small boy, and was very close to his older brother Hassan who died. His father died a year after his brother and something terrible happened to his mother. Khalid was only fourteen when he became Caliph. Jalal tells Shahrzad that she has completely unnerved Khalid and that this is a good thing. He informs her that at one time Khalid was a kind, intelligent person but is now very broken and he asks Shahrzad to help him fix Khalid.

During this time Shahrzad's father, Jahandar, and her sister have fled their home for Tariq's family home in Taleqan. Before leaving Jahandar retrieves a special book which he keeps from Isra. At night Jahandar opens this ancient blackened book written in Chagatai and begins translating it so that he can uncover its secrets. This book contains black magic that will make him strong.

His daughter meanwhile meets Khalid for a second night. After making love once again, Shahrzad realizes that after one day of being his wife, she does not see evidence of Khalid as the blood-thirsty monster she thought he was. Shahrzad continues the story from the previous night about Agib, but when she tries to move on to the next part about Aladdin and the magic lamp it is already dawn. Convinced this is a new story, Khalid does not move at first to stop General al-Khoury who has come to take Shahrzad to her death. However, Khalid intercedes and introduces Shahrzad to the shahrban as his Mountain of Adamant - a reference to the mountain of the same name in her first story. Because of the magic in the mountain, it pulled ships towards it, causing their destruction. Once in the grasp of the mountain, sailors could never free themselves and their ships broke apart and sank, killing them. Khalid recognizes now that Shahrzad is his Mountain of Adamant or his undoing.

Tariq and Rahim journey to the city of Rey and stop at the compound of Reza bin-Latief. Reza's daughter, Shiva was killed by Khalid when she became his bride and his wife died three days later. Reza tells Tariq that Shahrzad is still alive and the city is filled with speculation and rumours as to how this has come about. Tariq tells Reza he has come to rescue Shahrzad. Reza decides that he will sell everything he has to help Tariq. Tariq will be the leader of the cause to destroy the Caliph. Reza will seek out others who might be willing to support their cause such as the Emir of Karaj.When Tariq mentions that he will return home to Rey with Shahrzad's family, Reza tells him that no one knows where they have gone. The next morning Tariq tells Rahim he will leave for the Badawi tribes along the border of Khorasan and Parthia and asks him to continue on to Taleqan.

On her third morning, Shahrzad learns from Despina that the King has never sought out any of his brides until her. Despina wants to take her to a new bath, but Shahrzad decides she wants to see the swordsmanship tournament. The two watch the tournament hidden and Shahrzad realizes that Khalid will not be easy to kill as he is very skilled with the shamshir. Their presence near the tournament leads to a run-in with General al-Khoury who tells her that he sees her as a threat to the Caliph and intends to eliminate her. That night Khalid does not come to her bedchamber and in the morning, Shahrzad is dragged from her bed by soldiers. A silk chord is placed about her neck as Shahrzad realizes she is about to be executed. However, Jalal and Khalid save her at the last minute and before he leaves for Amardha, Khalid tells her that he will see that she is not harmed again. He calls her his queen.

While Khalid is away, someone attempts to murder Shahrzad by poisoning the sugar used for her tea. Whether it was Despina or someone else, Shahrzad knows she can trust no one. As queen, Shahrzad receives Khalid's first tutor, Musa Zaragoza who has come to visit the palace.  Musa inquires as to what kind of man Khalid has become and Shahrzad tells him "A joyless one. A calculating one. A bitter one..." Musa tells her the story of Khalid's mother, Leila who was his father's second wife. Leila told stories to Khalid at night just as Shahrzad is doing. However, his happy childhood ended when Khalid's father discovered his mother involved with another man and slit her throat in front of the six your old boy. Musa encourages Shahrzad to love Khalid and to help him recover from this traumatic event in his life. Musa also reveals to Shahrzad that she has a special gift, unknown to her and tells her should she wish to learn more about it to contact him. He gives her the strangest gift, a tattered rug, telling her "It is a very special carpet. When you are lost, it will help you find your way,"

