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4.63 AVERAGE
4.63 AVERAGE
No es un libro perfecto pero siempre interesante. ¡Qué saga más interesante y evocadora! Y qué pena terminar e irme de Dara, vaya pellizco en el pecho al final.
Aunque siempre me quedaré con las ganas de leer una versión del segundo libro sin la trama del muro de las Tormentas.
Aunque siempre me quedaré con las ganas de leer una versión del segundo libro sin la trama del muro de las Tormentas.
This series is one of the most bittersweet for me to finish as right from book 1 I knew I was in for a treat and I fell in love with the world Liu created. This story is exceptional in many ways, not only is it massively long and draws a lot of influence from Eastern cultures (far more than it does Western) but it’s also emotionally hard-hitting in both the best and worst ways.
Originally, this was a trilogy, but then it became a quartet when the final book got split into The Veiled Throne and Speaking Bones. With each of these final tomes clocking over 1000+ pages, they were mammoths, and this one took me a long time to get through due to life in general being busy, but, I still felt absorbed and loved the journey.
This book, and the whole series, is more of a series of stories told to unlock reason, rhyme, thought, culture, war, peace and life and its meanings. Truly Liu has created not one work of art but hundreds of stories within stories, lives within the one cover, layered on top of cultures, inventions, backdrops and drama. This series conclusion is epic in every sense with brutal slaughter through to tender love, from world-shattering realisations through to tiny moments of fun, friendship, love and learning. This isn’t a tale which is ‘nice’ in any sense, instead it’s a rollercoaster of emotional hurdles, triumphs, challenges and battles. The characters from both sides are complex and their histories are fleshed out for us as the reader so we cannot root for just one person or culture. This shows the war and the battle from all sides and the understanding we gain through the stories we are shown means nothing is black and white.
Some of the magic of this world not only comes from the stories but also from the inventions of both the mysterious and magical. I truly felt like I could envision the giant creatures who roam the world, the small invented machines which play vital roles in battles and warfare, and the wonder and terror of those encountering them. I also enjoyed the commentary from the Gods.
Politics is rife in this series and trying to decide who to back and believe in is hard because human nature is not infallible and the leaders often make mistakes even when they believe they are doing the right thing. Truly this world has no ‘right’ leader or side and everyone has their flaws on show by the end of the story, but also many have moments of redemption, or at least understanding.
The characters in this world are many and varied from the most proud, true and devoted leaders through to the scheming tyrants. We see bloodthirsty killings and death across the land thanks to some of the characters, and we also see friendships and kinship in some of the most unlikely places from some of the most unlikely friends and lovers. All levels of class and society are shown along with varied lovers, people and their preferences. There is no end to the barriers being created and burned, and also the bridges being created at the same time as those being destroyed. There’s harmony in the discord and there’s moments which revitalise even as others make you lose all hope. The characters do feel so real and raw and they come to life from the pages and words and their actions.
Truly what I’m trying to say is that Liu has brought this world fully to life in ways I can’t even fathom. It’s not a ‘nice’ read but it’s an overwhelmingly real one and a tumultuous one and a beautiful one. I had some moments of horror and some of true joy and I would highly, highly recommend this series to everyone who likes epic fantasies. It’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word and whilst I can see why some may find it sprawling and long, for me the stories were some of the best bits and taking my time with the tales of woe and wonder meant I really enjoyed the experience. 5*s and Ken Liu remains a firm favourite for me and I can’t wait to see what he publishes next!
Originally, this was a trilogy, but then it became a quartet when the final book got split into The Veiled Throne and Speaking Bones. With each of these final tomes clocking over 1000+ pages, they were mammoths, and this one took me a long time to get through due to life in general being busy, but, I still felt absorbed and loved the journey.
This book, and the whole series, is more of a series of stories told to unlock reason, rhyme, thought, culture, war, peace and life and its meanings. Truly Liu has created not one work of art but hundreds of stories within stories, lives within the one cover, layered on top of cultures, inventions, backdrops and drama. This series conclusion is epic in every sense with brutal slaughter through to tender love, from world-shattering realisations through to tiny moments of fun, friendship, love and learning. This isn’t a tale which is ‘nice’ in any sense, instead it’s a rollercoaster of emotional hurdles, triumphs, challenges and battles. The characters from both sides are complex and their histories are fleshed out for us as the reader so we cannot root for just one person or culture. This shows the war and the battle from all sides and the understanding we gain through the stories we are shown means nothing is black and white.
