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This is a retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights, only this time, Scheherazade is the boy Sehara. I was excited about the gender bending until I learned that the sultan was still played by a man.
So far, the story is following the frame fairly well. The sultan (I forgot his name in this version) marries his father's old wife, who then goes on to betray him. In return, he decides to marry a woman every day and execute her the next morning. To stop the carnage, Sehara steps in and begins to tell stories.
Well, actually, I can't remember if the sultan's wife was originally his stepmother in the original. Also, instead of doing it for the sake of the murdered women, Sehara steps in because the sultan rescued him (or he rescued the sultan) a while ago, and he fell in love with the sultan. We also get the stubbly, glasses-wearing, extremely hot vizier, now imprisoned, and not Sehara's father, and a near-incestuous relationship between Sehara and his sister.
Honestly, I found the frame story to be rather boring, which is sad because I like the original so much. But they removed the women! So instead of getting a contrast to the sultan's evil wife in Scheherazade, you get the sultan's misogyny having him accept a male wife instead, which I feel reflects poorly both on a feminist and on a glbt level.
On the other hand, I may read the next one because the art is so gorgeous. Also, instead of staying with the tales from Arabian Nights, the manhwaga is adapting tales from all over. I really loved the story within this volume, which stars a cold, icy princess. I would read an entire series about her if there were one!
On a side note, when I was reading this at
rachelmanija's, I noticed that the manhwaga had a thing for Chinese culture. The younger sister notes that Chinese people eat "dirty" things like pork -- I bristled at that, until another character refuted it or said it wasn't forbidden for them. There were other random mentions of Chinese culture worked in, like a Romance of the Three Kingdoms reference, along with the Chinese influences (sideways, given that it's Turandot) in the story. I was very amused by this, given that the manhwa is still set somewhere in Baghdad (I think).
So far, the story is following the frame fairly well. The sultan (I forgot his name in this version) marries his father's old wife, who then goes on to betray him. In return, he decides to marry a woman every day and execute her the next morning. To stop the carnage, Sehara steps in and begins to tell stories.
Well, actually, I can't remember if the sultan's wife was originally his stepmother in the original. Also, instead of doing it for the sake of the murdered women, Sehara steps in because the sultan rescued him (or he rescued the sultan) a while ago, and he fell in love with the sultan. We also get the stubbly, glasses-wearing, extremely hot vizier, now imprisoned, and not Sehara's father, and a near-incestuous relationship between Sehara and his sister.
Honestly, I found the frame story to be rather boring, which is sad because I like the original so much. But they removed the women! So instead of getting a contrast to the sultan's evil wife in Scheherazade, you get the sultan's misogyny having him accept a male wife instead, which I feel reflects poorly both on a feminist and on a glbt level.
On the other hand, I may read the next one because the art is so gorgeous. Also, instead of staying with the tales from Arabian Nights, the manhwaga is adapting tales from all over. I really loved the story within this volume, which stars a cold, icy princess. I would read an entire series about her if there were one!
On a side note, when I was reading this at
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(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 01:57 am (UTC)This was my reaction.... "OOO! Gender switch Arabian Nights! Cool! Oh, just made it yaoi. Uhm...wouldn't that ruin the point?"
I never bothered looking after that because...well...as you pointed out, the whole point of the frame story is that he punished the entire gender for the crimes of one, and then learned he was wrong...making them both men is more "yeah, you're right, women suck...here's a guy instead."
(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 10:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 11:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 02:17 am (UTC)*scowly face*
I was htinking "whee queer 1001 Nights!" but no. Boo.
(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 09:06 am (UTC)Random OT Book Recc
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 09:48 pm (UTC)Read it last night. Very good. Not scifi. But as a young adult book dealing with a non-Christian religion, very very good. Also they are Australian, so even more multicultural.
-- Sorry about the OT, but it's not like I can post a heads up in my journal :)
Re: Random OT Book Recc
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 11:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 11:09 pm (UTC)I don't think him switching to a male "wife" means that he's cured of his "women are evil cuckolding bitches" problem; I think it's a symptom. Basically, even if it's intentional or not, the sultan still ends up treating a man much better than he treats women, even though said man tricked and deceived him into marrying him.
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Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 10:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 04:04 am (UTC)"Turandot" actually is from the original 1001 Nights, it was just nabbed separately for the opera. But in volume 2 or 3 (whichever doesn't feature the cracked-out re-imagining of Cleopatra), Sehara tells a Korean folktale, which I liked a very great deal.
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Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 09:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 10:59 pm (UTC)I am hoping that they keep Morgiana in the Ali Baba story, if it shows up, because she was one of my heroes as a kid (she boils the robbers in hot oil! How is that not cool?).
(no subject)
Sun, Nov. 11th, 2007 05:48 am (UTC)Probably this is the part where I should mention I've never found the sultan a particularly sympathetic character.
I adore Morgiana! I just worry that if they keep her, how will they change her? Women don't do so well in this series, I've noticed.
(no subject)
Mon, Nov. 12th, 2007 06:21 pm (UTC)Sigh. I've always wanted to whap the sultan, because he is mean! And evil! And I have zero sympathy for someone who kills a woman a day because he was so wounded by his wife's infidelity.
Yeah... Ha. They'll probably end up making Morgiana a bishounen as well.
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Tue, Nov. 27th, 2007 04:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 11:00 pm (UTC)And Korean folktale yay!
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Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 12:10 pm (UTC)Yeah, it's compartmentalizing, but... it's BL. Why are you expecting it to make sense? =)
(no subject)
Thu, Nov. 8th, 2007 11:10 pm (UTC)Sigh. It really is so pretty. And yet!