When Khalid returns from his trip, Shahrzad feels herself weakening in her purpose to kill him and decides she must take immediate action. That night Khalid tells Shahrzad that because of his mother's behaviour, his right to rule as Caliph of Khorasan is called into question by the Sultan of Parthia on a regular basis. His position as heir of the caliphate was also called into question by his own father. Shahrzad is shocked. She tells Khalid that he can make amends for the attempt on her life by allowing her to go out into the streets of Rey with him and without bodyguards. Her purpose is to poison the Caliph while they are out. However, things do not go according to plan when they are accosted by a group of drunken men. Despite having the opportunity to kill the Caliph, Shahrzad cannot. As she struggles to confront the conflict raging within her own heart, Shahrzad becomes determined to know why he killed all his other brides. The shocking truth hints at a terrible fate that will befall all of Rey. And against the advice of his Uncle Aref, Khalid decides to spare the life Shahrzad, no matter the cost to himself and the people of Rey.

Discussion

The Wrath and the Dawn is one of those novels so captivating, so exquisite a story it feels impossible to wait for the sequel. That is the mark of a wonderful writer. Ahdieh is a master story-teller, weaving a tale of love and revenge, of deception and betrayal, of curses and promises. Telling a story whose ending is mostly known is challenging because it's difficult to make the story fresh and engaging. However, Ahdieh succeeds brilliantly by weaving three narratives together and developing several themes in her novel. The dominate themes in this novel seem to be those of revenge and redemption, both of which are intricately related.

Shahrzad marries the Caliph solely to avenge her best friend's horrible death. This act in itself shows her to be courageous. To accomplish her revenge Shahrzad knows she needs to survive that first night. In doing so, she shows herself to be both resourceful and intelligent. However the unexpected happens. As she learns more about this enigmatic man, Shahrzad also becomes deeply conflicted. Her hate and anger begin to be replaced by pity and then by love.

Before Shahrzad even meets Khalid she refers to him as "The monster from my nightmares." When she does meet him on their first night together she describes him as cold and forbidding, "this boy-king, this murderer". She finds him callous and arrogant. When Shahrzad meets his friend, Jalal,  he tells her that Khalid has changed greatly from when he was a boy and that now he is broken. He asks her to help him heal Khalid. Expecting Khalid to a be a bloodthirsty monster, Shahrzad quickly realizes that she does not fear him because he is not as she expected. "In the single day she'd been his wife, she'd seen remarkably little of the bloodthirsty monster she'd expected."  When Khalid visits her,  after the attempt by the soldiers to hang her, his kindness towards her makes Shahrzad realize that she is attracted to him and wants to kiss him. "As he placed his palm against the side of her face, Shahrzad realized something horrifying. She wanted to kiss him...It was one thing to return his kiss; she'd been prepared for that. But it was another thing entirely to want his kiss...another thing entirely to desire his affections. To melt into the arms of Shiva's killer at the first sign of adversity."

Shahrzad is horrified to find herself developing an attraction towards Khalid. After she learns from Musa, his tutor, of the trauma Khalid endured as a child, she is encouraged by Musa to love Khalid. He tells her, "In my life, the one thing I have learned above all is that no individual can reach the height of their potential without the love of others. We are not meant to be alone, Shahrzad. The more a person pushes others away, the clearer it becomes he is in need of love the most."

As Shahrzad's heart begins to betray her and Shiva, she struggles with the contrasting emotions of shame and desire. "How can I desire him? After he killed Shiva? After he killed so many young girls, without explanation?" Following the passionate kiss in the souk, Shahrzad is forced to admit that her heart is beginning to betray her. "Caring about him meant he had real power over her. That he held sway over her heart." As her feelings for Khalid deepen, Shahrzad's conflict deepens. "She was not here to spend time troubling about her appearance. Such childishness was beneath her. She had come to the palace with a single-minded purpose: to discover her enemy's weakness and destroy him with it."

Because his actions towards her are inconsistent with his behaviour towards his previous brides, Shahrzad is determined to learn the reason he is murdering his brides. She is certain that "Khalid Ibn al-Rashid was not a madman from line of murdering madmen, hell-bent on a senseless brutality. He was a boy with secrets." Shahrzad promises herself she will "discover the truth and seek justice" for Shiva. When Shahrzad asks him to tell her his terrible secret while they begin making love, Khalid angrily refuses leading Shahrzad to know for certain that she is his one true weakness. But at this point she is still determined to learn the secret and destroy him.

