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sheepishly_sarah 's review for:
Steel Crow Saga
by Paul Krueger
I've gotten into a bit of a book slump where I've been forcing myself to read (because the TBR is so endless) and not really enjoying anything, even books that I had been really looking forward to reading. Looking at my ARC pile I realized this one was releasing soon and figured I'd pick it up. Small backstory I received this ARC at the book wizards Penguin booth at BookCon this year. Those book wizards are genius because I loved this book! The book is set in an Asian-inspired world where three nations, Sanbuna, Shang, and Dahal have come together to fight back against the ruthless colonizing Tomoda. After the defeat of Tomoda, alliances are being tested as the three countries involved attempt to secure their positions in the new world order.
The book focuses on four different characters. Tala, a Sanbuna Sergeant, has been fighting against the Tomodanese since she was a child and is not ready to believe the war is truly over. When she hears of a final mission to safely escort Iron Prince Jumuro back to Tomoda she jumps at the chance to continue helping her country. Even if that means being in close proximity to the spoiled Prince Jimuro. Jimuro has been a hostage in Sanbuna and as the final heir to his fallen empire, he's due to be transported back to Tomoda to lead the peace talks (hopefully in Sanbuna's favor). Xiulan, is a lesser Princess of the Shang Empire. Determined to make her own way in the world she left court life behind to become a detective but when a potential opportunity arises to become her father's favored heir she jumps at the chance. Lee, is a Jeongsonese thief with fast fingers and a rule to only look out for number one. She's uniquely qualified to help Xiulan in her search for Prince Jimuro. I expected to have one or two favorites but I genuinely fell in love with all of these characters. I loved how fierce Tala was, how much Jimuro cared about his people, Xiulan's longwinded way of speaking, and Lee's swagger.
I also loved the magic in this world. Each country has a different way of utilizing the magic of the world. Xiulan uses a metaphor of magic occupying a great tree and each country learned how to use a different branch of magic. Once they got out to once branch though they were unable to go back and learn how to use another branch of magic. So Shang and Sanbuna learned how to shadepact, though they differ in some of the ceremonies used to form the bond. Shadepacting is when a human and their chosen animal connect soul to soul and agree to a pact. Once done the animal is housed within the person and can be called out when the person wishes. I found it really interesting that the animals always grow greatly in size and can develop new features like extra tails. This is likely where the pokemon comparison comes from though you cannot catch them all in shadepacting, those who do shadepact only have one animal shade. Tomoda, on the other hand, learned metalpacting. They can manipulate all types of metal by making it warmer or cooler, make metal cars and ships move, and even improve the accuracy of a bullet when using a gun. Dahal is a little more mysterious and we didn't get to see their magic as much. They can use the energy of people around them, so there are healers and there are also people who can turn someone's energy against themselves and hurt them.
I went into this book without any expectations and it really blew me away. Just every moment of this book was so well done down to the tiniest detail. Queerness is normalized in this fantasy world and there are a plethora of LGBT+ characters. I was incredibly impressed with how well the trans character was handled. They were never deadnamed and even when showing a memory of them in the past the correct name and pronouns were used. I loved this book and can't wait to read more from Paul Krueger.
The book focuses on four different characters. Tala, a Sanbuna Sergeant, has been fighting against the Tomodanese since she was a child and is not ready to believe the war is truly over. When she hears of a final mission to safely escort Iron Prince Jumuro back to Tomoda she jumps at the chance to continue helping her country. Even if that means being in close proximity to the spoiled Prince Jimuro. Jimuro has been a hostage in Sanbuna and as the final heir to his fallen empire, he's due to be transported back to Tomoda to lead the peace talks (hopefully in Sanbuna's favor). Xiulan, is a lesser Princess of the Shang Empire. Determined to make her own way in the world she left court life behind to become a detective but when a potential opportunity arises to become her father's favored heir she jumps at the chance. Lee, is a Jeongsonese thief with fast fingers and a rule to only look out for number one. She's uniquely qualified to help Xiulan in her search for Prince Jimuro. I expected to have one or two favorites but I genuinely fell in love with all of these characters. I loved how fierce Tala was, how much Jimuro cared about his people, Xiulan's longwinded way of speaking, and Lee's swagger.
I also loved the magic in this world. Each country has a different way of utilizing the magic of the world. Xiulan uses a metaphor of magic occupying a great tree and each country learned how to use a different branch of magic. Once they got out to once branch though they were unable to go back and learn how to use another branch of magic. So Shang and Sanbuna learned how to shadepact, though they differ in some of the ceremonies used to form the bond. Shadepacting is when a human and their chosen animal connect soul to soul and agree to a pact. Once done the animal is housed within the person and can be called out when the person wishes. I found it really interesting that the animals always grow greatly in size and can develop new features like extra tails. This is likely where the pokemon comparison comes from though you cannot catch them all in shadepacting, those who do shadepact only have one animal shade. Tomoda, on the other hand, learned metalpacting. They can manipulate all types of metal by making it warmer or cooler, make metal cars and ships move, and even improve the accuracy of a bullet when using a gun. Dahal is a little more mysterious and we didn't get to see their magic as much. They can use the energy of people around them, so there are healers and there are also people who can turn someone's energy against themselves and hurt them.
I went into this book without any expectations and it really blew me away. Just every moment of this book was so well done down to the tiniest detail. Queerness is normalized in this fantasy world and there are a plethora of LGBT+ characters. I was incredibly impressed with how well the trans character was handled. They were never deadnamed and even when showing a memory of them in the past the correct name and pronouns were used. I loved this book and can't wait to read more from Paul Krueger.