I read this as part of the workshop I'm attending in April, and one of the rules is that we're to read the books for enjoyment--not analyzing or lookiI read this as part of the workshop I'm attending in April, and one of the rules is that we're to read the books for enjoyment--not analyzing or looking at them like a writer. I originally decided that meant I wouldn't review the books at all, but I changed my mind last night. I did my best to follow instructions, but I don't think it means I can't look back on it and think about what I liked, or didn't like.
I've said before I'm not interested in epic fantasy anymore, mainly because I get impatient with the millions of POV shifts and how insanely long most of them seem to be. However, this book was utterly brilliant and I adored it.
I'm also not going to read the rest of the series.
Here's why.
Liu is fantastic with characterization, which is saying a lot because he's also great at plotting and war stories and pretty much anything else you can think of. The first thing I read by him was a short story in The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2016 Edition called "Cassandra" which was easily my favorite of the collection. This made picking up The Grace of Kings easy, even though it's not normally my thing. And I loved it almost entirely because of the characters. I even cared about the villains. And when the heroes did stupid things, my heart ached.
I did not expect the book to end where it does (view spoiler)[with the war essentially over and the good guys victorious (hide spoiler)], but Liu handled it perfectly. However, he also laid the groundwork for what's to come, and what's to come has the potential for epic tragedy that will definitely break my heart. I don't want to see the domestic horror that must certainly come (view spoiler)[the two wives fighting it out, the younger son being groomed to take the elder's place (hide spoiler)] and I don't think I can take any more worries about whether people are going to be loyal. So I have to be done, but only because I'm a wuss.
Highly recommended. Seriously. It looks to me like this is only going to be a trilogy, so it won't even take much of your time. Though waiting for book three might be a wise move....more
Having read Pigs Don't Fly, I was ready to move on to the sequel. Overall, I think it's better than the first, as Summer's journeys take her west afteHaving read Pigs Don't Fly, I was ready to move on to the sequel. Overall, I think it's better than the first, as Summer's journeys take her west after her dragon-man lover Jasper. Once again, Summer collects stray companions, and once again, her quest story is a lot of little encounters strung together, but as Summer has a direction of her own in this book, the plot has more coherence. I especially liked her magical friend Ky-Lin, companion of the Buddha and provider of a lot of necessary plot movement without feeling like a deus ex machina.
Unfortunately, the book loses a full star for the presence of Dickon, who was an ass in the first book and shows up again in this book. And again. And again. What's truly frustrating is that Summer knows he's a danger, feels it in her heart, and yet does nothing to kick him to the curb permanently. And it turns out he does ruin everything, repeatedly and finally at the end when Summer is about to get her heart's desire. I hated it every time he reappeared and hated his presence in the story. The revelation of what he did to ruin Summer and Jasper's chances with the dragon council comes at the very end, in the form of a deathbed confession, and it's so infuriating it tainted my pleasure from the rest of the book. The epilogue was not enough to redeem it, as it raised too many questions.
I also wasn't happy with the romance, which suffered from Jasper concealing his true feelings until he just suddenly comes out and tells Summer that he was only pretending to be indifferent to her. His seeming indifference fit with how he felt in the two short sections from his POV earlier in the book, so I wasn't satisfied with his change of heart.
There's still a lot to enjoy about this book. Brown is excellent at evoking the past without being too anachronistic, Summer's companions are delightful (except for that ass Dickon), and Summer herself has mostly grown up, though there's one moment where she reverts to being an idiot and Ky-Lin has to rescue her. But I can't recommend it whole-heartedly, and I have to say I'm not eager to read the next book....more
I'm a fan of Kay's history-derived fantasies, like the Sarantine Mosaic, and this one is outstanding. I had trouble putting it down and couldn't stop I'm a fan of Kay's history-derived fantasies, like the Sarantine Mosaic, and this one is outstanding. I had trouble putting it down and couldn't stop thinking about it when I did. The Chinese-analogue empire of Kitai is powerful, but covets the horses of the western Tagur Empire. Shen Tai is only fulfilling his years of mourning for his father by burying the dead of Kuala Nor, but his courage in facing the restless spirits brings him to the attention of a wife of the Taguran Emperor, formerly a princess of Kitai's Imperial Family. She's so moved by his sacrifice that she makes him a present of some of their finest horses.
Two hundred and fifty of them.
This extraordinary gift makes Shen Tai a marked man, putting him in danger not only from ordinary men and government officials, but from the Son of Heaven, who might decide Shen Tai is a threat to his power. Tai has to figure out a way to get from the distant Kuala Nor to the palace, convince the Emperor of his good intentions, and, oh yeah, not get killed in the process.
Tai's problem is like a stone dropped into a particularly muddy lake, as other political concerns are affected by it. His sister Li-Mei has been effectively sold as a bride to the barbarians of the steppe, something that the newly-powerful Tai objects to. The antagonistic presence of those barbarians on the northern border has created political and social turmoil within the Imperial court. And on a personal level, Tai has to deal with seeing the girl he loves become a concubine to his hated rival, cousin to the Emperor's most-loved consort.
