Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Grace of Kings

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The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

19 reviews

aloy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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isi__1's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

This novel felt extremely ambitious. The plot spans many years, there‘s a ton of different named characters, a lot of them fairly relevant to the bigger picture, and all of it is told by an omniscient narrator. Thus, the reader always knows what every character in any scene is feeling and/or thinking at any point in time.
The focus of the story constantly switches between different sides of the war and also between more important characters and very minor characters.

The best way to describe this book is that it feels like reading a textbook about this important historical event: This battle happened at this place, then these characters met and had a discussion about this topic, then this other battle took place, then this person died, then another battle took place,…you get the gist.
I saw someone else describe this as “outlining a whole epic series“ which is a rather apt description, in my opinion.

Because the narration felt so clinical and impersonal, I had a hard time getting attached to the characters. In the same way you wouldn‘t really get attached to the characters in a history textbook. I‘ve heard that the sequel is a bit more character-driven. That‘s why I really want to try it. If it doesn‘t manage to pull me in, though, I‘m just gonna have to accept that this series might not be for me.

It very well is a case of this book just not working for me personally. I would still recommend checking it out if it sounds interesting, because it could be a new favorite for someone else.
The writer is certainly skilled and the book feels well-thought-out. The concept is definitely quite intriguing, but the execution simply didn‘t work for me.
I don‘t dislike this book, but I also don‘t care about it at all. It unfortunately left me with this feeling of apathy. Not necessarily what I‘m looking for when I‘m reading a book for entertainment.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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thecriticalreader's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Context:

I decided to read The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu because I was in the mood for epic fantasy and have heard a lot of positive things about it. I borrowed it from my library through the Libby App.

Review:

I don’t think that anyone has ever told Ken Liu about the “show, not tell” rule in writing. Everything—and I mean everything—is spelled out for the reader in The Grace of Kings. He constantly explains what is happening, who the characters are, what the characters are thinking, what personality traits the characters have, why the characters are doing something, what philosophical themes and questions the reader should ponder, why a certain aspect of the plot is important or impactful, etc. Exchanges between characters go something like this:

Character 1: I am feeling _____ because ______ elements of my upbringing conditioned me to react this way.

Character 2: You are indeed _______. Would you like to hear my plan to achieve ______, which will fulfill your ______ desires in ________ exact way?

Character 1: Sure, what is your plan?

Character 2: My plan is to trick the enemy using _____ tactics. They will fall for these tricks because of ______ elements of their personality or planning.

Character 1: Wow, your plan is so smart because they will not see ______ tactics coming, because of ______ elements of the personality or planning.

As you can tell, this can become frustrating and repetitive quickly. That being said, there are a few advantages to this writing style. It makes an otherwise intimidating epic fantasy book incredibly easy to digest, as the reader never has to do any thinking for themselves. Since many consider The Grace of Kings to be a prologue of sorts for the rest of the series, Liu can cram an enormous amount of plot and action into one book. He tells the reader exactly what they need to know so that each scene propels the storyline forward. In this way, The Grace of Kings is a fast-paced and exciting read, a somewhat uncommon trait in epic fantasy tomes.

Liu’s extreme “tell not show” approach to storytelling, however, hinders the book more than it helps. It insults the reader’s intelligence by spelling out the obvious and strips the reader of any agency. Furthermore, the book spends no time lingering with the characters or world for the sake of development. I’m not someone who believes that every epic fantasy needs to be a slow burn filled with quiet character moments and lengthy descriptions of the setting, but good gracious! Let us get to know the characters rather than just telling us who they are! You can’t have an emotional payoff without quality buildup!

I was willing to accept the story as it was and enjoy the ride, even if the style of narration didn’t fit my tastes. Unfortunately, I found a lot of the dialogue to be cliché and cringeworthy: every time Liu clearly wanted a character to sound witty, flirtatious, profound, or badass, I found myself rolling my eyes. His attempts at championing feminist ideals in the narrative are also a joke, as it’s clear that he doesn’t actually know how to write female characters. Oh, and did I mention that the central conflict of the story is the result of a stupid miscommunication, just like in a bad rom-com movie? At a certain point, it was hard to take The Grace of Kings seriously, I knew that my chances of genuinely enjoying it were slim.

I’m willing to concede that The Grace of Kings has a clever, ambitious plot and some cool worldbuilding elements; it kept me more or less entertained for 600+ pages, so that’s an accomplishment. Nevertheless, it suffers from a writing style that leaves nothing to the imagination. I think in the hands of a more capable writer—someone like Guy Gavriel Kay, for instance—The Grace of Kings could have been a masterpiece.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like The Grace of Kings if . . .

· You want to read a fast-paced, exciting epic fantasy of grand scope

· You are more of a plot-driven reader than a character-driven reader

You might not like The Grace of Kings if . . .

· You want to spend time getting to know a world and its characters

· You dislike a writing style that leaves nothing to the imagination

· You dislike poorly written female characters

A Similar Book:

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (a 4.5-star read for me!)

Similarities Include:

· Epic fantasy about a people rebelling against a despotic rule

· Light magic system

· Multiple main characters from different backgrounds

· Political maneuvering and a punchy plot

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shermansays's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kendal_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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macliffe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A really good book overall. I felt immersed in the world and very attached to some of the characters. The reason I marked it down was just because sometimes the world building was just a little too vast for me. The were so many locations and they’d get conquered by this person or that person so it was really hard to keep track of (I didn’t have access to a map which did not help. I would suggest reading the physical book of this and not listening to it on audio like I did just so it’s easier to keep things straight). I couldn’t tell a lot of the side characters apart from each other. I had other little nitpicks which bumped it down to a 3.5 for me, but I did always enjoy it overall. It did a great job of immersing me every time I picked it up again and I always wanted to keep reading.

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