Interesting collection of stories influenced by the culture of India. A couple are in the style of tales of the Rjah, as in set during that period, such as the first with the domineering father who is a minor official and the neurotic mother, with their, especial the father's, racist and oppressive attitudes towards a mysterious woman who the father engages to teach his son (whom he views as a weakling) to speak one of the indigenous languages. Being Lee, this then becomes a fantastical tale based on some of the folk beliefs of India.

One story is science fictional, and set in a future where the Bollywood phenomena has become a climate controlled city with total control over the lives of its stars, including the insistence that the most privileged consent to almost 24 hour a day monitoring of their daily existence, viewable by the impoverished masses on pay-per-view screens. One actress, at the pinacle of her career, finds the mass of watching eyes increasingly oppressive, and the case ends in tragedy. I did though wonder how a device implanted in the earlobe could show the wearer externally rather than their viewpoint, which made the vision of countless men watching a young woman asleep and lusting over her rather impossible.

One story told in a rather arch way by an unknown narrator in what appears to be a men's club didn't really gel for me. Purporting to be the explanation for why a famous writer has just committed suicide, it gave a reason that I didn't find convincing - the clue that the man had had an amicable divorce surely made it set in fairly modern times rather than the Victorian period, for example, and having a fairly harmless fetish didn't seem much of a 'big deal'.

Other stories were enjoyable, such as the one about the newly weds who can't stand each other, and which exemplifies the old adage about beauty being in the eye of the beholder. As expected with Lee, the stories are gorgeously told with the settings vividly realised. The characters on the whole are believable and sympathetic. Given the slight reservations about a couple of the stories, I can't quite award this a full 5 star rating, so instead this has a well-earned 4 stars.

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I loved this collection of short stories. :) The seven tales are loosely connected by each being designated the story of a night, it's just as engaging as the Arabian Nights, though less connected. Karma, reincarnation, past, present, future, paths taken and not taken, love and betrayal, entrapment and freedom, it's got it all, told with Lee's trademark master wordsmithing. ( )