Once There Was
core novel 2023 Once There Was
Record
| First published | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.89 (2,941 ratings, collected 2026-11-01) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781665928502 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Marjan Dastani lives in California and is struggling to keep up with school while her family's money runs short. Her father, a veterinarian, has been murdered, and she is left to take over his clinic and its debts. A journey to England reveals a secret he kept from her: he had been treating mythical creatures, and the animals now need her care. Marjan is drawn into a hidden network that trades in these creatures, and she begins to investigate who killed him. As she learns to look after beasts she never knew existed, she leans on the fables her father used to tell her. Between the chapters, short folk tales from Persian tradition are told, and they gradually bear on her own story.
Where it sits
- Universe: Once There Was
- Series: Once There Was core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Kiyash Monsef
Notes
- From the series record (Once There Was): Two novels following Marjan Dastani, a young healer of mythical creatures.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Once There Was: position 1 of 2: next Bird of a Thousand Stories (2025)
Sources
← Once There Was dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.