Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
I've gotten into a bit of a book slump where I've been forcing myself to read (because the TBR is so endless) and not really enjoying anything, even books that I had been really looking forward to reading. Looking at my ARC pile I realized this one was releasing soon and figured I'd pick it up. Small backstory I received this ARC at the book wizards Penguin booth at BookCon this year. Those book wizards are genius because I loved this book! The book is set in an Asian-inspired world where three nations, Sanbuna, Shang, and Dahal have come together to fight back against the ruthless colonizing Tomoda. After the defeat of Tomoda, alliances are being tested as the three countries involved attempt to secure their positions in the new world order.
The book focuses on four different characters. Tala, a Sanbuna Sergeant, has been fighting against the Tomodanese since she was a child and is not ready to believe the war is truly over. When she hears of a final mission to safely escort Iron Prince Jumuro back to Tomoda she jumps at the chance to continue helping her country. Even if that means being in close proximity to the spoiled Prince Jimuro. Jimuro has been a hostage in Sanbuna and as the final heir to his fallen empire, he's due to be transported back to Tomoda to lead the peace talks (hopefully in Sanbuna's favor). Xiulan, is a lesser Princess of the Shang Empire. Determined to make her own way in the world she left court life behind to become a detective but when a potential opportunity arises to become her father's favored heir she jumps at the chance. Lee, is a Jeongsonese thief with fast fingers and a rule to only look out for number one. She's uniquely qualified to help Xiulan in her search for Prince Jimuro. I expected to have one or two favorites but I genuinely fell in love with all of these characters. I loved how fierce Tala was, how much Jimuro cared about his people, Xiulan's longwinded way of speaking, and Lee's swagger.
I also loved the magic in this world. Each country has a different way of utilizing the magic of the world. Xiulan uses a metaphor of magic occupying a great tree and each country learned how to use a different branch of magic. Once they got out to once branch though they were unable to go back and learn how to use another branch of magic. So Shang and Sanbuna learned how to shadepact, though they differ in some of the ceremonies used to form the bond. Shadepacting is when a human and their chosen animal connect soul to soul and agree to a pact. Once done the animal is housed within the person and can be called out when the person wishes. I found it really interesting that the animals always grow greatly in size and can develop new features like extra tails. This is likely where the pokemon comparison comes from though you cannot catch them all in shadepacting, those who do shadepact only have one animal shade. Tomoda, on the other hand, learned metalpacting. They can manipulate all types of metal by making it warmer or cooler, make metal cars and ships move, and even improve the accuracy of a bullet when using a gun. Dahal is a little more mysterious and we didn't get to see their magic as much. They can use the energy of people around them, so there are healers and there are also people who can turn someone's energy against themselves and hurt them.
I went into this book without any expectations and it really blew me away. Just every moment of this book was so well done down to the tiniest detail. Queerness is normalized in this fantasy world and there are a plethora of LGBT+ characters. I was incredibly impressed with how well the trans character was handled. They were never deadnamed and even when showing a memory of them in the past the correct name and pronouns were used. I loved this book and can't wait to read more from Paul Krueger.
The book focuses on four different characters. Tala, a Sanbuna Sergeant, has been fighting against the Tomodanese since she was a child and is not ready to believe the war is truly over. When she hears of a final mission to safely escort Iron Prince Jumuro back to Tomoda she jumps at the chance to continue helping her country. Even if that means being in close proximity to the spoiled Prince Jimuro. Jimuro has been a hostage in Sanbuna and as the final heir to his fallen empire, he's due to be transported back to Tomoda to lead the peace talks (hopefully in Sanbuna's favor). Xiulan, is a lesser Princess of the Shang Empire. Determined to make her own way in the world she left court life behind to become a detective but when a potential opportunity arises to become her father's favored heir she jumps at the chance. Lee, is a Jeongsonese thief with fast fingers and a rule to only look out for number one. She's uniquely qualified to help Xiulan in her search for Prince Jimuro. I expected to have one or two favorites but I genuinely fell in love with all of these characters. I loved how fierce Tala was, how much Jimuro cared about his people, Xiulan's longwinded way of speaking, and Lee's swagger.
