To end or not to end - that is the question

When a cliffhanger a night keeps death away!

Inspired by my last post about abrupt and incomplete endings in book series, I started researching the origins of the cliffhanger plot device in literature. Guess what I found? What if ending a story with a cliffhanger was the only way to stay alive?

Source: mlp.wikia.com

One of the earliest uses of the cliffhanger as the pivotal plot theme is found in the famous Arabic collection of folk tales, One Thousand and One Nights, believed to have originated in the medieval period. According to this story, King Shahryr, a Persian king of kings, angered by his first wife's betrayal, takes a new wife every night only to execute her the next morning. Scheherazade, a beautiful and clever storyteller and the latest to be chosen as the queen, devises a brilliant plan to survive. 

She tells Shahryr a beguiling story at night but leaves it at a cliffhanger at dawn. Though Shahryr is a ruthless king, like all human beings, he too is enthralled by an intriguing story and curious to know how it ends.  Thus he is compelled to postpone Scheherazade's execution till the next day when the story is complete. This continues night after night, as Scheherazade cleverly weaves a series of strange and intricate stories about morality, till the king finally repents for his behavior and and lets her live.

Can you imagine - 1001 nights of cliffhangers! No wonder the king is forced to concede defeat. I could never have tolerated even a week of that!

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One thing lead to another, and soon I found that the blogosphere was full of readers going into raptures over a recent retelling of Scheherazade's story, The Wrath and the Dawn, by debut author, Renee Ahdieh. It is a duology, with the second book in this series, The Rose and the Dagger, scheduled for release in May. One of my close friends, who knows her books, has already put this series on her reading list for 2016. Thus inspired, I reasoned that since May is not very far away, I might as well start with the first book in the series.

Book review: The Wrath and the Dawn

The plot:

This is the story of fearless and beautiful Shahrzad of Rey, who weds Khalid, the young Caliph of Khorasan, with the objective of exacting revenge for the murder of her friend, Shiva. Khalid is considered as a mad and ruthless monster by his subjects, because he marries a young girl from Rey each day, only to execute her at dawn. Shiva was just one of his many murdered brides. Shahrzad fiercely vows to win against Khalid at all costs, and not get killed in the process:

I will live to see tomorrow's sunset. Make no mistake. I swear I will live to see as many sunsets as it takes. And I will kill you. With my own hands.

Shahrzad discovers that things are not what they seem, and there are darker forces and political agendas at play inside and outside Khalid's palace. Khalid himself is an enigma, hiding his emotions and desires at all times, even from those close to him. Shahrzad uses her wits to keep Khalid engrossed in her stories, while fully expecting to be executed any morning. 

Thus begins a story built on the foundations of hatred, revenge, hidden agendas and deadly secrets, but it gradually grows into a complex tale of two conflicted individuals who discover that their goals, motivations and desires are slowly changing with time. In the end, they are forced to make difficult choices to reconcile their past with their present, so that they can again hope  for a future. There are some important secondary characters such as Jalal, Khalid's loyal friend and commander, and Despina, Shahrzad's irreverent but caring handmaiden. Tariq, Shahrzad's former betrothed, also plays a vital part (though I found him a bit irritating!).

Source: fiercefragile.com

My thoughts:

I adored the strength, arrogance and gracefulness of Shahrzad, or Shazi, as she is known. She is fierce and brave, yet considerate and willing to understand other perspectives. As Despina once says:

You are the Calipha of Khorasan,....and you are a fearsome thing to behold in your own right.

I really liked the slow building of the utterly romantic relationship between Shazi and Khalid, and the believable transformation of hate-to-love.

And Shahrzad's will fought him, screamed a silent scream, while her heart welcomed the intrusion as a songbird welcomes the dawn. As the dying find grace in an answered prayer..

The author does a marvelous job of portraying an equal relationship in every way. In a situation where all the power is in the hands of Khalid, the Caliph, it could so easily have been a tale of unequal power struggle and coercion. Not only does Khalid grow to admire Shazi's fearlessness, he actively encourages her:

Every day, I think I am going to be surprised by how remarkable you are, but I am not. Because this is what it means to be you. It means knowing no bounds. Being limitless in everything that you do...

You are not weak. You are not indecisive. You are strong. Fierce. Capable beyond measure....

My soul sees its equal in you.

The language is beautiful and flows like soft wine, mellow yet heady. The Arabic setting is evocative, with descriptions of garments, jewelry, weapons, cuisine, and dialects, all perfectly matching the characters and the culture.

The 'terrible secret' is well handled, even though its disclosure could have happened a bit earlier. Kudos to the author for not resorting to the 'big misunderstanding' plot device when Khalid discovers the existence of Tariq. Khalid redeems himself totally in that poignant scene when he rises above circumstances to do what is right. I think he still isn't as fierce as Shazi, but maybe by the next book, he will be.

And what can I say about the ending, which was deliberately incomplete yet satisfying in a way:

Our story may have come to a close, but your story is still yet to be told. Make it a story worthy of you...

So I write it in the sky-
I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it. 

The sequel promises to carry on the conflicts and the relationships. The stakes are high and the odds are stacked heavily against Shazi and Khalid. Shazi, at least now, knows whose side she is on in this battle. Khalid too has grown up in terms of character development; the prologue of the next book clearly shows that he is willing to shoulder the responsibilities for his earlier actions. Tariq is definitely going to be there, though I wish we get to see less of his neediness and more of swoon-worthy moments between Khalid and Shahrzad **sigh**. I'm sure we will also see more of the mage Musa, his carpet, Shazi's father, mercenaries, rebel armies and lots of magic!

Now if I could just go to sleep till May 3rd!:)