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ethapagesofwonder's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
If you’re a fan of wuxia stories mixed with a twist on the Chosen One trope, The Art of Prophecy delivers a fresh take that feels both familiar and inventive. The premise is exciting—what happens when the "Chosen One" doesn't quite live up to expectations? Wesley Chu's world-building is simply breathtaking, with layers of history, politics, and culture that you can easily get lost in. Every corner of this world feels alive, and the action sequences are some of the best I've read in a while. The fight scenes had me gripping my Kindle, hanging onto every move.
However, not everything landed perfectly for me. I found myself drawn only to Taishi’s POV, while the others felt flat and didn’t pull me in the same way. I also loved the humor at times—it was witty and on point—but some jokes felt forced and awkward, which threw me out of the moment.
One of the biggest issues I had was with the timeline. At times, it was hard to tell how much time had passed between events, leaving me confused about the story’s progression. And while there are a lot of fascinating plot threads, many of them remain unresolved, leaving the book on a frustrating cliffhanger.
Acts 2 and 3 dragged a bit, but luckily the fantastic action scenes saved the pacing here. I do wish the conflict between the Zhuun and Khan people had been explored more deeply—it felt like a missed opportunity to flesh out a central part of the story.
Overall, The Art of Prophecy is an enjoyable read with excellent action and a unique premise, but it didn’t fully hit the mark for me in terms of characters and pacing.
However, not everything landed perfectly for me. I found myself drawn only to Taishi’s POV, while the others felt flat and didn’t pull me in the same way. I also loved the humor at times—it was witty and on point—but some jokes felt forced and awkward, which threw me out of the moment.
One of the biggest issues I had was with the timeline. At times, it was hard to tell how much time had passed between events, leaving me confused about the story’s progression. And while there are a lot of fascinating plot threads, many of them remain unresolved, leaving the book on a frustrating cliffhanger.
Acts 2 and 3 dragged a bit, but luckily the fantastic action scenes saved the pacing here. I do wish the conflict between the Zhuun and Khan people had been explored more deeply—it felt like a missed opportunity to flesh out a central part of the story.
Overall, The Art of Prophecy is an enjoyable read with excellent action and a unique premise, but it didn’t fully hit the mark for me in terms of characters and pacing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
ennsez's review
The writing felt unpolished. There is far too much exposition written for the reader with no real connection to the characters or the events of the plot; the dialogue is sometimes keen and poignant and other times awkward and bloated; and what I found most annoying was that the narrator's level of omniscience and proximity to the characters changes inexplicably, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph. I don't know who, if anyone, is telling me this story.
spark5309's review against another edition
4.0
Good start to a martial arts fantasy. 3.5 / 5.0
Interesting cast of characters.
Not your typical chosen one story.
Interesting cast of characters.
Not your typical chosen one story.
travis_92's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
abigail_ohlandt09's review
5.0
The book was AMAZING, I loved reading it so much! The book was well written, especially when it came to the fight seans. It's been a while since I've read a book that mad me so giddy and excited to reade.
The characters in this book, in my opinion, were expertly crafted. The majority of the characters were interesting and gripping. The characters definitely dealt like I could meet them in real life and that showed the attention to detail put in to them by the author. The characters stayed consistent throughout the book, yet they still had character development.
The plot of the book instantly captured my attention and was intriguing enough to keep it. The plot of this book was supposed to be a prophecy gone wrong, or so every one thinks, and all though it was not as heavy a topic as I thought it would be, the way it was done was still just as fulfilling.
As a woman who likes women I was surprised to find out this was written by a man, mainly because there is a female character with heavy lesbian undertones. To bounce of of that statement, the women in this book are superbly written, they feel like real women, not just a fictitious depiction.
Overall I liked this book quite alot and cannot wait to reade the next book in the series and more books from this author.
Thank you Wesley Chu for bringing this story to the world!!
The characters in this book, in my opinion, were expertly crafted. The majority of the characters were interesting and gripping. The characters definitely dealt like I could meet them in real life and that showed the attention to detail put in to them by the author. The characters stayed consistent throughout the book, yet they still had character development.
The plot of the book instantly captured my attention and was intriguing enough to keep it. The plot of this book was supposed to be a prophecy gone wrong, or so every one thinks, and all though it was not as heavy a topic as I thought it would be, the way it was done was still just as fulfilling.
As a woman who likes women I was surprised to find out this was written by a man, mainly because there is a female character with heavy lesbian undertones. To bounce of of that statement, the women in this book are superbly written, they feel like real women, not just a fictitious depiction.
Overall I liked this book quite alot and cannot wait to reade the next book in the series and more books from this author.
Thank you Wesley Chu for bringing this story to the world!!
ailsaod's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
jess7son's review
adventurous
funny
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
4.25
coralinejones's review
3.5
It's well written and extremely detailed with it's world building but I didn't care all that much about any of the characters aside from Jian. I found him to be the most interesting, so when we were focused on other povs I just couldn't focus as heavily. Not to mention the first 150 or so pages were EXTREMELY strong while the rest fell a bit flat. All the action scenes capture my attention; they were tense and full of aggression, however the rest was a little slow, especially when it came to the political intrigue
brightwatcher's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0