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4.63 AVERAGE
4.63 AVERAGE
After through half of this book, my pace accelerated and this book actually really great. Make me think and cry in the same time.
The Speaking Bones is the dramatic conclusion to Ken Liu’s epic silkpunk fantasy series, The Dandelion Dynasty… And what a conclusion it is.
“The greatest evil is often committed in the pursuit of good”
Ever since picking up The Grace Of Kings last year, I’ve loved this fantasy world that takes inspiration from the rise of the Han Dynasty, America and classic tales like Beowulf. The world of Dara and Ukyu-Gonde that Liu has crafted over these four books is so incredibly vivid and well developed, steeped in its own different branches of history and mythology.
“Creation seems to favor making friends of those destined to be enemies”
I found Speaking Bones to be such a perfect conclusion to this series. Liu throws so many emotional punches and is able to draw out so much feeling for the different characters. It’s hard to say anything about the story at this point without giving away spoilers for some of the earlier books in the series, but Liu manages to tie up all the different plot threads of the Dara, Lyucu and Agon to a brilliant satisfying and in some aspects bittersweet ending.
“Where doubt ends, evil begins”
I know The Dandelion Dynasty has received a lot of love on bookstagram and booktube over the past couple of years, but in my opinion this series is deserving of it, and I would definitely add my voice to those singing its praises.
The world building is, however, genius. If you want engineering fantasy, language fantasy, philosophical fantasy, a rich history of myths and legends, this is for you. But I found it too drawn out, stiff and formulaic for my tastes. I was disappointed with the ending and the arcs of many of the characters.
The depth of emotion contained in this book was impressive. The grief and love and joy I felt while reading it were deeper than any other book I've read. I was frustrated, scared, and longed to see the Lyucu punished for the evil acts in Dara and their homeland.
What I loved about this book was that Ken Liu was not afraid to have his characters make choices that made sense for them, even if this was frustrating to the readers or you wanted them to do something else. He killed one main character leader of Dara and seriously injured the other at the very time leadership was desperately needed to resolve a years-long war. He had the Empress make plots and schemes that she thought was for the best of everyone while we sat by, frustrated at times and at others cheering her on.
The characters were so complex and so were the feelings I had for them. The themes were so complex and so were my reactions to them.
As a white person living in the US, I don't know that I can speak much to colonialism and acculturation, but I felt that this book especially made you *feel* it in a way that was almost like experiencing it for someone who never has.
Incredible book, the highest of recommendations for it!