The Harem of Aman Akbar — Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

By his genie's standards, Aman Akbar was a pervert. He was not content to marry his cousin, the beauteous Hyaganoosh, as custom demanded. Instead he chose three ugly foreign wives--a pale skinned barbarian Rasa, a sharp-tongued Chinese acrobat, Lady Aster, and the tall ebony skinned 100th daughter of the Great Elephant, Amollia. Just about the time the women were sorting out the whole polygamy thing and dealing with their new mother-in-law, Um Aman, Aman Akbar lost control of the genie and got turned into a white ass (it happens a lot in the Arabian Nights) at the wish of none other than Hyaganoosh. What's a foreign wife to do? The three women and Aman Akbar's mother have no choice but to seek a way to undo the spell and restore the fellow to his former shape and state but along the way they have some hair raising adventures involving monkeys, shape shifters called peris, the dangerous divs who make the djinn look jolly, and a rather nice elephant. Delightful reading! Shades of Scheherazade and Sinbad in the sort of Scarboroughian treat that one is beginning to expect of this beguiling writer. Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is the winner of the 1989 Nebula Award for Best novel