Some of the magic of this world not only comes from the stories but also from the inventions of both the mysterious and magical. I truly felt like I could envision the giant creatures who roam the world, the small invented machines which play vital roles in battles and warfare, and the wonder and terror of those encountering them. I also enjoyed the commentary from the Gods.
Politics is rife in this series and trying to decide who to back and believe in is hard because human nature is not infallible and the leaders often make mistakes even when they believe they are doing the right thing. Truly this world has no ‘right’ leader or side and everyone has their flaws on show by the end of the story, but also many have moments of redemption, or at least understanding.
The characters in this world are many and varied from the most proud, true and devoted leaders through to the scheming tyrants. We see bloodthirsty killings and death across the land thanks to some of the characters, and we also see friendships and kinship in some of the most unlikely places from some of the most unlikely friends and lovers. All levels of class and society are shown along with varied lovers, people and their preferences. There is no end to the barriers being created and burned, and also the bridges being created at the same time as those being destroyed. There’s harmony in the discord and there’s moments which revitalise even as others make you lose all hope. The characters do feel so real and raw and they come to life from the pages and words and their actions.
Truly what I’m trying to say is that Liu has brought this world fully to life in ways I can’t even fathom. It’s not a ‘nice’ read but it’s an overwhelmingly real one and a tumultuous one and a beautiful one. I had some moments of horror and some of true joy and I would highly, highly recommend this series to everyone who likes epic fantasies. It’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word and whilst I can see why some may find it sprawling and long, for me the stories were some of the best bits and taking my time with the tales of woe and wonder meant I really enjoyed the experience. 5*s and Ken Liu remains a firm favourite for me and I can’t wait to see what he publishes next!
First the actual review of the book: It was good. It was my least favorite in the series. It is the only one that I fast forwarded through some of the rants. They were over the top. They were especially annoying with Volyu Aragoz and Nodi Mi.
I did like how it wrapped up the storylines well enough. Jia and Phyro were some of my favorite storylines. Fara's story kept me interested enough, but just kinda always barely. I did like her ending though.
As for the whole Dandelion Dynasty set. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I would recommend it to anyone that likes grand fantasies.
the political and philosophical themes were some of the best coming out of Scifi and Fantasy. The whole series leads you down thought paths of current political and social movements, but does it in a way that it doesn't distract or detract from the story. One of the best is turning the old fantasy trope of "violence comes at a cost" on its head and instead you have 4 books of "peace comes at a cost"
The characters were a strange mix. I felt like some of them were really well fleshed (weirdly especially side characters like Roti and the Blossom Gang. I loved those characters. Other characters felt like stand ins for ideas. When they died (and man oh man G R R Martin has nothing on Liu's propensity to kill everyone off) it didn't really matter because they were just the idea and either the idea works or it doesn't
Jia is one of the best written of her type of character. Her arc throughout the whole series is masterful... Don't get me wrong, I hate her! But it's because she is written so well.
Weird not complaints. Book 1 and maybe 2 are very different stories to book 3 and 4 (with book 2 being the bridge probably)
Again, over all it's great. It's long... very long. But if you're a fan of Game of Thrones or large scale fantasy this should be at the top of your list to check out.
I did like how it wrapped up the storylines well enough. Jia and Phyro were some of my favorite storylines. Fara's story kept me interested enough, but just kinda always barely. I did like her ending though.
As for the whole Dandelion Dynasty set. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I would recommend it to anyone that likes grand fantasies.
the political and philosophical themes were some of the best coming out of Scifi and Fantasy. The whole series leads you down thought paths of current political and social movements, but does it in a way that it doesn't distract or detract from the story. One of the best is turning the old fantasy trope of "violence comes at a cost" on its head and instead you have 4 books of "peace comes at a cost"
The characters were a strange mix. I felt like some of them were really well fleshed (weirdly especially side characters like Roti and the Blossom Gang. I loved those characters. Other characters felt like stand ins for ideas. When they died (and man oh man G R R Martin has nothing on Liu's propensity to kill everyone off) it didn't really matter because they were just the idea and either the idea works or it doesn't
Jia is one of the best written of her type of character. Her arc throughout the whole series is masterful... Don't get me wrong, I hate her! But it's because she is written so well.
