In the Vanishers’ Palace

I loved it, I just wanted more.

I’d previously read – and loved – Ms. de Bodard’s reimagining of Sherlock and Watson, so when I saw she had a Beauty and the Beast retelling coming out, I was ridiculously excited – and even more so when I saw the gorgeous cover. Ms. de Bodard has a way of condensing a familiar story down to its bones, and then rebuilding it in a way that’s both familiar and unfamiliar. What we end up with, in this case is a delightfully queer Vietnamese-flavored post-apocalyptic fairy tale – with dragons! The Vanishers came, destroyed the earth with pollution and genetic modification viruses, and then left suddenly (as the name suggests). The people left survive in small villages, with survival of the healthiest being the rule. Yên is the daughter of the village healer and the schoolteacher, but after showing no aptitude for magic and failing the scholar examination, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she’s banished or killed. When her mother calls upon the old spirits to heal the daughter of one of the village elders, the dragon Vu Côn answers, and demands a life as payment. The elders offer up Yên, and so she becomes the teacher to the twins in Vu Côn’s palace, a Vanisher relic that thumbs its nose at physics and seems more likely to kill its inhabitants than protect them. An attraction simmers between the girl and the dragon, but Vu Côn thinks her attentions are unwanted and Yên considers herself a prisoner and beneath the dragon’s notice. “She wore flowing silk: a stark, black cloth of a shade that Yên had only seen in Vanishers’ cloth, with not one clearer patch to mar the deep color. When she moved, it was as if the night sky shifted and spread around her. What would it be like, to have those sleeves enfold Yên—those long, thin fingers wrapped around Yên’s shoulders? Yên found her breath catching in her throat again. Beautiful. No. No. She couldn’t afford to think of the dragon that way. She was Yên’s master, Yên’s executioner. There was no future in desire or love.” Vu Côn is fascinating – selfless, in the sense that she’s seemingly the last spirit to take any interest in humans, but also arrogant in that she thinks she knows what’s best for everyone (without actually asking them), and in believing in her ability to control a situation – or her own emotions. I loved the relationship between Vu Côn and the twins. They’re poised on the brink of adulthood, and it was sweet to see the powerful dragon struggle tread the line between treating them like the children she remembers and the adults they will become. Honestly, the twins stole the show in any scene they were in. Yên, for her part, is brave – first fighting for her place in the village and later standing up to Vu Côn. Their relationship is slow and fraught with problems. Ms. de Bodard doesn’t shy away from the problems inherent in their relationship (prisoner/captor, mortal/dragon, young/ancient, powerless/powerful). One of the more fascinating themes was when it’s morally acceptable to keep information from someone – if the knowledge won’t change anything but will only hurt them? There’s so much more, too. There’s a lyrical quality to the story that’s simply magical. Things involving the village smell like mold and decay, the Vanishers’ magic is full of knives and destruction, and Vu Côn is swamps and deep rivers. The pacing is tight without feeling like the story’s rushing along. The worldbuilding in general, and the magic system in particular, is fascinating. In the end, though, it’s the characters that really made the story shine for me. Overall, this was an absolute delight and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for an original and immersive fairy tale retelling. I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This was both interesting and weird and finally, let me unsure about my feelings for the book. The Vanisher’s Palace was kinda cool but the magic system with words was pretty confusing. The characters were okay but I liked the twins more than the MCs or their romantic plotline. And I think I’m having quite a bit of bad luck that I keep picking up these books with contagious diseases or viruses during the pandemic - so if you wanna read this novella, this is probably not the right time. I loved the representation though - a sapphic romance, an all Vietnamese cast, multiple characters using they/them pronouns and in general, nobody’s gender is assumed. I think my rating is definitely more for the inclusiveness of the world as well as the idea of the story. Maybe I could have connected to it more if the story was longer.

