Age: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy

Miuko is a servant girl working in her father’s inn. Rumor said that her mother was a flighty nature spirit who abandoned Miuko and her father when she was a small girl, but the villagers mostly know her as being overly loud and clumsy for a girl.

While running an errand for her father, Miuko finds herself the victim of a demon’s curse. Together with Geiki, a friendly magpie spirit, Miuko races to find a way to reverse the curse before it becomes permanent, even as a demon prince thwarts her attempts to do so.

A Thousand Steps Into Night is inspired by Japanese mythology (inspired by, but author Traci Chee has created her own world and mythology for this fantasy tale). In a world filled with demons, nature spirits, and vengeful ghosts, Miuko must navigate her way toward a finding a cure for her curse, even as she discovers new freedoms in breaking the male-dominated norms of Nihaoi. Will she be able to break the curse and return to her life as a serving girl in her father’s inn? As the power of her curse grows, will she want to?

A Thousand Steps Into Night has a fairy tale feel to it in its story-telling. Fans of fairy tales and folklore will enjoy this dark tale, though hesitant readers may find the use of footnotes (to define the Nihaoian vocabulary that is sometimes used) a little off-putting. However, the use of footnotes is sparing, usually only two or three per chapter, so this may not be a deal-breaker.

A wonderful standalone tale with a norm-breaking main character, this is one to give to readers who are fans of fairy tales, folkore and mythology.