Weird not complaints. Book 1 and maybe 2 are very different stories to book 3 and 4 (with book 2 being the bridge probably)
Again, over all it's great. It's long... very long. But if you're a fan of Game of Thrones or large scale fantasy this should be at the top of your list to check out.
This book is just TOO LONG. I enjoyed parts, but I did not need to know every little detail of every invention or the back story of every minor character. Writing a novel means making choices and the downfall of the Dandelion Dynasty is that Liu made no choices. I'm sure there is an amazing 200 page novel buried in here, but it was just TOO LONG.
4.5 stars
Normally I finish a book and pretty much immediately know how I feel about it and what I want to rate it… but that’s not the case with this one, there’s simply so much to process.
I honestly think that this entire series just completely defies the star rating system… it’s so ambitious and so unlike anything I’ve ever read that it almost feels wrong to slap a numerical value onto it.
But still, here we are. Please bear with me while I try to assemble my thoughts and write a somewhat decent review.
So, let’s just address the most important thing first: Did this finale stick the landing?
In my humble opinion, it absolutely did. No, this wasn’t a perfect book, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this was the perfect conclusion to this series.
Because book 3 and 4 were originally one book, this entire book is essentially the fall-out of everything we’d been building up to in The Veiled Throne. And damn, was it a heavy journey. I honestly can’t say that I had a pleasant reading experience for the majority of this book, not because the story wasn’t good, but simply because it was so mentally draining to read. At some point I was really not sure how this was ever going to wrap up in a satisfying way, because all I could see was sacrifice, loss and despair. But I should have just trusted Ken Liu, because the final 100 pages or so were absolute perfection. This wasn’t an ‘and now they live happily ever after’ ending, but it was a beautifully cathartic ending that perfectly fitted this series… I wouldn’t have wanted it to end any other way.
Now, despite all this praise, I do have to admit that I struggled my way through this one. I already mentioned that it was one of the most emotionally exhausting reading experiences ever, but I actually really liked that. The fact that I was so impacted by all these events shows how effective Liu’s character work and storytelling is.
However, this book is massive and there were definitely some moments that I personally feel could have been cut. Don’t get me wrong, I love the world building in this series, but the pages upon pages of engineering really didn’t do it for me. And there were some moments of backstory that I could’ve done without. But then, I am not the author and I think Ken Liu told this story exactly as he wanted to, which I can only respect.
Also, while this book contained some of the most emotional moments of the entire series, I was personally having a really hard time getting emotionally invested. I’m almost wondering if it was some sort of unconscious defence mechanism of my brain that was just like: Nope, this is too intense, we are not getting invested only to have your heart ripped out and stamped over time and time again.
BUT, by the end, I was reading the final scenes with tears in my eyes. We have spent decades with most of these characters and finally seeing their stories come to an end was just so incredibly impactful, it hit me right in the feels.
These characters will live on in my mind for a long, long time. This is a story about life, identity, memory, philosophy, progress, culture, and most of all, about the human experience. And I think that is part of why this series is so deeply impactful. It doesn’t feel like a story, it feels like a real, raw and human experience. These characters are SO flawed and complex that they honestly feel like real people. And that is also why it feels so difficult to leave them behind.
I am honestly blown away by this series. From the prose, to the characters, to the world building, to the theme work…. Ken Liu just nailed it all.
I think this series as a whole is better than the sum of its parts, and that is saying A LOT, because each individual instalment is already a masterpiece on its own.
If you are even slightly intrigued by anything about this series, I highly recommend you just take the leap and trust Ken Liu to take you on an incredible journey.
This was probably one of the most challenging, but simultaneously one of the most rewarding reading experiences I’ve ever had. I am so glad I gave this series a shot, because it is now without a doubt one of my all-time favourites.
Normally I finish a book and pretty much immediately know how I feel about it and what I want to rate it… but that’s not the case with this one, there’s simply so much to process.
I honestly think that this entire series just completely defies the star rating system… it’s so ambitious and so unlike anything I’ve ever read that it almost feels wrong to slap a numerical value onto it.
But still, here we are. Please bear with me while I try to assemble my thoughts and write a somewhat decent review.
