''The Orphan's Tales'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

series by Catherynne M. Valente with illustrations by

Michael Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer Den ...

. The two novels of the series, ''In the Night Garden'' and ''In the Cities of Coin and Spice'', are in turn split into two books apiece. While three of these four books begin with a story told by the same young woman, her stories branch out into other stories, often narrated by a completely different character. The series won the 2008 Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, and ''In the Night Garden'' was nominated for both the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2007

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

Plot summary

''In the Night Garden''

Because of the strange

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

s around her eyes, a girl lives alone in the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

's gardens until the young prince dares to speak to her. When he visits, she tells him the stories that are inked on her skin. The novel is split into two books, which revolve around two different casts of characters who inhabit the same world. Some characters appear in both books - as well as in the sequel, ''In the Cities of Coin and Spice''; for example, the myths of the Stars run through numerous stories. Book of the Steppe: Prince Leander escapes his castle in search of adventure. Once he is on the road, he kills a goose for food and is accosted by a

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

who accuses him of murdering her daughter. As he tries to redeem himself, he learns about the witch's life on the steppe, quests for the skin of a beast, and discovers the truth of his family's history. Book of the Sea: In the bitter cold of an icy country, to pass the time as they work, Sigrid the Netweaver tells a girl called Snow how she got her name: When she was young, she joined a group of

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s traveling back to their temple and eventually entered into a temple of her own. Desperate to see the story to its conclusion, Snow convinces Sigrid to continue her quest to find the original Saint Sigrid.

''In the Cities of Coin and Spice''

The friendship between the girl and the prince strengthens as she begins to tell him the stories inked on her second eye. While in the first volume the children had the garden almost completely to themselves, now the marriage of the prince's sister Dinazade threatens their sanctuary. The stories grow similarly darker, revolving around the two titular cities: one where coins are made from bones of the children who work at the mint, and the second, an exotic city that is home to a variety of fantastic creatures such as a firebird, a clockwork woman, and sirens. Like the first volume, ''In the Cities of Coin and Spice'' is composed of two books. Although each book focuses on a different set of characters and new locations, some of the stories run through each part of the series. Book of the Storm: Seven, the seventh son in a farmer family, is ritualistically abandoned. Instead of being taken by the Stars, he is captured and forced to work at a mint, pressing coins out of bone. He escapes with Oubliette, a

hulder A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra ("the rchetypalhulder", though folklore presuppose ...

, and they join a troupe of performers traveling across the countryside. Book of the Scald: Unlike the other three books, in ''Scald'', it is the prince who tells the story. From the girl's eye, he reads about a city besieged by an army of

djinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

, and the one djinni who defies her kingdom to stop the war.

Allusions

'' The Orphan's Tales'' is written in the style of ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''; like the latter's main character

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...

, the girl tells a story that then branches into more stories. The prince's sister is named Dinarzad, another reference to ''One Thousand and One Nights''.

Musical adaptations

Singer-songwriter S. J. Tucker's albums ''For the Girl in the Garden'' and ''Solace and Sorrow'' were inspired by the novel. The albums also have readings from the books.

Awards and nominations

* 2008 Mythopoeic Award * 2007

nominee for In the Night Garden * 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award for In the Night GardenJames Tiptree, Jr. Award 2006 Winners

Retrieved on 2008-12-11.