Hot damn, this book was good. It was a bit uneven in places, and at times I got bored and was tempted to drop it entirely. But in the end it all came together in a neatly woven whole like so very, very few books manage to do. This is what excellence in storytelling looks like.
How on earth is this not more popular? How on earth is this not getting at least nominated for awards? This is exactly the sort of innovative work which should be celebrated in the genre. So here I am, hyping this up because you should read this!
Spoilers Below. I’m writing this review in good faith, as one author reviewing another’s book, trying to balance positives with negatives.
WHAT IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE? WHAT GENRES? WHAT MAJOR TROPES?
- People who read a lot of fantasy. This is not going to be for all readers, especially those who only read one or two books a year.
- Anyone 15+
- LGBT friendly, without being a massive focus
- It felt vaguely Asian inspired to me, with an Emperor and a court being at the heart of the setting.
- Diaspora fiction
- Trippy fiction. Switches between First, Second, and Third Person perspectives, sometimes within the same scene
- Mythic fiction
- Frame narrative. This book is a frame narrative in a frame narrative, taking the form of a character’s grandmother telling their grandchild the history of their people verbally.
MY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE/ FUN FACTOR
I had a complex relationship to this book. For the first 10% of this book, I was in love. This had one of the strongest starts for a book I’ve ever read. For the next 40%, it was more touch and go. I got bored, and was tempted to drop it entirely more than once. For the final 50%, it finished stronger and stronger and stronger, into one of the all time best endings I’ve never read.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a FANTASTIC job. I loved his accents. This is a trippy book, constantly switching between perspectives; the narrator did a great job smoothing out the confusion of these perspective swaps by use of accent.
I give 15% of books I read (5 stars). If I were being objective, this would get (4.5 stars) because of the troublesome middle 40%. However, the structure and foreshadowing and the narrative oddness is so flashy I really can’t help but give this (5 stars). Indeed, I think this book is easily entering the top 10 books I’ve ever read.
WARNING! QUIT READING NOW UNTIL YOU FINISH READING THE BOOK!
BIASES STATED
To put this review/study in proper context, you must know my starting point.
I love reading fantasy books, so much so that I’ve pretty much seen it all. I’ve read pretty much every subgenre; so much so, I’m no longer surprised when I read a book.
This book is something rare and special. At first I was shocked and surprised with this story, unable to guess what this book is. And then this book cascades into an amazing, yet well foreshadowed conclusion. It feels truly mythic, in a way I’ve not read in a long time.
SIMILAR BOOKS/OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
- I’d compare this most to the first book in the Dandelion Dynasty series, which had a similar mythical feeling.
CONCEPT AND EXECUTION
The book’s concept is ‘A grandma is telling her grandson the story of their ancient ancestor. This narrative swaps between the story of the grandson as he grows up and lives a disenchanted life in a nation trapped in an endless mundane modern war, and the enchanting tale of the ancestor in a time of kings and magic. Over time, these two tales bleed into one another, as the heroes of legend call on the help of the grandson to save the world.’
This is a great concept, but this book was executed EVEN BETTER than it’s already great concept. I loved the constant perspective swapping. It’s hard to explain why I loved it, but I did. Now, to be sure, this book’s style will NOT BE FOR EVERYONE. This will throw people off. I suggest you read a few pages before you make a purchase. If you don’t like what you read early on, I doubt you’ll come around to the story later.
CHARACTERS, CHARACTERIZATION AND DIALOG
I liked the characters here.
‘You,’ the protagonist of the 2nd person narrative, was probably my favorite. His was a sad story of a family in decline. His mother is dead, his grandmother dies early on, abandoned by his father at a young age, and then abandoned by his brothers. The war hangs over his story like a black pall, taking his father and brother. In the end he’s the only person left, doing the responsible thing of taking care of his great-grandfather with what seemed like Alzheimer’s. He never has any dialogue, but it’s easy to feel empathy for him.
Through the cracks in the narrative, you can tell that he becomes depressed. And yet over the course of the novel, he renews, as he interacts with the main plotline of the novel.
Keema and Jun are the protagonists of the traditional fantasy novel. Jun was the penitent son of the First Terror antagonist. Jun committed many evils on behalf of his father, but is forced to confront his sins and redeem himself. I liked his character, he was better than average.
