Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

10 reviews

macliffe's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nquinlan's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mandkips's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective sad 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

5.0

THE GRACE OF KINGS is the story of the shattering of one dynasty and the early forging of another. Two friends who take down an empire together become bitter enemies and are unable to walk away until one (or both) are utterly broken. 

The third person narration mostly follows Mata and Kuni, then Jia, as well as a smattering of other perspectives as is necessary for the particular scene. There are interludes where the gods are commenting on events and taking sides, I like how they made it unambiguous that the gods exist and are interested, but that the humans are the main actors. It made their small interventions feel more meaningful, while keeping unquestioned the agency of the main characters. 

Mata Zyndu is the last member of the Zyndu clan. Kuni Garu woos Jia Matiza and begins trying to improve his life by having literally any job in order to impress her parents. This doesn’t work very well (he strives to do the most interesting thing and very few available steady jobs can qualify as “most interesting”). He becomes a bandit early on in the narrative, which is how he meets Mata Zyndu. Jia is a source of stability for Kuni early on but eventually figures out how to claim more of a place for herself which isn’t as dependent on him for her story. 

Kuni and Mata have different approaches from the beginning of their acquaintance. Early on they’re able to coordinate their strengths to great effect, but once things start falling apart their differences make small misunderstandings large and their newly-competing political goals slowly remove pressure to reconcile. Mata has this larger-than-life physical presence and strong principles, but his rigidity starts to get in the way. Kuni is flexible but directionless, moving from one small goal to the next, checking in with his friends and confidantes.

Kuni and Jia are best described as having a series of long-distance relationships with each other. They stay consistently important in each other’s lives, but they have to figure out how to balance their relationship, Kuni’s drive to do dangerous things, and Jia’s need to have a life that’s more than hoping he’ll be able to come home. I’m very pleased with the solution they reach, it works well for the narrative and for the characters involved.

The worldbuilding is very detailed in terms of politics and political history of the region where the story is set. Early on there’s an entire chapter which details the most relevant portions of that history. I think it’s a good test for whether you’re likely to enjoy the rest of the story. It felt a bit dry, partly because it was a lot of information at once, but I enjoyed the detail of it and within a few chapters I was very grateful for that early context. Kuni and Mata become political players because war is political and they decided to fight the Empire. I like being given the context to have an idea what certain moves could implicate for other things in play before they’re spelled out in the text, and being given the political histories early on was great for that. 

The ending is fitting based on the flower motif and which flower is in the name of the series (it’s not the chrysanthemum). In particular I like how it allows for narrative stability at the very end while hinting at the shape of specific trouble to come.

I read this as an audiobook and I plan to read the rest of the series that way. It was easy to follow and I like the narrator. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

becksusername's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

If you're into fantasy war books with lots of politics, this is the book for you. It is not the book for me. It was good, and I think the fact that I finished it is a testament to how well-written it is, but before the halfway mark I was thinking "can't we all just get along and be done with this nonsense?" 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rorikae's review

Go to review page

challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

In 'The Grace of Kings,' Ken Liu starts an epic fantasy silkpunk series that centers on two men who will shape the future of their empire.
Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu grow up in separate areas of the empire. After Emperor Mapidere's death and the ascension of the boy emperor Erishi, the political situation in the empire becomes less stable and both men begin to forge their own paths. When they meet, they strike up respect for one another that becomes a fast friendship. But as the trials of trying to gain control in the empire increase, their friendship and loyalty to one another is tested. 
I'm a little bit conflicted about this book. It starts off with an incredibly memorable first scene that does a great job of establishing the world and the empire but then it loses its track for the first 20 to 30% of the book. Liu takes time with each of the characters he introduces but instead of weaving these together to explore more of the backstory of the empire, it feels jumbled and hard to follow. We are constantly being pulled to and fro with new characters and it makes it hard to establish the main characters of the story until far into the book. Once the introductions and background settle and the story focuses more squarely on Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu, it flows much better and is much more intriguing. Liu's use of backstory works better further along in the story when characters are introduced every once and awhile and the backstories are allowed the time to flesh out the characters and how they connect to the wider plot. Other than some of these later additions, I found it hard to remember many of the characters beyond the main set. 
Some of my favorite parts of the story are the ways that Liu uses the gods and their meddling in human affairs as well as the way technology is utilized. Once the story moves from introducing characters to focusing on character development, it hit its stride and I became far more invested in Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu. 
I would be interested to read the next book in the series, especially the way that this book ends. I thought that some of the main parts of this story would continue on throughout the series but with how the book wraps up, it is clear that it will be heading in new directions in book two. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

podanotherjessi's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I was genuinely surprised by how much I loved this book! It was a really fascinating read that I just devoured. The characters are fantastic, and the conflicts established and solved throughout the book were wonderfully done. There was one section where it started to drag, but then it got through it and kept the momentum going. I'm not sure if I want to read the sequel or not because I'm happy where this book ended, but I will definitely checking more from the author.

Characters: 10
Plot: 7
Setting: 9
General appeal: 8
Writing style: 8
Originality 9
Ending: 8

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mariebrunelm's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

First of all, I want to praise the diversity and plotting in this book. It is a perfect Asian alternative to G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Now, let's turn to why I nearly threw this book out the window, shall we? Rant ahead!
How fitting that when I tried to find again one quote from this book involving women, I couldn't get my hands on it? I'll paraphrase. At some point in the story, soldiers (men) insult other soldiers (men) by implying they are women. The scene goes on for some time before one of the characters says something like "women are half of the world's population. Why should we be embarrassed to be compared to them?" And honestly, that's something I wished the very author of the book had kept in mind. I don't believe anymore in novels that present to me a fantasy world with lovely worldbuilding but fraught with sexism. Why can you imagine a world with flying, silk-sailed ships and gorgeous air battles between kite riders, but not one in which women are treated as equals to men? Why should women in a fantasy world be reduced to tending babies, cooking or selling themselves? Why should women die to give men reasons to fight? These problems aren't specific to The Grace of Kings, of course. But if an author is praised for their creativity, I expect more. More than what fantasy stories have always told their women readers. In a 620-page book, you can't imagine an interesting woman character on page 466 and hope the last 150 or so pages will make up for the first 466. In my opinion, that's not how it works. If you want to imagine a world of political intrigues and epic battles, have women be generals, soldiers, rulers. Have men tend babies and cook and mend things. And don't ever, ever tell me that your story is inspired by history like G.R.R.M. does, because if you put dragons and gods then clearly you're the one making the rules.
"My only worth to them is my proximity to *him*" says one female character. The author keeps telling us what the problem is, but does he try to solve it? No! I'm sorry for the rant, but that's infuriating. 
Now I'll go back to reading The Priory of th Orange Tree or Le Chant des Cavalières.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

katt's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thereadingrambler's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...