Book Review: The Canadian Nights by Katharine Campbell

The Canadian Nights by Katharine Campbell

In a fun twist on the classic Arabian Nights, our heroine Amala is caught in Canada when the American president (an unnamed female) has turned off the internet for the whole world. As one might imagine, this event is a disaster of epic proportions: no streaming media or social media! The Canadians are mad (they can't watch hockey games to alleviate their aggression). The Prime Minister swoops down and is ready to feed Amala to the local beavers. She contrives to tell interesting stories day by day so that the Prime Minister won't inflict the horrible fate. The book is a set of short stories sewn together by the larger story.

The stories are comic satires of everyday life, fairy tales, and elves in conflict, sometimes blending all three. The tone is sarcastic with Amala often providing ridiculous morals at the end of some of the tales much like Fractured Fairy Tales from the old Bullwinkle show. The characters are generally incompetent at coming up with the proper lessons. Some stories might not have an explicit moral other than don't behave like an idiot. The book was written last year, so even the Covid reactions are satirized to great effect. The book is fun from cover to cover.

Recommended.

I did receive a review copy from the author (thanks!) but my opinion is my own.