But of the pair, I enjoyed Keema more. He’s just a random war orphan of no renown. To make himself feel more important, he claims to be from the mythical Duare tribe… but he’s not. He’s just a dude who’s had a rough start in life, and feels embarrassed by his lot in life. It was easy to feel empathy for him. He shows you don’t need to be someone special to save the world.
Keema and Jun typify the two types of fantasy protagonists. Jun is a classic chosen one of kingly descent. Jun is just a random orphan of no importance. Together, they are a great pair, a combination of the mythical and the mundane.
PACING AND STRUCTURE
A LOT of what makes this book good is in the second half. The first half of the book is all set up, while the second half is payoff. A lot of what makes this book good requires pressing through the first half to find the great second half. I think this is a flaw in the story overall; good book should be compelling at all moments. However I don’t think this flaw is sufficient to detract from the book overall.
This book has Three acts, based around the deaths of the Emperor and the Three Terrors.
- Act 1
- The Emperor dies, and the Moon Goddess flees with the aid of Jun
- The First Terror attacks the Tiger Gate and pursues Keema and Jun. June promises to take the Spear to a distant warrior.
- Keema frees a purple bird.
- The First Terror dies for the first time
- Act 2
- Assassination attempt by the Five Families against the Second Terror. It succeeds.
- The Heroes go to the Second Terror’s home, to free the turtle god.
- Surprise! The Second Terror isn’t dead. Big fight scene. The Moon Goddess kills the First Terror for the second time, and kills the Second Terror. Keema loses the Spear in the fight.
- The Moon Goddess dies from her wounds, and passes her power to Keema and Jun.
- Act 3
- New villain: the Water God. The Moon and Water used to be in love, but with her death Water has decided to wipe out mankind in revenge. The heroes must defeat both the Third Terror and Water.
- The heroes go to the Inverted Theater Underworld, where they meet with ‘You’ and ‘You’ gives them their grandmother’s spear… which was the magical Spear the whole time!
- Surprise! The purple bird was really the Third Terror. Big fight scene. They can’t beat the Third Terror with violence, so they use friendship against it. It works very well.
- A massive tsunami is about to destroy the Old Country. The heroes use the Spear to cut through the water. Moon and Water are reunited, and the heroes save the day.
PLOT, STAKES AND TENSION
I enjoyed the plot. At first the book had the texture of a mythical tale like the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Odyssey. Eventually all the little plotpoints set out in the first half of the book brought back around in a vibrant and neatly plotted whole. It was a gorgeous reading experience.
The book had good stakes. The three Terrors were aptly named; their evil served as the stakes, telling the reader that if the bad guys win it would be bad.
The book didn’t feel very tense, and it wasn’t supposed to. This feels like a fairy tale, and fairy tales by their very nature have a vibe of ‘you know it’s going to come out alright in the end.’ Knowing it will come out right in the end reduces tension, and that’s fine.
AUTHORIAL VOICE (TONE, PROSE AND THEME)
I enjoyed the author’s voice. In the ‘You’ sections of the book, the language felt drab and mundane. Meanwhile, the Jun and Keema sections were bright and colorful and magical. The alternating between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspectives gives this book a unique texture and flavor which I loved. I will look back on this book with nostalgia and fondness.
AUDIOBOOK NOTES
As I said above, the audiobook was wonderful. I feel like this is probably the best format to read it in.
LESSONS LEARNED
As an author, I want to improve my own writing/editing skills. To that end, I like to learn lessons from every story I read. Here’s what I learned from this story:
- Swing for the fences, and go wild.
- This book uses 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person narration, sometime in the same scene.
- The language the author used changes based on the setting; the 2nd person setting was drab and mundane, while the 3rd person was bright and magical.
- This book has not one, but two frame narratives.
- This book is a masterclass and utterly unique. I have no idea how it was written.
Here’s a link to all the lessons I’ve previously learned.
SUMMARY
This is excellent. Go read it.
Did you like this critique/review? Here are some more: The Rest of My In Depth Reviews
On a personal note, I’m open to editing books. I don’t like putting myself out here like this, but I’ve been told I should. Check my blog for details if interested.
John Mendez- Book Reviews and More 