The Grace of Kings

This was one meaty book! Ken Liu has thrown away all the rules of writing and has yet written an absolute masterpiece of fantasy fiction.

I don’t remember being this thrilled, terrified, angry, and chuffed with scene after scene, battle after battle. I am a sucker for sprawling epic fantasies. Give me intricate maps, dozens of characters, multiple POVs, betrayals, puppeteering gods, and a complex plot that ties them all together.

The Grace of Kings is all that and more in its rich and silken reimagining of the Han dynasty and the Chu Han Contention. Imagine my delight when I… show more.

This book, the first in the staggeringly epic Dandelion Dynasty series, does something unique — it tells a story that has no place-markers of Chineseness (no Chinese-sounding place- or character-names, no great continental empire, etc). Nonetheless, it is one of the most profoundly Chinese books that I’ve ever read. It’s clear that the author is bursting with love for Chinese lore. His interpretation of the source tales of heroic deeds, folk wisdom, and philosophical debates are a huge-hearted celebration of Chinese culture and history. The book also uses the East Asian four-act structure, which withholds the book’s pivotal element until… show more.