Book of a Thousand Days

Book of a Thousand Days is a stand-alone book by Shannon Hale, written in the form of a diary.

The protagonist of this book is Dashti, a mucker maid who arrives at a palace to serve her lady Saren just as the Saren's father is locking Saren up in a tower for seven years.

Dashti vows to serve the lady even in the tower, and thus begins years of agonizing darkness and rats and spoiled grain.

When Dashti finally breaks out of the tower, she and Saren find the world completely different from the way they left it. They begin a long journey to Saren's fiance's kingdom, where they will hopefully be safe.

Safety is a major thing for Saren, and it drives Dashti nuts. She tries to faithfully serve Saren no matter what, but Dashti is only human. She can only deal with so much when Saren refuses to tell anyone the reason behind her paranoia.

Then one day, Saren finally spills her terrifying secret to Dashti. Dashti finally realizes why fear has ruled Saren's life.

However, rather than curl up in terror herself, Dashti forms a plan. She is a mucker, after all; muckers are strong, and they survive no matter what the odds.

But has Dashti perhaps finally met her match? She's taking a huge gamble, it could very easily backfire in many ways.

There are bits of this story that I don't really care for, or even really like; but overall, this really is an enjoyable read.