When she discovers Khalid's terrible grief over the deaths of each of his brides and learns the number of women he has killed she is filled with horror. Shahrzad realises that she was hoping there would be a reason for the murders but when she cannot find one she is determined to follow through, despite her love for Khalid. 

When Shahrzad learns of Khalid's terrible secret sheis horrified. Khalid however is determined to protect her and his kingdom until he learns of Shahrzad's love for Tariq. When he offers himself to her so Shahrzad can accomplish what she came to Rey to do, she refuses. "Hate. Judgement. Retribution. As you said, revenge will never replace what I have lost. What you have lost. All we have is now. And our promise to make it better."

Central to this story is the character of Khalid who first appears as a cold, calculating young man who seems to have no compunction about dispatching a new bride. However, as the story progresses he is revealed to be someone much more complex. Captivated by Shahrzad who does not seem repulsed nor afraid of him, Khalid is also determined to understand why she volunteered to be a bride, knowing her life is forfeit.  In Shahrzad, Khalid discovers someone he wants to be worthy of and someone he cannot live without because it would be like being without air. Khalid attempted at first to do the right thing and not do what the curse of his father-in-law indicated. But in an attempt to save his people and his kingdom, he began to do what the curse asked. Far from the cold monster he seems on the outside,  each of the women whose death's he ordered have caused him deep grief. "And you should never forgive me for what I've done. As I will never forgive myself." When he learns of Shahrzad's reason for marrying him and the death of her best friend Shiva, Khalid offers himself to her while also giving her the opportunity to escape. He is willing to die to atone for Shiva's death.

The only weakness in this novel is the absence of a list of characters to help the reader keep track of who's who. This difficulty arises because of the way in which Ahdieh tells her story, revealing bits and pieces and having three different story threads.The first story thread involves Shahrzad and Khalid, the second involves the journey of Tariq and Rahim, and the third more minor one which has the most impact on the climax of the novel is that of Jahandar and Isra. So below is a list:

Cast of Characters

General Aref al-Khoury - Khalid's uncle and head of security at the palace

Captain Jalal al-Khoury - General al-Khoury's son and Khalid's cousin, Captain of the Palace Guard

Khalid Ibn al-Rashid - Caliph of Khorasan, eighteen years old

Shahrzad al-Khayzuran - young girl who marries Khalid and tells him stories each night in an attempt to save her life and avenge the murder of her best friend

Despina - Shahrzad's handmaiden who is Jalal's lover

Jahandar al-Khayzuran - Shahrzad's father, vizier for the previous Caliph

Irsa al-Khayzurn - Shahrzad's sister

Tariq Imran al-Ziyad - son of Nasir al-Ziyad, emir of the fourth richest stronghold in Khorasan

Reza bin-Latief -  Shiva's father and Tariq's uncle

Rahim al-Din Walad - friend of Shahrzad and Tariq

Shiva

Salim Ali el-Sharif -  Sultan of Parthia
Yasmine el-Sharif - daughter of Salim and childhood friend of Khalid

Omar al-Sadiq - sixth emir of Badawi

The Rajput - a member of the Caliph's personal bodyguard

Musa Zaragosa - Khalid's first tutor

Ahdieh does include a map showing the relative locations of Khorasan and Parthia to help her readers understand the setting. At the back is a glossary of the many Arabic words used throughout the story.

Readers who have loved the Arabian Nights and who enjoy a delicious romance paired with conflict and tension will want to read The Wrath and The Dawn. At its heart, is a love story filled with redemption, forgiveness and loss. The Wrath and the Dawn is really a love story which focuses on how love can redeem even the most horrible of people.

The sequel, The Rose and the Dagger is slated for publication in 2016. Cannot. Wait.

Book Details:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons        2015
388pp.

