A Thousand Steps Into Night
by Traci Chee
Clarion Books, 2022. 373 pages.
Review written October 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review
From the very beginning, I felt pulled into a fairy tale. Here are the wonderful first few paragraphs:
Long ago, in the noble realm of Awara, where all creation, from the tallest peaks to the lowliest beetles, had forms both humble and divine, there lived an unremarkable girl named Otori Miuko. The daughter of the innkeeper at the only remaining guesthouse in the village of Nihaoi, Miuko was average by every conceivable standard — beauty, intelligence, the circumference of her hips — except one.
She was uncommonly loud.
Once, when she was two years old, her mother was wrestling her into one of the inn’s cedar tubs when Miuko, who had no plans for a bath that day, screamed so violently that the foundations shook, the bells rang in the nearby temple, and a respectable chunk of the dilapidated bridge spanning the river a full quarter-mile away let out a horrified groan and slid, fainting, into the water.
That was mere coincidence. Miuko had not, in fact, been the cause of an earthquake (at least not in this instance), but several of the priests, upon hearing of her peculiar vocal faculties, rushed to exorcise her all the same. No matter what spells tthey chanted or incense they burned, however, they were ultimately disappointed to discover that she was not, in fact, possessed. Instead of a demon, what her parents had on their hands was merely a loud child. Worse, a loud girl.
As you may guess, through the book, Miuko continues to be distinguished by qualities that don’t fit the expectations of the culture around her for a girl of the serving class. And it’s lovely to watch Miuko becoming more comfortable with who she is.
As the story begins, Miuko is met on the road by a death demon, who curses her with a kiss. The soles of Miuko’s feet turn bright blue, and wherever she steps, plants die. Worse, the blue color starts traveling up her legs. If it continues, she’ll become a death demon herself.
So in order to try to free herself from the curse and keep her humanity, Miuko must travel a thousand steps to the temple of the December God. Fortunately, she finds companions along her way, beginning with a magpie spirit who can take the form of a boy. Unfortunately, she also gets the attention of a demon inhabiting the body of a prince, and he wants to stop her.
It makes for a wonderful quest to heal Miuko’s curse, and ultimately to save the nation. The Japanese-inspired background of this fairy tale-type story gives it beautiful atmosphere.
The one thing I wasn’t crazy about is that there’s a time travel paradox in the middle of the book, and none of the characters comment on it at all, but just accept it as magic. Honestly, by glossing over it and not trying to explain it, the author pretty much pulls it off. But I’m persnickety about things like that, and it detracted just a tiny bit for me. But I still highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/thousand_steps_into_night.html
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