I also loved the magic in this world. Each country has a different way of utilizing the magic of the world. Xiulan uses a metaphor of magic occupying a great tree and each country learned how to use a different branch of magic. Once they got out to once branch though they were unable to go back and learn how to use another branch of magic. So Shang and Sanbuna learned how to shadepact, though they differ in some of the ceremonies used to form the bond. Shadepacting is when a human and their chosen animal connect soul to soul and agree to a pact. Once done the animal is housed within the person and can be called out when the person wishes. I found it really interesting that the animals always grow greatly in size and can develop new features like extra tails. This is likely where the pokemon comparison comes from though you cannot catch them all in shadepacting, those who do shadepact only have one animal shade. Tomoda, on the other hand, learned metalpacting. They can manipulate all types of metal by making it warmer or cooler, make metal cars and ships move, and even improve the accuracy of a bullet when using a gun. Dahal is a little more mysterious and we didn't get to see their magic as much. They can use the energy of people around them, so there are healers and there are also people who can turn someone's energy against themselves and hurt them.
I went into this book without any expectations and it really blew me away. Just every moment of this book was so well done down to the tiniest detail. Queerness is normalized in this fantasy world and there are a plethora of LGBT+ characters. I was incredibly impressed with how well the trans character was handled. They were never deadnamed and even when showing a memory of them in the past the correct name and pronouns were used. I loved this book and can't wait to read more from Paul Krueger.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Currently my favorite fantasy book I’ve read. (As someone who doesn’t really read fantasy.) So close to perfect!
“We all have such finite time, even when the spirits are kind.”
representation: own voices asian inspired (author is Filipino), asian inspired worlds and characters (Sanbu Islands = Phillipines inspired; Tomoda = Japanese inspired; Shang = Chinese inspired; Jeongson = Korean inspired; Dahal = Indian inspired)
Queer characters (gay, bi, lesbian, trans), f/f relationship, m/m relationship.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
Even though I really, really enjoyed this, I have to admit I was a little disappointed because I was expecting this to get 5 stars and be a new all-time-fave, but alas!
We'll start with the things I loved:
- the avatar and pokemon inspired elements (avatar and pokemon were both HUGE parts of my childhood). We had the avatar influence (metalpacting = metalbending) and the pokemon influence (shadepacting = bond between the souls of human and animal) which I LOVED. There was also a super interesting discussion on whether enslaving another creature's spirit is okay or not (ever since I became an adult I always felt kinda icky about this with pokemon).
- THE CHARACTERS. omg i'm OBSESSED with Lee & Jimuro. Lee is SO badass and Jimuro reminded me so much of Zuko from ATLA!!
Things that kinda didn't work for me:
- the fact that this is more of an urban fantasy (has technology and cars and such) and my preferred fantasy is more of an ancient feeling world.
- it was kind of dense. a lot of the time i found myself not really wanting to pick it up even though when i was reading it, i was enjoying myself.
- the fact that the only trans character was lowkey a villain??? lame.
overall, i definitely recommend this one, it just wasn't a new favourite, unfortunately! :(
trigger warnings: colonisation, genocide, gun violence, loss of loved ones, war themes, mention of suicide, gore, a literal giant spider (ron weasley would hate that scene lol), injured animals, lots and lots and lots of violence.
representation: own voices asian inspired (author is Filipino), asian inspired worlds and characters (Sanbu Islands = Phillipines inspired; Tomoda = Japanese inspired; Shang = Chinese inspired; Jeongson = Korean inspired; Dahal = Indian inspired)
Queer characters (gay, bi, lesbian, trans), f/f relationship, m/m relationship.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
Even though I really, really enjoyed this, I have to admit I was a little disappointed because I was expecting this to get 5 stars and be a new all-time-fave, but alas!
We'll start with the things I loved:
- the avatar and pokemon inspired elements (avatar and pokemon were both HUGE parts of my childhood). We had the avatar influence (metalpacting = metalbending) and the pokemon influence (shadepacting = bond between the souls of human and animal) which I LOVED. There was also a super interesting discussion on whether enslaving another creature's spirit is okay or not (ever since I became an adult I always felt kinda icky about this with pokemon).
- THE CHARACTERS. omg i'm OBSESSED with Lee & Jimuro. Lee is SO badass and Jimuro reminded me so much of Zuko from ATLA!!
Things that kinda didn't work for me:
- the fact that this is more of an urban fantasy (has technology and cars and such) and my preferred fantasy is more of an ancient feeling world.
- it was kind of dense. a lot of the time i found myself not really wanting to pick it up even though when i was reading it, i was enjoying myself.
- the fact that the only trans character was lowkey a villain??? lame.
overall, i definitely recommend this one, it just wasn't a new favourite, unfortunately! :(
trigger warnings: colonisation, genocide, gun violence, loss of loved ones, war themes, mention of suicide, gore, a literal giant spider (ron weasley would hate that scene lol), injured animals, lots and lots and lots of violence.
