The Princess of Dhagabad

Much of today's literature (I am talking about fiction) represents an attempt, for the authors and the readers, to understand the real world. We are told what it was like to "grow up in the depression," what are the issues in today's family life, what may be the real causes of the American revolution ... Anna Kashina's book is different: it opens up a new world for the readers. The beautiful palace gardens and exotic oriental cities are not merely a background for the story of a young girl turning into a young woman. The young heroine LIVES in this world, and it becomes part of our own as we read the book. I believe that the most important ability of a real writer is the ability to create a new world, where the readers can live alongside the characters of the story. Good literature brings us not only understanding, but joy.Anna Kashina's book is extremely enjoyable, and it is a joy to explore the world she created for us. I hope the second book of the series will be published soon!

This is an extraordinary book. After becoming familiar with the unusual, ceremonious English, I could not stop reading the book to the end.It is the Arabian Nights story of the bottle imp, told in a new and completely original way. The young princess is always accompanied by the djinn Hasan, whom she has liberated from the bottle. The djinn turns out to be very wise, highly intelligent (sometimes he talks like a modern scientist), and sometimes mildly ironic. He leads the princess into a world of oriental splendor and helps her in difficult and dangerous situations.The colorful story is told in a captivating way. Walking on the tight rope of logical paradox, the reader looks down to a paradise. The book is to be read and re-read several times; each time one discovers something new. It is a book which I would not like to miss.I am impatiently looking forward to the second volume of the book.

Open this book, read the first page, and you won't be able to stop until you finish reading the very last page of it. The author takes you into a wonderful fairy tale for grown-ups. In this tale, there is a beautiful, kind, and clever princess. She is only 12, but she makes you think about eternal ideas of good and evil, love, friendship, and loyalty.The book will introduce to you the magical world of the East, with its ancient history and traditions. While reading it, you'll imagine yourself walking in Sultan's Gardens or visiting the Arabic bazaar. The detailed descriptions of Eastern costumes and Arabic cooking adds authencity and dynamism to the narration. I want to congratulate the author for an excellent debut and to thank her for the pleasure I received from reading this book.

This book was a pleasant discovery for me. It carried me away into a wonderful magic world created by author's extraordinary imagination and style. Kashina has an great mastery of the English language that has almost Nabokov's quality to it that is indicative of a rare talent and makes this book a pleasure to read. In addition, the author has original views on the nature of knowlegde and religion that stimulate thought.

I got this book a few days ago and I simply couldn't put it down until I read it all the way to the end. I believe that this story has every attribute of real classics, like Tolkien, and Harry Potter books. It may not appeal to the lovers of violent epic sagas, but I cannot imagine anyone reading this book and not enjoying every bit of it. Its vividly described Arabian Nights' setting provides a beautiful frame for the genuine feelings of love, and duty, and frustration that gets resolved in the most magical way! I highly recommend it not only to the readers of fantasy, but to the readers of literature in other genres.