Bird of a thousand stories

The sequel to Once There Was starts off where the first book ended, not long after 16-year-old Marjan Dastani has solved her father's murder. Marjan is still living in Berkeley with her roommate, Malloryn, and has taken her father's place in working for the Fells, a secret society that heals mythical creatures around the world. However, the Fells are actually taking these mythical creatures away from their true caretakers and selling them to the highest bidder. When Marjan escapes the Fells with a charmed seed, she seeks out her reclusive Persian uncle to help her set things right. He tells her the fable of two orphans on a journey to find the Bird of a Thousand Stories in order to reunite with their family. Believing that it has returned, Marjan sets out in search of the bird--and to prevent the Fells from capturing and selling it. This adventurous sequel has themes of friendship and family, an empowering message of how all things are connected, and a healthy dose of folklore and mythology.

A teenager's mission to help distressed magical creatures takes her into dangerous places and deadly situations in this folk tale--infused sequel toOnce There Was (2023). The stakes rise considerably this time around: Over the course of encounters with eldritch supernatural beings and a reclusive Persian cousin of (as it turns out) uncertain reliability, Marjan Dastani, now 16, learns that a legendary bird that brings stories to the world is about to be reborn. As a hatchling, it will be vulnerable to foes--notably the Fells, a ruthless organization of magical animal traffickers that is, to Marjan's deep disgust, her main employer. Interspersing his chapters with fragmentary folk tales featuring orphans, quests, monsters, the titular bird, and hints of profound truths, Monsef sends his rousingly intense and sometimes difficult protagonist all over the map, from Berkeley to Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, and remotest Finland. Hoping to find and protect the Bird, Marjan embarks on a headlong series of tests, betrayals, reversals, revelations, and confrontations. Better yet, along with dishing up a diverse human cast linked by refreshingly nuanced relationships, the author endows the supernatural being with subtle and surprising natures, abilities, and agendas. "The fae are fickle," says one character. "One day they sing you the sweetest song. The next day they eat your cat." Even jaded fantasy readers won't be able to help but be beguiled. Breathless adventures in richly imagined settings--an entrancing sequel. (source notes)(Fantasy. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The Bird of a Thousand Stories THE BIRD OF A THOUSAND STORIES ONCE WAS, ONCE WASN'T. Every morning in the old city of Nishapur, two orphaned girls fed the sparrows that roosted nightly in the junipers, the cotoneaster, and the almond trees. The city in those days was rich with gold, spices, and silk. Its roads were wide and smooth, its squares bustled with trade, and its gardens bloomed, lush and fragrant, with jasmine and pomegranates. But poor is always the same, even in the most prosperous of cities, and the orphans of our story were as poor as could be. They lived on the streets. They worked for pennies and bits of dried bread, and slept in the gardens when they were not chased away. The sparrows were the orphans' only friends, as no one in that great city wanted the burden of caring for two more children, and girls at that. But the sparrows were grateful for the crumbs of bread and bits of grain that the orphans saved to share with them. And one day they showed their thanks by teaching the orphans the language of the birds. "Children," said the sparrows, "we thank you for your kindness. But we cannot bear your suffering any longer. You must seek out the Bulbul-e-Hazar-Dastan, the Bird of a Thousand Stories. It knows everything there is to know, and it will reunite you with your families." Neither girl had any memory of their true families, nor had they ever dreamed of being reunited with them. All either one knew of their lives were the cruel orphanage where they had first met, and the harsh streets where they now lived. And, though they did not admit it, or perhaps even realize it at the time, the sparrows' song touched something deep inside both of them--a secret hope that maybe they were not so alone. And so the two orphans set out to find the Bird of a Thousand Stories. They were full of hope and confidence because they were clever and brave, and because they knew the language of the birds, and because the world could only get better for them. But what the sparrows did not tell the orphans was that the Bird of a Thousand Stories was held captive by a witch, and was guarded by an evil giant in the faraway castle of Come-and-Never-Go. Maybe these sparrows did not know about the witch and the giant and the castle of Come-and-Never-Go. Or maybe they did, and chose to keep these details to themselves. Sometimes, especially at the start of a journey, it's best not to know such things. Excerpted from Bird of a Thousand Stories by Kiyash Monsef All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.