3.75⭐ This was very fun! I loved the elements of shade-pacts in this world and found the cultures/nations unique and intriguing. It is definitely "binge"able and the relationships hooked me pretty early on.
However, on a critical level I definitely had some complaints. The world building/political aspects were definitely lacking, which led to some confusion at times and in other instances I just simply wanted to know more, so was disappointed. The characters are also quite cliché.... to a point that was cringy at times . It definitely reads as a YA fantasy, so it's good to know that going in
However, on a critical level I definitely had some complaints. The world building/political aspects were definitely lacking, which led to some confusion at times and in other instances I just simply wanted to know more, so was disappointed. The characters are also quite cliché.... to a point that was cringy at times . It definitely reads as a YA fantasy, so it's good to know that going in
An incredible ride from start to finish with asian inspired diverse characters who actually go through noticeable character development (kudos to the author), solid storyline, unique setting, and endless amount action. Thus far a stand out amongst other debuts of 2019 and would recommended to just about everyone since this fantasy novel has a bit of everything has for them and their mother. Sure every good novel has it flaws and “Steel Crow Saga” was no exception. Let's talk about the length of the novel. Holy shit. Over 500+ pages which could have easily been around the 300+ish if it weren’t for the very descriptive scenes that were unnecessary to add to the overall storyline. I was barely able to see the light at the end of this very long (and possibly endless) read and lesbehonest I lost my focus more times than I can count. Nevertheless, the world building, magical realism of “Steel Crow Sage” is a knock out and I would recommended this to everyone, including their baby mama.
Check out more reviews on 80 Books Blog!
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Then I let the ARC lapse on the site after publication so I borrowed the book from the library to read it. #transparency
I am so sorry I didn’t get to this book sooner. It completely engaged me as a reader because of these reasons: one, I adore the magical elements of the book, two, I love how effortlessly the author incorporated the Asian-inspired cultures, and three, the characters were so dynamic and interesting. It made for an all-around great read! I learned that it is intended as a standalone novel which is so frustrating since the world building was so strong.
The two magical elements in the book are shade-pacting and metal pacting. Shade pacting is when a person bonds half their soul with an animal and can summon the animal to help them if the situation calls for it (Pokemon inspired!). For instance, Tala bonded with Beaky the crow and since she’s a solider would go out on campaigns and use Beaky as a defense. Xiulan also had a rat as a shade and it became a symbol for her role in the Shang dynasty. The animal asks a question of it’s potential host and the host needs to agree in order for the pact to form. I loved seeing this example when Lee originally tries to pact with a rooster and it asks for blood of its enemies, but Lee doesn’t agree. Later she finds a bond with a dog she names Bootstrap, and they get along much better.
Metal pacting is controlling the element of metal, in the kingdom of Tomoda this means engineering cars so only people with metal pacting ability can drive them or controlling a bullet so that it hits a target with 100% accuracy. Notably, the people who practice metal pacting see shade pacting a slavery and control over the animal, so there’s animosity towards one another. The rules for these magic systems make it seem like one person can only do one type of magic, but of course, rules are meant to be broken. I really loved learning the rules and then reading how they are immediately broken by some of the characters. It brought a lot of depth to the system.
Through researching interviews and other reviews, I see and understand that all of the kingdoms and territories in this novel are based on real life cultures and countries. For instance, Tomoda, where Jimuro is from is based on Japan (Author’s Reddit AMA). Tala is from Sanbu, based on the Phillippines, Xuilan is from Shang, based on China, and Lee is from Jeongson, based on Korea. There is also another community called Dahali, based on India. Honestly, this is refreshing to read. There are only a handful of fantasy books that I can name off the top of my head that have Asian-inspired characters and settings. In the acknowledgements, the Author says that it’s his most autobiographical work and I understand what he means because the writing is so hopeful and loving when writing about these different worlds (especially food references!) (though I’m sure there are other points of autobiography that I am not seeing).
The representation in this book is top notch, there are queer characters everywhere and not every relationship ends in tragedy! The most fun relationship is between Xiulan and Lee, who are complete opposites (princess and thief, respectively) and yet come together for a common cause. Both make the other question their ways of life and this makes them stronger as a pair. The pairing of Tala and Jimuro was interesting to me because it’s less romantic, though I can see that perhaps in a hypothetical future they would be together, but the writing was very careful and calculated when they had to consider each others world view. It was a very thoughtful approach to making and maintaining a relationship. It wasn’t like many high-fantasy books I’ve read in the past (or even a romantic trope, hate-to-love).
