Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

Inspired by 2,000 years of storytelling yet rooted in the concerns of our present moment, this is a spectacular achievement - both very funny and terrifying. It is narrated by our descendants 1,000 years hence, looking back on 'The War of the Worlds' that began with 'the time of the strangenesses': a simple gardener begins to levitate; a baby is born with the ability to detect corruption in people; the ghosts of two long-dead philosophers begin arguing once more, and storms pummel New York so hard that a crack appears in the universe, letting in the destructive djinns of myth. Nothing less than the survival of our world is at stake. Only one, a djinn princess who centuries before had learnt to love humankind, resolves to help us: in the face of dynastic intrigue, she raises an army composed of her semi-magical great-great-etc-grandchildren - a small motley crew of endearing characters who come together to save the world in a battle waged for 1,001 nights - or, to be precise, two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights.