Before I started writing the Desert Nights series, I raced through a copy of Tales from a Thousand and One Nights, reading stories I’d never even heard of before. Pretty much all my knowledge of Aladdin was from my childhood love of the Disney movie and I soon realized I didn’t know a lot of the original story (…like the first genie comes from a ring, not a lamp). There was a whole new world of mythology for me to explore.
If you’re also a fan of Arabian mythology and like stories featuring ifrits and djinn, I thought I’d share a few recommendations of other YA fantasy books that draw from the tales.
These are a mix of popular reads inspired by A Thousand and One Nights (including Aladdin), as well as wider Arabian mythology.
1. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
This romantic fantasy also has a Scheherazade as the main character, but she goes by Shazi. She’s sent to marry a sultan who’s killed all of his previous wives… but all is not as it seems. A word of warning, this is a two-book series and the first one ends on a whopping cliff-hanger, so have the second book handy. (To be fair, Scheherazade basically invented the cliff-hanger, so if there was ever an acceptable one, it’s here!)
2. We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
This book is more generally inspired by Arabian mythology, rather than being a retelling of any particular myth. The fantasy world is rich and beautifully described, and it has everything I love from my fantasy in general: a strong heroine, slow-burn romance, magic, and lots of twists. I can’t wait for the sequel We Free the Stars (which is also such a great name).
3. City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty
I’ve only read the first book in this series, but if you like sprawling fantasy worlds, attractive djinn warriors, and an interesting, layered female protagonist, then you’ll love this. I thought Nahri was awesome and was instantly invested in the love triangle that springs up from book one.
4. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
This is a trilogy I read as a teen but it had a huge impact on my ideas around summoning and binding spirits. Set in a London ruled by magicians, they stay in power by summoning spirits and using them for their dastardly deeds. If you love a snarky djinni (lord knows I do) then this series is packed with laugh-out-loud banter between the spirit and magician protagonists.
5. The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
This book sees a female jinni (Zahra – love a Z name) meet her new master, Aladdin. It’s a really cool twist on the tale we know and love and should be top of your list if you’re specifically looking for an Aladdin retelling.
She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world…
When Aladdin discovers Zahra’s jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn’t seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra’s very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?
6. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
This one is downloaded on my kindle and high on my TBR list. It’s the first book in a trilogy and combines all good stuff like powerful djinni magic, desert nations, a gunslinging MC, and, of course, a love story.
“Tell me that and we’ll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that’s how you want your story to go and we’ll write it straight across the sand.”
Dustwalk is Amani’s home. The desert sand is in her bones. But she wants to escape. More than a want. A need.
Then a foreigner with no name turns up to save her life, and with him the chance to run. But to where? The desert plains are full of danger. Sand and blood are swirling, and the Sultan’s enemies are on the rise.
And finally, the Desert Nights series!
I haven’t included this in my top list because it’s my own series, but I thought I’d write a little about how my co-author and I were influenced by the different source material. It’s inspired by Arabian mythology, A Thousand and One Nights, and the popularized Disney version of Aladdin, all wrapped up in an original fantasy world.
The main character’s name, Scheherazade, is one of the most obvious links to the tales, although she’ll be the first person to tell you, “Call me Zadie”. From the original story of Aladdin, there’s a ring djinni as well as a fair few lamp djinn, and while we don’t have an actual Aladdin character, we do have a band of forty thieves led by a female Ali.
The Twelve Kingdoms has all the spirits and monsters from Arabian and Asian mythology that you could wish for. Zadie dodges fire-breathing azhdaha, rides rocs (also known as ruks or rukhs), and topples overboard when attacked by gigantic, ship-eating dedans. Then, of course, there’s a whole cast of spirits from ghuls to ifrits to djinn.
The series starts with Throne of Sand, which you can read for free on KU. Or you can sign up to my mailing list to read the prequel for free, too.
Did you know?
I thought I’d round off this blog with a few interesting facts I discovered about A Thousand and One Nights.
- The story of Aladdin was actually added by a French translator in a later edition of the book, although he claims he heard the story from an Arabian storyteller…
- The Ali Baba and Sinbad stories were added by the same translator. So none of the three most famous stories were in the original collection!
- The story of Aladdin was set in West China (with a few scenes in Africa). Often, in folklore, people would set stories east of their geographical location to make them seem more exotic or magical.
- Aladdin wasn’t an orphan in the original tale, he lived with his mother.
- Instead of Jasmine, Aladdin’s love interest is called ‘Badroulbadour’, which has lunar connotations in Arabic.
Do you have any other recommendations for books based around the tales of the Arabian Nights? I’d love to hear them and add them to my TBR list!