Something I look for in a long novel with multiple viewpoint characters is whether I care equally about all of them. I've learned that I get dissatisfied with the whole book if I'm more interested in one or two POV characters; it doesn't matter if they're all well-written if I just don't care about the others. Under Heaven passed this test brilliantly. I never got bored with any section. I'm also a fan of Kay's writing style, as well as his ability to evoke a particular historical culture without sounding derivative. It's a long book that to me never felt long. There are a couple of really good love stories, just enough action, and a lot of excellent political intrigue. This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I think it's the best recommendation I've had all year....more
Re-read 3/29/23: Every time I come back to Barry Hughart's books, I find myself drawn to something different. This time, it was the amazing characteriRe-read 3/29/23: Every time I come back to Barry Hughart's books, I find myself drawn to something different. This time, it was the amazing characterization, all the way down to the least of the individuals in the story. Moon Boy and Grief of Dawn are vibrantly drawn, and the story surrounding them is so vivid and rich I am caught up in it every time despite knowing how it ends.
Re-read 2/6/22: Has it really been ten years since I last read this? I can't believe I haven't come back to it sooner. I'll skip over my usual lament that Barry Hughart only wrote three books and the codicil about how I regret never writing a fan letter to him (the actual lament is much, much longer than the summary) and just say how impressed I am with the mystery in this book. It is a mark of Hughart's talent that he made the ending satisfying when it is, on the face of it, the stuff of tragedy. The rest of my comments remain as written below.
I do still love the journey to Hell. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a drug trip. To me, it was real.
Read 9/19/12: Darker in tone and content than Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone links two mysteries, both about evil, where it comes from and how it can be overcome. The title and the legend of the stone the book is centered on come from the classic 18th century novel Dream of the Red Chamber, continuing Hughart's tradition of drawing on actual Chinese history and mythology. However, the actual plot is all Hughart's invention, which means it has insane zombie princes, secret identities, a trip to Hell, and a lusty, gorgeous young man who can (and does) seduce anyone he meets, male or female.
Li Kao is in perfect form here; Ox is his usual honest and innocent self; and their new companions Grief of Dawn and Moon Boy (the aforementioned lusty young man) make excellent additions to the team. At certain points, I like this better than Bridge of Birds (blasphemy!), particularly the journey through Hell, and Li Kao's method of getting a forbidden copy of a nearly sacred writing is hilarious. One minor problem is that Ox's own record shows that this takes place almost ten years after their first adventure, and yet Ox isn't any more mature than he was as a teen. However, this doesn't spoil my enjoyment of an excellent book....more
Re-read 4/1/23: I read this while barreling along a mountain highway post-storm. It kept me from freaking out the way I usually do when being driven bRe-read 4/1/23: I read this while barreling along a mountain highway post-storm. It kept me from freaking out the way I usually do when being driven by someone else at speeds greater than 60 mph. This time, I really questioned (view spoiler)[whether the puppeteer's daughter could be Madness and yet pass as sane when all the other mythical creatures have to act out their natures (hide spoiler)]. But it's a minor quibble. For once, the villains break my heart.
Read 9/20/12: Much as I admire this book--hence the five-star rating--it somehow leaves me uncomfortable. Maybe it's that a lot of people die who don't deserve to; maybe it's how often Li Kao and Number Ten Ox are betrayed. Possibly it's just that Master Li and Ox are constantly just seconds too late to prevent their mysterious adversary from collecting yet another artifact that could mean the destruction of the world. In any case, it's another vivid and intriguing story in Ox's histories.
As with Bridge of Birds and The Story of the Stone, the mystery is rooted in Chinese myth. In this case, the titular gentlemen are the Eight Immortals, legendary figures whose power can be transferred to tools that destroy evil. However, Hughart balances these immortals with eight creatures of evil, many of whom share traits with their good opposites. But "good" and "evil" aren't so easily defined, in this case; ultimately, the two octets represent yin and yang, and the yang force has overwhelmed the yin, and that this imbalance is destructive to humanity.
Despite this being a sort of fetch quest, I like Li Kao and Ox's efforts to work out what's going on and retrieve the bad guys' magic items. I also like that although this book, like The Story of the Stone, ends with the evil person being unmasked and punished, in this case the antagonist is sympathetic as well as evil.
I've heard that Barry Hughart quit writing because he didn't think his books were being promoted well by his publisher. If that's true, it's practically a crime. I hope Hughart knows just how well-loved his books are, even twenty-five years after publication, and that his writing made a difference in fantasy literature....more
Re-read 3/29/23: Now that I live in India, I have no access to my library and have had to resort to ebooks. This one is only available on Amazon in thRe-read 3/29/23: Now that I live in India, I have no access to my library and have had to resort to ebooks. This one is only available on Amazon in the omnibus edition, but that edition's book description is a letter by Barry Hughart to fans, telling a little bit about his journey. In it, he says he felt he'd come to the end of what he wanted to tell about Master Li Kao and Number Ten Ox regardless of his publishing troubles, but that only makes it worse--what else might he have written? In any case, I choose to be grateful for what he did write. This book remains an elegant, beautiful story I never tire of.
Re-read 10/30/20: Still one of my favorite books ever, beautifully structured and marvelous in characterization. One of my great regrets is that I didn't know Barry Hughart was still alive when I first read this, and I never wrote to him to tell him how much I love his books. I lost that chance in 2019.
Read 9/19/12: This is unquestionably one of the gems of fantasy fiction, and one that is unfortunately not as well known as it should be. Story, character, structure, mythology all blend together perfectly, within a plot that continually loops back on itself until all the events you thought were unrelated are revealed to be part of a glorious whole. I read this book every few years, usually when I'm much in need of comfort and mental peace, and it never fails to deliver.
It struck me, this time, that Hughart's style is very similar in tone to Umberto Eco's (in translation) in The Name of the Rose, which is also an historical mystery with a wise older man and wide-eyed young apprentice. Go figure....more
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