The Tangleroot Palace: Stories

Marjorie Liu — 2021

[STARRED REVIEW] "Liu's mastery of so many different subgenres astounds, and her ear for language carries each story forward on gorgeously crafted sentences. This is a must-read" --Publishers Weekly [A Top-10 SF/F/H 2021 upcoming title] New York Times bestseller and Hugo, British Fantasy, Romantic Times, and Eisner award-winning author of the graphic novel Monstress, Marjorie Liu leads you deep into the heart of the tangled woods. In her long-awaited debut collection of dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction, you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women. Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom's deep, dark woods. Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu's first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.

Reviews

iza@ebrietas

This is one of the first short story collections I’ve ever genuinely enjoyed so that’s a win, but I loved the explanations at the end of each story looking back at the prompts & thought processes. Need more of those.

But OOHHHH MY GOD TANGLEROOT PALACE? THE STORY ITSELF? i can forgive Sally for being named that when I am served the best trope. Thank you Miss Liu 🙏

Michelle Xu@la_xu

Jan 8, 2022

Like... 2.5-3 stars. My overall ratings average out to a 3 star but the fact it took me months to finish and I didn't want to pick the book up because all the middle stories were a miss for me made me like this less. There were some gems tho. I think at the end of the day, I'm not sure if Marjorie Liu's writing is for me? At least not in a short story. I can't quite put my finger on what the issue was because her writing is descriptive and pretty. They always remind me of an old tale. I think my issue may have been what details she divulges and what she doesn't show. I felt like she would be good at describing atmosphere and world building, but then the substantial plot points and action scenes would often be skipped over. This was especially glaring in stories 2 and 3. She would tell us something happened or a time jump would happen and we would be asked as readers to fill in the blanks of what actually happened. Another reason why I think I had a difficult enjoying the anthology was because I hated the audiobook narrator. I unfortunately had to listen to a lot of this because I would only listen when I commuted to work. And then I'd go home and need to skim what happened sometimes. The audiobook voice felt too formal, lacked inflection, and failed to have distinguishing voices between characters. With the flowery writing, I would just get lost in what was happening. Here are reviews by story: Sympathy for the Bones 4.5 stars - I really enjoyed this one. It was haunting and I liked how dark it got with all the murder. Love me some murderous women. Briar and the Rose 2 stars - I was so bored by this one... so boring... it was just talking and time skips and talking. Then there was no clash or action/climax at the end. Instead we just skip some time and are told that the Duelist was able to kill the witch Carmela and live happily ever after?? The Light and the Fury 2 stars - I was confused for a lot of this story, then the ending was also anticlimactic??? She was supposed to be so feared and so powerful but it was just told to us and not really shown because in the current story we read, she isn’t shown to be that way. Then the end fight scene was anticlimactic and it was so short. The Last Dignity of Man 1.5 stars - Idk what happened, I didn’t get it. It kind of made me uncomfortable with the worms. We were too much in Lex's head and yet still didn't really understand what he was feeling. Where the Heart Lives 4 stars - I liked it more after reading her author’s note about how this is like the beginning of her Dirk and Steele series. It made me more excited to read that series. I would say this is closer to 3.5 stars but rounding up because it was so much better than the last 3 stories. I overall liked the vibes of this story, it returned to the eerie-ness of the first story. I think this is the difficult part of short stories but I wanted more of it and I wish it took place over more time. I also feel like the confrontation with the forest witch was anticlimactic. After the Blood 3 stars Meh idk I felt like I should have liked it. It has action and nice description and has a bit of horror vibes but something about it didn’t work for me. Maybe because it felt like I was picking up something from a middle of a book series I never read. I also never understood Amanda and Henry’s relationship like she was trying to hint at some past between them but I didn’t get what their actual obstacle was and then I feel like we were supposed to be all “aww” about it when he calls her wife at the end but none of it meant anything to me. The Tangleroot Palace 3.5 stars-4 stars? Idk I liked it much more than the last one, it’s similar to Where the Heart Lives for me. I liked Sally and I liked the story, the pacing was good. Honestly, I feel like I should not have listened on audio bc I hate the audiobook narrator. I did feel like it was predictable, the second we met Mickel I was like ‘oh he’s the “war lord”. I also couldn’t get invested in their love for each other bc it was like over the course of one day lol

