Ayaz is a simple shepherd who tends to his flock by day. One night, he has a celestial dream that he is king, seated on a throne with the sun on his right, the moon on his left, and two stars wrestling on a beautiful Persian rug. When a case of mistaken identity sweeps Ayaz away from his home, he is thrown into a strange and fantastic adventure carried by a promise to the princess Sarai. This journey takes the unlikely pair into the wilderness beyond the walls of the kingdom, through trials that test their courage and friendship, and far away to the legendary Pariestan, the kingdom of fairies.

Based on traditional Azeri fairytales, The Celestial Dream: A Promise is a magical epic that follows two young heroes as they come of age outside the comfort of their homeland. The first book of this two-part series takes readers to a world full of shape-shifting fairies, treacherous ghouls, enchanted castles, haunted treasure, and a war of resistance between a kingdom and its unworthy ruler, weaving a fantastic tale from themes familiar to contemporary Near Eastern history.

Shahnaz Ghodsi was born in Azerbaijan, Iran, and studied Biochemistry and Pharmacology in the United States. She has published numerous scientific articles in prestigious journals such as Neuroscience Letter, Brain Research, and Biochemical Pharmacology, and has presented many papers at national and international conferences. She currently resides in New York, writing fantasy fiction and scientific articles. Her novella Afareen was published in Stories and Poems? We’re All Forum, an anthology by the Northwest Ohio Writers’ Forum.