I personally look out for a few things when I read retellings: how it extracts the essence of the original work, what new perspectives the retellings fleshes out in more detail, and how the retelling is inspired by the original work itself. For Aliette de Bodard's In the Vanishers' Palace, I was mainly focusing on how the novella directly drew inspiration from Beauty and the Beast. In this queer retelling of the fairytale featuring Vietnamese characters, de Bodard got pretty creative in crafting a new & futuristic worldbuilding (completely different to the one set in the original Beauty and the Beast). I thought the worldbuilding was well done, given its short length. I can tell that it has a pretty distinctive Vietnamese flavour: from the characters, societal structures, rituals, and the magic system. And it's a pretty impressive feat that de Bodard managed to preserve the cultural accents even in a futuristic setting. So this aspect of the novella felt pretty immersive when I was reading it. Despite my very mixed record with romance heavy books and works by this author, I actually felt that Yên and Vu Côn are quite compatible (and their relationship does felt quite justified when I finished reading it). I think the romance in the novella worked, thanks to the pacing & the careful fleshing out of the dragon's emotional headspace. I initially found Vu Côn a bit intimidating but de Bodard does slowly reveal her emotional vulnerability and her care for Yên! While I think these are improvements from other books / novellas I've read by Aliette de Bodard, there are a still few noticeable issues that I want to address. I think the weakest aspect of the novella is the plot. Personally I felt that the plot is a tad predictable as the overall structure of the retelling remains relatively untouched so I kind of know where the romance is heading (though I do appreciated how the relationship emotionally unfolds). So while I enjoyed the emotional engagement with the characters, I didn't feel the same with the plot so I did feel like I was pushing through the first 20 pages of the novella because of this. Another personal reason that I didn't felt as sold into In the Vanishers' Palace is bc I was reading about a disease outbreak in the worldbuilding during an actual pandemic. For some reason, I just felt that this made the reading experience less immersive than anticipated. So if you're like me (and couldn't put up reading about fictional pandemics during Covid), this novella is probably not for you. Despite my concerns, this is nevertheless a creative and clever retelling of a popular fairytale. It's diverse, emotionally complex, and the worldbuilding is creatively crafted. If you enjoy a good character-driven fiction and could put up with reading fictional pandemics during Covid, this is definitely worth checking out! N.B. This book contains following potentially triggering content: illnesses / outbreaks, near death experiences, death, and grief (3.5 stars out of 5)

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, and despite the problematic elements present in the story, I would always eagerly read re-tellings of the classic story. In the Vanishers’ Palace ranks as one of the best re-tellings I’ve read. It features a scholar, Vietnamese dragons, and an entirely unique non-Western, Vietnamese-inspired setting. Plus, it even addresses the problematic elements in the original story. I liked how it dealt with those problematic elements and how the conflict was eventually resolved. In the Vanishers’ Palace is a queer, diverse re-telling of a classic fairytale and it does it so well, it surpasses previous re-tellings I’ve read of the story. First, the world-building. Here, the world was basically shaped by the Vanishers, a mystical race of beings who turned the world into their playground and then disappeared. As a result, every human fears the spirits who were the Vanishers’ servants and the plagues the Vanishers left behind. The world-building is very clear and lush, and I had no problem visualizing everything. I loved the setting and I found it very refreshing to read a Vietnamese-inspired fantasy. There’s even a lot of folklore here which made me interested in learning more. I hope the author writes more in this setting as I personally really enjoyed it. Additionally, queer people are so integrated in the society. LGBTQ+ people are everywhere in the society and there’s no question of them being accepted. They are part of the society and there isn’t any homophobia or anything. I also noticed this trend of LGBTQ+ people being so well-integrated in fantasy societies and I hope it continues. I also loved the characters. Yen keeps a lot of her agency despite being essentially Vu Con’s captive. She remains curious, she stands up to Vu Con, and above all, she shows one of the best examples of filial piety I’ve seen in fantasy. Given that filial piety is such a huge thing in Asia, I love that it’s such a big part of the story. Vu Con also demonstrates filial piety. She is a mother- she may not have been the one who gave birth to her twins, she is no less her mother. I love that the book explores motherhood and asks what it means to be a parent. Not just through Vu Con, but also through Yen’s mother. The plot moves fairly quickly, since this is a novella. I wouldn’t call it predictable since it doesn’t follow the original story to the letter. It’s a completely fresh take on the original fairy tale and it’s so much stronger for it. There’s a certain dreamy quality to the writing which I also appreciated and the description of magic and how spells work are also unique and interesting. I won’t spoil it too much since I want readers to discover the magic for themselves. Overall, In the Vanishers’ Palace is a very satisfying story. I’d recommend it to both fans and non-fans of the original fairy tale.

The story was engaging, but more importantly, it shows that when given the choice, de Bodard always chooses the best words. It was so well written and just pretty.