One Thousand and One Nights, Vol. 7 (One Thousand and One Nights (7)) Paperback – April 21, 2009

A little less romantic development between Sharyar and Sehara, but we get a thickening of the political coup plot and we finally see Fatima's and Shazaman's true intentions. With hot-headed Sharyar and his armies lured out of Bagdad, Shazaman sends his allies, the Crusaders, in to occupy the defenseless city. Which brings us to poor Sehara, who is left alone to confront the Crusaders' leader, the stoic King MacLeod of Scotland (sorry, not Richard I like I reported earlier--wishful thinking, I guess :D).Luckily, English is one of the many foreign languages our scholar Sehara knows, and he is able to tell the king a story. In a very interesting and experimental break from the norm (which I thought was kinda cool), the timeless tale Sehara tells this time is from--the future, as in OUR present day! It is the tale of an American soldier named Joseph stationed in Iraq during our present war, and the rather heart-breaking story of what happens when he meets an Iraqi child suicide bomber named Yusef (interestingly enough, "Joseph" in Arabic). The two start off enemies, of course, when the fierce Yusef takes the unarmed Joseph prisoner, but when the two are trapped together in the middle of the desert in an uneasy standoff, we learn through flashbacks (and so does Joseph somehow) the desperate string of events that brought Yusef to his current situation. It is not for love of religion or hatred of the West that he has taken this mission--it is for love of his sister, who is desperately ill and in need of an expensive surgery. Yusef and his sister are war orphans (their parents were killed in a bombing), and the only way Yusef could find to pay for the life-saving surgery was to sign up as a suicide bomber for this rebel faction (with an oddly charismatic but quietly evil leader). Well, I won't spoil the ending, but Joseph ends up empathizing with the poor, desperate kid despite their situation as enemies in the midst of a war, and is able to grant him his final wish.Although the previous reviewer seemed to get angry over this story, I appreciate this message that the author is sending out there about being able to empathize with one another as human beings even when we are at war (because we won't be at war forever, and then won't we (and they) feel bad for treating fellow human beings so badly?). The story wasn't so much about condemning or praising either side--it was just about two individuals who, before being Christians and Muslims or soldiers of Iraq or the USA, are just people who have their own circumstances, feelings, consciences and loved ones that they are trying to help. By focusing the story on the personal connection of these two individual people, Jinseok Jeon writes another poignant, beautiful story that makes a gentle commentary about the sadness of the current war (and the human condition) without really condemning either side. Diplomatic and still effective at the same time--well done! As an American myself, I also found it interesting to see what a Korean (i.e. another denizen of the world whose country is not as directly involved in the struggle) thought about this war. It reminded me that this conflict affects everyone in the world, not just those directly fighting. Very thought-provoking and not nearly as inflammatory as the previous reviewer made it out to be in my opinion--a very nice use of the manwha form. :)But back to the story! In short, after Sehara's tale, MacLeod gains some respect for him and he and Sehara come to a sort of mutual respect/understanding (rather like Joseph and Yusuf in the tale). So when Sharyar comes charging in fiercely against MacLeod (who is now willing to listen to reason), whose side will Sehara choose? And when MacLeod asks him to accompany him to Jerusalem, will Sehara go with him or stay with Sharyar? Gotta buy the volume to find out... :)

When I read the summary for this book I kept wondering, "what was the 'modern twist' they're talking about? What makes Sehara's story modern?" When I read I couldn't help but wonder, "Where did Sehara get THIS story? :D" Unlike a couple other reviews, I didn't see this as the author's way of forcing his ideals down our throats or whatever. I saw this story about the war in Iraq as two people from vastly different cultures learning that they are not so different. Even our enemies are human with their own reasons for doing what they're doing and it's not as black and white or good guy/bad guy as it looks. In the beginning, King MacLeod views Muslims as heathens and refers to the Qu'ran as this "book of evil doctrines" even after Sehara mentions all Muslims are taught the Bible as well. And after the story, MacLeod comes to see Sehara as a human being instead of this evil enemy he must strike down.But I was still sad at the end and I had to get the next one!

OMG, I am in LOVE with this title! I have read the original classic Tales from the Arabian Nights and this manhwa does it justice even with the different stories, it captures the essence of the classic with such a new kind of original twist! I would recommend to everyone! The book was also in fantastic condition! Would buy again!

In spite of hearing about Socrates and his lover, Shahryar quickly reverts to his former viciousness when his brother Shazaman sends him a picture of Fatima.Shazaman has the political savvy his older brother lacks, making him an able conspirator. He has used the tactic of “divide and conquer” and Shahryar has fallen for it, leaving Baghdad undefended against the invading Crusaders. The plot thickens as the eerie Fatima, Shahryar's adulterous wife, re-appears at Shazaman’s side. Romance, intrigue, storytelling, combat, the supernatural and politics mingle in this volume. How it will all end is anybody’s guess.The writer hasn’t made this a simplistic series by any means. The stakes are higher, the story more gripping and the enigma that is Fatima all combine to make this a truly powerful manhwa series.

I've enjoyed the past volumes in this series but this one bothered me. Basically the crusaders arrive and Sehara tells the invaders leader a story. Meanwhile the sutan is trying to hurry back to the palace with some allies, that really want to kill him. So far so good, then the story telling starts.What confused me was that the story seems to take place in modern times; there's a gun, condom (not used, just the package) and even suicide bombers shown throughout the story. I, however, was under the impression that one hundred and one nights takes place in a time period where none of that exists. So how could Sehara know a story about it? Not to mention the author tried to bang us in the head with a message about war and religion, which wouldn't have been so bad if the author had been more subtle and actually made it really seem like it mattered to the story plot in some way. So this volume was a disappointment, the story telling didn't seem to really add anything and didn't feel realistic given the time period discrepancies.Hopefully the next volume will get back on track.