The Grace of Kings
The Dandelion Dynasty series, Book 1
Ken Liu
Saga Press
Fiction, Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Long ago, the refugee Ano came to the islands of Dara fleeing disaster... and brought their own form of disaster with them. Their descendants carved up the new land into six warring states, which squabbled for generations just as the gods of the nations squabbled - conflicts that only ended under the bloody rise of Xana's Emperor. But not all rest easy under his unified domain, and his reign may not outlast his impending death, with treachery inside his own palace.
Son of a farmer, Kuni Garu was already a troublemaker the day he snuck out of school to see the emperor's procession, with its great silk airships and towering bamboo Throne Pagoda, pass through town... the day he saw the all-too-mortal fear in the old man's eyes after an assassin's failed strike. Nobles, he realized, are but ordinary men, not unlike himself. As he grows up, carefree and on the fringes of the law, that impression lingers, along with his personal vow to always do the most interesting thing when presented with the opportunity. It's only after his marriage to Jia and the crumbling of the empire's strength under a weak and ill-prepared son that he realizes the most interesting thing might carry him to the imperial throne.
Mata Zyndu is the youngest survivor of a long line of honored generals, a line broken by the emperor's armies. He bears the mark of divine favor in his towering stature and double-pupiled dark eyes, and he bears in his heart the stories of his glorious ancestors and their legendary deeds, as related by his uncle. The world, he decides, should be more like those old tales, a world where one hero's sword cleaves right from wrong, where the worthy rise and the evil fall.
Mata and Kuni could not be more different, yet they bond close as brothers with their shared ambitions against the empire. Between them, they might claim the whole of Dara... but can the two disparate visions ever co-exist, or are these brothers-at-heart destined to write a new tragedy on the war-torn land?
REVIEW: Reviewers call this novel "silkpunk" epic, which seems to be an Asian-styled offshoot of steampunk. It is indeed an epic tale, and it has a strong Asiatic flavor, though the world Liu creates becomes its own creation, with many strange twists and trappings: silken airships inspired by giant falcons who use natural gases to soar, giant scaled and horned "cruben" mightier than whales, crafted smoke to dazzle or clear a man's senses, and more, not to mention the often-meddlesome gods of the realm who adopt many guises. To populate this world, Liu presents a wide-ranging cast or many colors and ranks, often with unexpected personalities and roles. Kuni Garu isn't the typical farmboy hero who sets out on a noble Quest to claim a crown; he's a manipulator and trickster, often with little long-term plan, compelled by the sometimes-conflicting urges to help friends, be liked, and pursue "interesting" things. Mata Zyndu makes a good match, each compensating for the others' deficiencies... though the traits that bind them together become the very things that drive them apart, as victory proves even more treacherous than their initial rebellion. The whole is a long, often-bloody story of ideals tested and twisted sometimes beyond recognition, glory sought and occasionally achieved, and people thrown into the thresher of great events, to emerge greatly changed - or not at all. There are a few weak spots now and again, and it took a while for women characters to come into their own, but on the whole I found it an enjoyable and compelling read, a different take on epic fantasy. I expect I'll be tracking down the second book soon.
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