Reviews

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

smt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

thebi_brarian's review against another edition

Was really looking forward to this but everything was so surface level that I didn't feel like I ever got to know the cast of characters or have time to become invested in the things happening in their lives.

vatakarnic33's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

a_robin_reads's review against another edition

Did not enjoy anything about it

helrak_larsen's review against another edition

5.0

This book made me cry and laugh. This book made me so happy and so sickly sad at the same time. Regardless of the fact that I am not used to so many names, emperors there and kings there, I enjoyed myself a lot.

I wasn't going to annotate things in this book, but the sentence on page 475 changed my mind: "I hope someday you can live in a world where you don't have to be afraid to be a woman." This book gets 5 stars after that sentence! Can't wait to start book 2!

spoiler!

When Mata died I had to take a break from the book, because I broke down with grief. I loved all the characters around Mata, it felt like everyone disappeared (they did). I cried for 2 hours after Réfiroa (Mata's horse) died and that it had spent 10 years together in the war.

5 stars (life changing book)

danielle_brown3's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

Extremely boring. Rapid succession of characters who don’t have any bearing on the plot. Unsatisfying ending 

the_morrigan8's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

lucardus's review against another edition

4.0

Der einzige Grund, warum ich keine 5 Sterne gebe, ist der, dass ich George R. R. Martin als Maßstab ansetze. Und bei A Song of Ice and Fire ist bei mir als Leser deutlich mehr Herzschmerz zu spüren, wenn eine Figur leidet oder stirbt. Liu lässt die Götter mitspielen, und auf diesem großen Spielfeld ist der Leser immer einen Schritt zu weit entfernt von den Protagonisten, um hier leidenschaftlich deren Werdegang zu verfolgen.

Aber das ist Kritik auf hohem Niveau. Ein sehr beachtlicher Roman-Erstling, episch, voller Einfälle und geistreicher Momente im Spiel der Macht. Ich bin gespannt, ob Liu im 2. Band die persönliche Ebene zur Bühne erhebt und die große Sicht der Dinge etwas zurücksteht.

In jedem Fall eine sehr empfehlenswerte Lektüre für Freunde historischer Romane und epischer Fantasy, die sehr sparsam mit dem fantastischen Element umgeht.

bsparks2112's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

4.0

I was really impressed by this - I knew I was a fan of Liu's short-form writing, so I was excited to finally get around to his take on epic fantasy, and it did not disappoint me. Possibly the most impressive thing here is his deep and vivid worldbuilding, which envisions the full history and mythology of the islands of Dara with the granularity of a real historical document. The feel of thousands of years of incident and culture is evident in Liu's writing, which is thought-out and detailed enough to inform events and character decisions very convincingly. Speaking of the characters, I also thought he excelled on this front, populating this world with unique and colorful individuals who are by turns loveable and impressively ruthless, and sometimes both at different points in the narrative. The story takes some impressive twists and turns, covering years of life and history for its protagonists and depicting epochal shifts in Dara with clarity and emotional weight. There were points where I was almost taken aback with how quickly Liu blows past major incidents that would have been the totality of some writers' narrative but are covered in just a few pages here. Some of the characterizations and dialogue do tend to fall into fantasy cliche from time to time, likely as a result of Liu's brisk pacing. But overall this was quite satisfying, and does tell a compelling story all on its own while also working as an effective series-starter; I'm thrilled to dive into the second book to see how he follows up on this one.

210's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0