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Azalea, Bramble, Clover, Delphinium, Evening Primrose, Flora, Goldenrod, Hollyhock, Ivy, Jessamine, Kale and Ivy. They are the twelve daughters of the King Harold XI, who love to dance more than anything else. They live in the Kingdom of Eathesbury which has a very dark past. Many centuries ago, the High King, D'Eathe, was an evil man who tortured and killed anyone who strayed into his magic palace. He was eventually killed and his palace unmagicked by Harold the First, Azalea's ninth great-grandfather. Bits of magic still exist like the silver handkerchief Azalea's mother gives her.

Shortly after the birth of the twelfth princess, Lily, a drastic change comes to the palace. Their mother dies and the palace is plunged into mourning. The windows are draped in black and the twelve princesses wear black gowns. All fun is postponed, especially dancing. The young princesses feel trapped.

Soon the King leaves to fight a war. The twelve princesses are left alone in the palace, still shrouded in black for their mourning period. They are angry at their father, whom they see as distant and cold. In what is a time of great need, they see their father as abandoning them.

Azalea, the Princess Royale, learns from the handsome Lord Bradford before he leaves with the King, that there are still pockets of magic in the palace. His father and the King use to play in magic passages that can be located by the D'Eathe mark. One night Azalea discovers a portal to one of the magic passages in the princess's bedroom. This passage, opened by the silver handkerchief her mother gave her, leads her and her sisters to an enchanting silver forest with a dancing pavilion in the middle of a silver pond. There they meet the Keeper, who tells them he was once a Lord in the King D'Eathe's court. When Harold the First led the rebellion against King D'Eathe, the Keeper joined in and was banished to the forest by the King. Trapped there forever, he keeps things.

Azalea is enchanted at first by the Keeper. He is a wonderful dancer and has a voice as smooth as chocolate. She and her sisters are so enchanted by the magical silver forest that on their second night of dancing they swear an oath to come each night to dance and not to tell anyone, especially the King. But Azalea soon discovers that the Keeper, although handsome and magicked, has a frightening dark side to him. It is an oath they come to regret.

Night after night Azalea and her sisters return to dance at the Pavilion. When Azalea confronts the Keeper he asks Azalea to find the object in the palace that holds a special power over him rendering him captive below. When Azalea is unable to locate the object and tries to leave off coming to see the Keeper, she begins to suspect just how evil he is.

The King upon his return has learned that his daughters are dancing each night and he posts a notice that any man who can attempt to solve the riddle of where his daughters dance will have a chance to meet the Princess Royale for three days. Azalea and her sister's are furious. Unable to tell anyone about the dancing because of the oath, and Azalea and her sisters are trapped between leaving forever or harming those they love and all they hold dear.

Discussion

Entwined is a superb and imaginative retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses that mostly works. It's a difficult task to come up with an original retelling of a fairytale that can hold the reader's interest, but Dixon succeeds. Entwined is a mix of romance, fairytale, mystery and horror.

In the novel, the contrast between the happy innocence of the princesses and the dark and cruel history of the D'Eathe kingdom is intriguing. This theme formed an undercurrent throughout the book. The addition of magicked items in the palace adds a layer of interest to this twisted retelling. These were items that behaved in a human way because they had "charms" placed on them. This was a delicious touch that added a touch of humour to the novel.

The central characters, Azalea and the Keeper were well developed, although the Keeper was the more interesting of the two. There are twelve princesses although only five are regular characters in the novel. For example, Hollyhock and Jessamine have only a few lines throughout the entire book.

Despite the fact that this novel is a unique retelling it suffers from serious pacing issues. Readers should be aware that it takes some time to get going, mostly because the author spends more than a few chapters setting the scene and introducing us to the many characters. Once the storyline is set the second issue is the speed at which a series of events that lead to the climax occur. Over four chapters and a total of sixty pages, a series of events occur in rapid succession that becomes tiring for the reader to slog through. In making Azalea the heroine, it seemed like the author required an "epic" battle for her to overcome. Shortening the ending would have made for a shorter read instead of the 472 pages that comprise Entwined. Overall though, readers will love the twists in the plot, which will keep them guessing, as well as the satisfying ending.

Book Details:

Entwined by Heather Dixon
Greeenwillow Books (HarperCollins) 2011
472pp.