Ken Liu

Wall of Storms

charisa

wow, what an absolute force. 

i’m a bit at a loss for words right now. this one dethroned grace of kings for me. great books involve both the mind and the heart, and both of mine were definitely working overtime LOL

the mind: from the different philosophy schools (i picked up on confucianism/taoism/sometimes even post-renaissance ideals?) to their manifestations in etymology, the worldviews were so RICH and complex. it was a lot easier to grasp individual motivations with these schools of thought in mind. not to mention the inclusion of anatomy, engineering, politics, math, strategy, poetry, uhhh the discovery of electricity? the silkpunk machinery?? the gender dynamics?? and of course, all the deep-seated history. i love that mata was still an influential figure, even posthumously. the tales and legends are spun so satisfyingly. 

the heart: “What we share is special,” said Théra. “There will never be another like you. You hear the voice in my heart when I hum a hesitant tune. You’re the mirror of my soul, Zomi, my wakeful weakness.”

it is truly an unparalleled gift to experience such memorable love. anyway, i bawled.

Fraser Simons

Absolutely improves upon the first book in every single way. Multiple badass women juxtapose the previous novel where there wasn’t any standout one; multiple new places/lands are revealed; a new, interesting culture; time is a lot more malleable and really effective at breaking up various physical conflicts. 

It’s actually sweeping, the technology and the magic is different and cool. The prose work is the same as previous. It doesn’t blow me away but neither does it feel like bog standard commercial fiction. It is 880 pages and so quite the commitment. It is worth it, I think. But also: the next book is 1000+? As much as I liked this and the marked improvement was great to see, the next two books are around 1000 pages. And they’re part of an ongoigg be series. I think I’m much more tempted to pick up a serious maximalist book than long genre fiction. But we’ll see. 

4.5 rounded up.

Allison King

So ambitious yet so rewarding. There were parts that seemed a bit too drawn out for how much they contributed to the story, or so I thought when I was first reading, but now I am immersed in the world and enjoy all of the details. The engineer-often-female-heroes are so refreshing and make me giddy.

Roy Zwambag

Great sequel to the first book, while the start was a bit slow, the book really picked up the pace and got full of action. Can't wait for book 3 of the Dandelion Dynasty!

Ben Nathan

Fantastic (literally and figuratively) second installment. Every little action is so well thought out that tiny insignificant things in the first few chapters come up as meaning something later on. Nothing ever seems pointless or wasted. The characters are developed beautifully. This is top notch story telling. Can't suggest it highly enough.

Bolorchuluun

Evan Huang

In the much-anticipated sequel to the “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR) Grace of Kings, Emperor Kuni Garu is faced with the invasion of an invincible army in his kingdom and must quickly find a way to defeat the intruders. Kuni Garu, now known as Emperor Ragin, runs the archipelago kingdom of Dara, but struggles to maintain progress while serving the demands of the people and his vision. Then an unexpected invading force from the Lyucu empire in the far distant west comes to the shores of Dara—and chaos results. But Emperor Kuni cannot go and lead his kingdom against the threat himself with his recently healed empire fraying at the seams, so he sends the only people he trusts to be Dara’s savvy and cunning hopes against the invincible invaders: his children, now grown and ready to make their mark on history.

Wall of Storms

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