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lunaquarius's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
shaniamarie21's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It was hard to understand, there would just be a switch in topics with no breaks. I loved the parts that I could understand. Writing is really good
panastasia's review
inspiring
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Σε έναν κόσμο εμπνευσμένο από την Ασία, το Chih, μέλος της εκκλησίας, και ο τσαλαπετεινός του που μιλάει και που ονομάζεται Almost Brilliant (σχεδόν εξαιρετικό), φτάνουν στο εγκαταλελειμμένο παλάτι, Thriving Fortune (αυξανόμενη τύχη), όπου συναντούν την Rabbit, μια πρώην υπηρέτρια της Αυτοκράτειρας. Η Rabbit έχει πολλά χρόνια στην πλάτη της και μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία να πει, για όσα καταλαβαίνουν.
Είναι πάντα ένας έξυπνος τρόπος να παρουσιάσεις μια ιστορία μέσω της οπτικής ενός τρίτου ατόμου, επειδή δίνει πληροφορίες αλλά ταυτόχρονα κρατά και μια απόσταση. Έτσι συναντάμε τη νεαρή In-yo, μια πριγκίπισσα από τον Βορρά που ήρθε στο Νότο για να ξετυλιχθεί το πεπρωμένο της και το αποτέλεσμα μπορεί να διαμορφώσει μια δυναστεία.
Σε αυτή τη νουβέλα υπάρχουν θέματα φιλίας, αγάπης, ερωτικής επιθυμίας, αφοσίωσης, πονηριάς εναντίον ευφυΐας, κ.α. Η όμορφη γραφή υφαίνει μια συναρπαστική ιστορία με ένα ποικίλο καστ χαρακτήρων και δημιουργεί έναν κόσμο στον οποίο το αναγνωστικό κοινό θέλει να βυθιστεί.
«Οι θυμωμένες μητέρες μεγαλώνουν κόρες αρκετά άγριες ώστε να πολεμούν τους λύκους».
«Κοίτα τα αρχεία σου. Η τιμή είναι ένα φως που φέρνει προβλήματα. Οι σκιές είναι μακράν πιο ασφαλείς».
In an Asian-inspired world, Cleric Chih and her talking hoopoe, called Almost Brilliant, arrive at the abandoned palace, Thriving Fortune, where they meet Rabbit, a former servant to the Empress. Rabbit has many years on her back and an interesting story to tell, for those who understand.
It's always a clever way to present a story through a third party's POV because it gives insight and keeps a proper distance at the same time. This is how we meet young In-yo, a princess from the North who comes to the South for her destiny to unfold and the result may shape a dynasty.
Themes of friendship, love, desire, loyalty, cunning vs intelligence are throughout this novela. Beautiful writing weaves a compelling story with a diverse cast of characters and creates an immersive world for the reader.
“Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves.”
“Look to your records, cleric. Honor is a light that brings trouble. Shadows are safer by far.”
Είναι πάντα ένας έξυπνος τρόπος να παρουσιάσεις μια ιστορία μέσω της οπτικής ενός τρίτου ατόμου, επειδή δίνει πληροφορίες αλλά ταυτόχρονα κρατά και μια απόσταση. Έτσι συναντάμε τη νεαρή In-yo, μια πριγκίπισσα από τον Βορρά που ήρθε στο Νότο για να ξετυλιχθεί το πεπρωμένο της και το αποτέλεσμα μπορεί να διαμορφώσει μια δυναστεία.
Σε αυτή τη νουβέλα υπάρχουν θέματα φιλίας, αγάπης, ερωτικής επιθυμίας, αφοσίωσης, πονηριάς εναντίον ευφυΐας, κ.α. Η όμορφη γραφή υφαίνει μια συναρπαστική ιστορία με ένα ποικίλο καστ χαρακτήρων και δημιουργεί έναν κόσμο στον οποίο το αναγνωστικό κοινό θέλει να βυθιστεί.
«Οι θυμωμένες μητέρες μεγαλώνουν κόρες αρκετά άγριες ώστε να πολεμούν τους λύκους».
«Κοίτα τα αρχεία σου. Η τιμή είναι ένα φως που φέρνει προβλήματα. Οι σκιές είναι μακράν πιο ασφαλείς».
In an Asian-inspired world, Cleric Chih and her talking hoopoe, called Almost Brilliant, arrive at the abandoned palace, Thriving Fortune, where they meet Rabbit, a former servant to the Empress. Rabbit has many years on her back and an interesting story to tell, for those who understand.
It's always a clever way to present a story through a third party's POV because it gives insight and keeps a proper distance at the same time. This is how we meet young In-yo, a princess from the North who comes to the South for her destiny to unfold and the result may shape a dynasty.
Themes of friendship, love, desire, loyalty, cunning vs intelligence are throughout this novela. Beautiful writing weaves a compelling story with a diverse cast of characters and creates an immersive world for the reader.
“Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves.”
“Look to your records, cleric. Honor is a light that brings trouble. Shadows are safer by far.”
honnari_hannya's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I truly wanted to love this, but what could have been an epic tale of political intrigue and rebellion and resilience and the strength of silenced women ended up falling fairly flat for me. I enjoyed a lot of the ideas here, but there was simply not enough page time dedicated to building this world and making me care about the stakes or the characters. There were high politics, queer characters, kingdom breaking and queendom making—but it feels as thin as smoke. The style is very fable-esque, but I don't think it did the story any justice.
Ultimately brought this down from a 4-star read. Really should have been expanded into a novel. I've often felt like this with Tor books lately, which makes me sad because I feel like as a publishing house, they are doing so much to shake out the dusty old bones of mainstream fantasy. Will be keeping an eye out for Vo's other novel in this universe, but am not expecting it to blow me away.
I truly wanted to love this, but what could have been an epic tale of political intrigue and rebellion and resilience and the strength of silenced women ended up falling fairly flat for me. I enjoyed a lot of the ideas here, but there was simply not enough page time dedicated to building this world and making me care about the stakes or the characters. There were high politics, queer characters, kingdom breaking and queendom making—but it feels as thin as smoke. The style is very fable-esque, but I don't think it did the story any justice.
Ultimately brought this down from a 4-star read. Really should have been expanded into a novel. I've often felt like this with Tor books lately, which makes me sad because I feel like as a publishing house, they are doing so much to shake out the dusty old bones of mainstream fantasy. Will be keeping an eye out for Vo's other novel in this universe, but am not expecting it to blow me away.
rounity's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
readcharlotte's review
2.0
Just not a book for me. Lovely, but boring for my tastes. I'll still read the sequel.
thepaperbackplanner's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
If anyone tells you that fantasy worldbuilding has to be done over hundreds of pages, just point them in the direction of this novella by Nghi Vo. In just over 100 pages, I felt just as immersed in this world as any multi-tome epic. In fact, a review by Zen Cho called this novella “an epic in miniature,” and I couldn’t agree more. One thing missing from this epic, though, that’s too often included in others, is graphic, unnecessary violence against women. There are no such plot devices in this story. Sure, the women of Thriving Fortune and elsewhere face challenges and danger, but none of it is egregious, none of it is graphic, and none of it serves simply to further someone else’s motivation. Each main character’s story, trials and all, is told with gentleness and care that I often wish there was more of in more mainstream fantasy. If you are looking for all the good things a fantasy story can provide (vibrant worlds, interesting characters, court politics) without some of the bad (high page count, graphic scenes, misogyny), I wholeheartedly recommend this novella.