An Aladdin retelling in space. Alana’s dream is to leave the poverty-stricken, government-controlled planet where she lives with her mother. But that’s impossible when she can barely manage enough to eat. Her big chance comes in a well-paid mission to retrieve a golden sphere. The problem: it’s in the Ghost Ship, a mysterious alien vessel abandoned for millenia. Nobody has ever set foot on it and … has ever set foot on it and come out alive. How will Alana manage it?
Meanwhile, Jasper has come to her planet to oversee the government. His real goal? To see the mysterious dragons—if they are still alive.
Destiny brings them together and thrusts the fate of the Samitri Planet and the Human Universe in their hands.
The Sphere of Infinity is a standalone YA Aladdin retelling novella.
It was part of the box set Kingdom of Sand and Wishes.
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This book was lovely. We enjoyed every moment of it, and the narrator was fantastic.
Alana is a thief. She “works” stealing small objects or information from different places, using her small stature as great advantage. However, Alana never wanted to have this lifestyle. It is her only option to survive, since her mother is in a wheelchair and cannot work.
Alana’s dream is to get enough money to be able to leave Samitri, her home planet, with her mother and go to Ringon, where the government is located and “everyone can be what they want” (Zootopia vibes). Also, to be able to do the surgery that will allow her mother to walk again.
Her dream seems impossible until a woman, Mara, offers her an excessively well-paid job to retrieve a golden sphere from a spaceship that has been abandoned in space for years, the Ghost Ship. Alana can’t resist, besides, Mara would go with her so there was nothing to fear, right?
Alana manages to find the sphere, but when the ship itself seems to want to prevent her from escaping, Mara abandons her and leaves her to die on the ship. Fortunately, the golden sphere was actually a container for Janet, a creature capable of granting three wishes and that helps Alana to return to Samitri.
Now she can finally change her life, but Mara has not given up the sphere. Things get even more complicated when Alana meets Jasper, a Ringon representative on Samitri, who immediately catches her attention.
I listened to the audiobook of this story and I don’t know if it’s the audiobooks themselves but again this book reminds me of fairy tales, but modern. Maybe it’s Day’s style or the fact that this particular one is a new version of a fairy tale .
I honestly think that if I didn’t know that this story is based on Aladdin, it would never have occurred to me. But knowing it, it is impressive how many similarities can be found, without being obvious.
For example, the names of the characters: Alana (Aladdin), a thief to survive, and Jasper, a member of “royalty” who gets along better with animals than humans (Jasmin). And the golden sphere (lamp) where Janet (the Genie) is trapped.
There are many more similarities, but I don’t want to mention them for avoiding spoilers.
I know I shouldn’t give this book 5 stars, as I had some unanswered questions. Like what about the dragons and what was Janet really, they bring it up but I honestly didn’t get it. Another thing that is not clear to me is the scope of the wishes that can be asked to Janet.
But I don’t care, I really enjoyed this story and the characters, I especially loved Jasper. Mention aside, the covers of Day Leitao’s books are truly wonderful.
Another thing that struck me a lot about the story is Alana’s way of thinking about love. Her mother writes romantic stories and does not allow her to read them because she says they are nothing more than garbage, very handsome and chivalrous men, ready to rescue the woman from all her problems. Now, it is true that it’s quite unlikely that you are going to be riding your bike and crush with Chris Hemsworth and then you’ll get married, but I feel that today’s society trashes fairy tales excessively. No matter how powerful you are on your own, there is nothing wrong with having someone by your side who wants to take care of you. It is true, a woman does not need you to rescue her from a tower, she is perfectly capable of making her own ladder, but there is nothing wrong with having someone to hold it for you while you go down.
It also felt good to be near Alana. Tiny as she was, she was fierce but also had fear and vulnerability, reminding him of the tigers in Firis. He’d obviously never mention it to her. He also knew that she wasn’t a wild defenseless cub, and that it would be her choice whether he’d ever be able to care for her. So far she’d been allowing him, though. He could almost believe she liked it, which was a small consolation in his world that had been shattered.
So yeah, I’m giving it 5 stars anyway and I highly recommend it if you want a cute, entertaining and original short story.
And remember… Be careful what you wish for.
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I enjoyed this reverse version of a classic. It was different enough that I almost forgot it was supposed to be. Then the aha moment hit! Characters were great. I like the chemistry between Alana and Jasper, it wouldn’t be a retelling of Aladdin if that was there. I loved the ‘teen’ girl voice the narrator portrayed for Alana, however at the beginning of one of the chapters it almost seemed like the narrator changed and then switched back. This is not my normal genre, but I don’t like the idea of spaceships AND dragons, I think it should be one or the other. Granted it’s a short novella, it could use a bit more detail and character back story, but that just might be what I like in my books. Oh and our darling little ‘genie’ – I wanted more info on her too.
I received a free Audible Review Copy from StoryOrigin.
This was a great twist on an old favorite, but I had to take a star off for the narrator. The words were fumbled badly all the way through, and that really cuts into the flow of the tale and makes it less enjoyable to me. With a better reader, this would have earned five stars. I received a free review copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a great retelling of Aladdin, a story I love to begin with. Alana is a great character along with Jasper (keeping with similar names – love it) and they pull you into this story written for the YA crowd which I once was. There is never a dull moment in this story as it will keep you turning the pages to the end – impossible to put down.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A dark retelling of Aladdin. I liked the space setting. I liked that there were dragons, although their role was a bit odd. I liked the “genie,” and that Aladdin became Alana. I did not like all the deaths in the story. They seemed unnecessary and abrupt and even a little callous. The backstory wasn’t well developed, and although that is often the case in novellas, in this case, it made it hard to understand how all the pieces and all the people fit together. I like this author and I think she has some really cool ideas for her books. Unfortunately, this was not one of her best.
The narration was well done with a wide range of characterizations.
I received a free audiobook from the author and have reviewed it willingly.