So, let’s just address the most important thing first: Did this finale stick the landing?
In my humble opinion, it absolutely did. No, this wasn’t a perfect book, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this was the perfect conclusion to this series.
Because book 3 and 4 were originally one book, this entire book is essentially the fall-out of everything we’d been building up to in The Veiled Throne. And damn, was it a heavy journey. I honestly can’t say that I had a pleasant reading experience for the majority of this book, not because the story wasn’t good, but simply because it was so mentally draining to read. At some point I was really not sure how this was ever going to wrap up in a satisfying way, because all I could see was sacrifice, loss and despair. But I should have just trusted Ken Liu, because the final 100 pages or so were absolute perfection. This wasn’t an ‘and now they live happily ever after’ ending, but it was a beautifully cathartic ending that perfectly fitted this series… I wouldn’t have wanted it to end any other way.
Now, despite all this praise, I do have to admit that I struggled my way through this one. I already mentioned that it was one of the most emotionally exhausting reading experiences ever, but I actually really liked that. The fact that I was so impacted by all these events shows how effective Liu’s character work and storytelling is.
However, this book is massive and there were definitely some moments that I personally feel could have been cut. Don’t get me wrong, I love the world building in this series, but the pages upon pages of engineering really didn’t do it for me. And there were some moments of backstory that I could’ve done without. But then, I am not the author and I think Ken Liu told this story exactly as he wanted to, which I can only respect.
Also, while this book contained some of the most emotional moments of the entire series, I was personally having a really hard time getting emotionally invested. I’m almost wondering if it was some sort of unconscious defence mechanism of my brain that was just like: Nope, this is too intense, we are not getting invested only to have your heart ripped out and stamped over time and time again.
BUT, by the end, I was reading the final scenes with tears in my eyes. We have spent decades with most of these characters and finally seeing their stories come to an end was just so incredibly impactful, it hit me right in the feels.
These characters will live on in my mind for a long, long time. This is a story about life, identity, memory, philosophy, progress, culture, and most of all, about the human experience. And I think that is part of why this series is so deeply impactful. It doesn’t feel like a story, it feels like a real, raw and human experience. These characters are SO flawed and complex that they honestly feel like real people. And that is also why it feels so difficult to leave them behind.
I am honestly blown away by this series. From the prose, to the characters, to the world building, to the theme work…. Ken Liu just nailed it all.
I think this series as a whole is better than the sum of its parts, and that is saying A LOT, because each individual instalment is already a masterpiece on its own.
If you are even slightly intrigued by anything about this series, I highly recommend you just take the leap and trust Ken Liu to take you on an incredible journey.
This was probably one of the most challenging, but simultaneously one of the most rewarding reading experiences I’ve ever had. I am so glad I gave this series a shot, because it is now without a doubt one of my all-time favourites.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
10/10
I enjoyed my journey through this series so much. It healed me from a year-long reading slump. There is a lot going on and the scope is so great that the story itself sometimes seems rather too condensed, as if you are being told about events from the past by a narrator who is embellishing a real story to entice it’s audience. So the characters sometimes act like pawns on a chessboard, moving from one event or one conflict to another, but there are also plenty of captivating character moments that make one’s heart beat. In each book, Ken Liu takes his time to set up the stakes, things happen slowly in the beginning but the journey there is entertaining, full of interesting characters and political dramas and the result always feel so earned. You just have to hold on tight because you never know what’s going to happen next.
The world seems both ancient and new, and while the fantasy may be a little more low-key than many would like, it works well within the story. The fantasy shows perhaps come first and foremost from the gods of this world who pop up from time to time and are meddling in human affairs – adding yet another angle to all the political intrigue that takes place. It is an epic, complex world that deals with old traditions and modern beliefs and how the two interact, as well as the ruthlessness of war, different philosophies and politics. Every little thing affects something else, and each character is flawed in their own way, but everyone has so much weight within the story. Everything seems to have a purpose within the story, even the occasional slow-moving side story that pops up, and there is a lot of tension in the air. A masterfully well-crafted story and I really enjoyed every minute I spent reading.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like this is a common favorite of the series but I think I slightly preferred #3; this one is a bit self indulgent with all the engineering-porn and strains credulity in spots. It was, however, a great conclusion and brought together many many threads; I had a well earned cry at the end.