unnursvana 's review for:

Speaking Bones by Ken Liu

5.0

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 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.