This review contains a spoiler

Sahi K@sahibooknerd

Jan 5, 2022

I’ve not read any of the author’s novels before but I have enjoyed her Monstress graphic novel series for it’s beautiful art and a host of powerful and brilliant female characters. So it was no surprise to know that this collection of stories too is mostly about women - women who are strong of will and determined to survive. There is a bit of a common theme about magical woods through most of these stories and the descriptions truly gave me chills, as did some of the events which took place. The author doesn’t shy away from showing us the darkness and all of these stories revel in toeing the line between light and dark, letting us to believe what we choose. A very interesting collection, which is even more enhanced by the author’s commentary about why she wrote each story and what she feels about them now. Sympathy for the bones Dark and twisty tale about what one woman would do for the sake of freedom, for being relieved from being shackled to someone cruel, and what would she do differently than what was done to her. A bit gruesome, but nevertheless quite interesting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Briar and the Rose A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, this story was a wonderful tale of female agency, finding the courage to survive in desperate circumstances when there doesn’t seem to be any hope, and two women helping each other through the power of their love. Very beautiful writing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Call Her Savage Set in an alternate colonial world, this is the story of a powerful woman who was once famous for her strength and exploits in war, but who can only remember the grief and ravages of the time; how she has tried to stop fighting because she couldn’t handle it anymore, but ultimately it’s not always her choice, and circumstances decide what her path forward should be. Interesting combination of colonialism, magical crystals, advanced technology and plain old war. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Last Dignity of Man Parts of this story were horrific to read, but the emotions it invokes are even more intense. I don’t wanna give away much but amidst a combo of a tech billionaire who wants to be a comic book supervillain and meet his nemesis, and lots of morally ambiguous scientific experimentation - all I could feel was the desperate loneliness throughout. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Where the Heart Lives Set in a mystical forest which is described stunningly, this is a bittersweet story of what loneliness does to a person, as well as how experiencing love and family for the first time can make a person strong and resilient. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ After the Blood Set in the bleak aftermath of a pandemic, this was hard to read because of our own reality but it was also interesting to see Amish vampires, and many other supernatural creatures fighting for survival in a very changed world. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 The Tangleroot Palace This eponymous story was more like a novelette than a short story and again had a mystical scary forest, a trapped queen, and a young woman bound to marriage who just wants her freedom but discovers her capacity for more along the way. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Jennifer@vivaldi

Dec 14, 2021

Having seen rave reviews, I knew I had to pick up Marjorie Liu's The Tangleroot Palace. And I wasn't disappointed! This is a magical & at times - haunting, collection of short stories rich with emotional nuance, immersive worlds, and supernatural elements (with a lot of creative twists). This collection also serves as a taster of Liu's versatile writing - not only she demonstrates the emotional depth & complexity in these bite-sized stories, she also shows tremendous breadth in this diverse anthology. But one thing unite this broad range of stories: they explore the unapologetically relatable human themes about one's identity and its impact on their interpersonal relationships. While I overall had a positive experience with this short stories collection - Liu's short stories are nothing short of substance and I similarly appreciated her short note at the end of each entry, I personally wasn't very sold into the horror / graphical elements so there were bits & pieces in the short stories that didn't quite make their mark. Again, I would reiterate that this is solely my personal preference and I nevertheless think the writing by itself has a lot of redeemable merits. Despite the horror elements that didn't quite work out for me, The Tangleroot Palace is nevertheless a solid short stories collection. The stories are diverse, emotionally complex, and substantial. If you're looking for a fantasy escape or a short story collection, you'll find at least one story that sticks with you in The Tangleroot Palace. N.B. This collection contain following content warnings: corpse, gore, blood mention, violence, death, and weapons (3.5 stars out of 5)