A review by travsbookshelf
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This was an extremely well-written book! Liu is clearly a very talented writer. The ways in which he really lets the story flow while maintaining such a high level of maturity about it were sensational.

The stories forming this collection were a mixed bag of sci fi, fantasy and history. Quite a few magical elements thrown in as well. They were all very descriptive, poignant, tragic, and at times even horrific. And while I did enjoy the characters I just couldn’t connect with them beyond a surface level. They just weren’t that memorable to me.

Not one story in this book was below a 4 star rating for me. Overall I give the book a 4.75 stars. Highly recommended short story collection.