I think my only criticism was that I didn’t completely understand the relationship between each country and how they all fit together. The timeline was hard to follow. And I would have appreciated a map at the beginning of the book since there was a lot of travelling in the plot. This book is still highly recommended by me because it’s fun and entertaining. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming and I love how easily the battle scenes played out in my mind. Recommended for those interested in high fantasy a la Robert Jackson Bennett, N.K. Jemisin, and S.A. Chakraborty, or those that enjoy anime.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Then I let the ARC lapse on the site after publication so I borrowed the book from the library to read it. #transparency
I am so sorry I didn’t get to this book sooner. It completely engaged me as a reader because of these reasons: one, I adore the magical elements of the book, two, I love how effortlessly the author incorporated the Asian-inspired cultures, and three, the characters were so dynamic and interesting. It made for an all-around great read! I learned that it is intended as a standalone novel which is so frustrating since the world building was so strong.
The two magical elements in the book are shade-pacting and metal pacting. Shade pacting is when a person bonds half their soul with an animal and can summon the animal to help them if the situation calls for it (Pokemon inspired!). For instance, Tala bonded with Beaky the crow and since she’s a solider would go out on campaigns and use Beaky as a defense. Xiulan also had a rat as a shade and it became a symbol for her role in the Shang dynasty. The animal asks a question of it’s potential host and the host needs to agree in order for the pact to form. I loved seeing this example when Lee originally tries to pact with a rooster and it asks for blood of its enemies, but Lee doesn’t agree. Later she finds a bond with a dog she names Bootstrap, and they get along much better.
Metal pacting is controlling the element of metal, in the kingdom of Tomoda this means engineering cars so only people with metal pacting ability can drive them or controlling a bullet so that it hits a target with 100% accuracy. Notably, the people who practice metal pacting see shade pacting a slavery and control over the animal, so there’s animosity towards one another. The rules for these magic systems make it seem like one person can only do one type of magic, but of course, rules are meant to be broken. I really loved learning the rules and then reading how they are immediately broken by some of the characters. It brought a lot of depth to the system.
Through researching interviews and other reviews, I see and understand that all of the kingdoms and territories in this novel are based on real life cultures and countries. For instance, Tomoda, where Jimuro is from is based on Japan (Author’s Reddit AMA). Tala is from Sanbu, based on the Phillippines, Xuilan is from Shang, based on China, and Lee is from Jeongson, based on Korea. There is also another community called Dahali, based on India. Honestly, this is refreshing to read. There are only a handful of fantasy books that I can name off the top of my head that have Asian-inspired characters and settings. In the acknowledgements, the Author says that it’s his most autobiographical work and I understand what he means because the writing is so hopeful and loving when writing about these different worlds (especially food references!) (though I’m sure there are other points of autobiography that I am not seeing).
The representation in this book is top notch, there are queer characters everywhere and not every relationship ends in tragedy! The most fun relationship is between Xiulan and Lee, who are complete opposites (princess and thief, respectively) and yet come together for a common cause. Both make the other question their ways of life and this makes them stronger as a pair. The pairing of Tala and Jimuro was interesting to me because it’s less romantic, though I can see that perhaps in a hypothetical future they would be together, but the writing was very careful and calculated when they had to consider each others world view. It was a very thoughtful approach to making and maintaining a relationship. It wasn’t like many high-fantasy books I’ve read in the past (or even a romantic trope, hate-to-love).
I think my only criticism was that I didn’t completely understand the relationship between each country and how they all fit together. The timeline was hard to follow. And I would have appreciated a map at the beginning of the book since there was a lot of travelling in the plot. This book is still highly recommended by me because it’s fun and entertaining. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming and I love how easily the battle scenes played out in my mind. Recommended for those interested in high fantasy a la Robert Jackson Bennett, N.K. Jemisin, and S.A. Chakraborty, or those that enjoy anime.
Going through my reads to check out my ratings and just found this one. Docking all but the last star over the author being a serial abuser. Peace, bro
This book brought me so much joy. A rich own voices asian fantasy filled with wonderfully intertwined characters. If you're looking for a truly diverse and inclusive fantasy book this is the one to go with.
i wasn’t expecting much and didn’t know much about it before i went into it, but it was actually pretty entertaining. there were some things i would change and you could tell some characters were written by a male but it was honestly a decent book