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A review by mairiairi
Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
5.0
Here we come to the second book of the series.
MAJOR SPOILERS. This review is only for people who have already read it and want to know more about how this story ties into the first book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
It all starts with Rendi, son of Nobody and his wife Nothing. Wait no that's Mara.
So Rendi arrives at the Village of Clear Sky (not to get mixed up with the Village of the Moon Rain), and all we know about him is that he's running away (like Minli!) and that he's wealthy (not like Minli) (p20 - not used to chores. p21 - scoffs the "best room in the inn" bc it's not even as good as his father's servants' rooms). But as he stays longer and longer and learns more and more, he starts sounding awfully familiar . . .
Take, for example, on p73-75, he gets very angry at the well and only stops when he sees how much he looks like his father. Sound familiar? Then, keep going a few pages forward and on p78 Rendi tells a story about Magistrate Tiger . . . from the point of view of the son. After that, on p96, Madame Chang tells a story about the Wang Yi's wife swallowing a pill story and how she turns into a toad and jumps to the moon. That will come into it later. A few pages after, Rendi is going to the well again when he runs into Mr. Shan, looking into the well. Mr. Shan breaks the partition of the well's wall and tells Rendi not to jump in . . . and Rendi thinks it's funny but Mr. Shan looks at him and Rendi becomes serious. So Mr. Shan leaves and Rendi looks at the well (p107) and he suddenly has a vision of someone, something - a dark green blur - leaping into the gaping hole of the well, angry roars echoing upward.
Then turn the page at 108 and Rendi is in his room, gathering his stuff so he can head out, and the last item is a smooth, blue-and-white rice bowl. Coincidence? I think not. (I'll explain soon.)
The second story he tells, on p110, is also about MT bc it's always smart to tell stories about something you have first-hand experience with, right? So he tells a story where MT steals the answers to three riddles from his children - except they don't know the third, so he only gets two prizes: one is a blue and white rice bowl. It is an amazing prize because the first emperors ate from it. So why did Minli have it? Because the emperor gave it to her parents when she was born. Well, the second prize is an enormous gang, which is really a tub, it's so huge - a whole person could fit in it < remember that when you read the third book in the series ;)
So he finishes his story and Peiyi says too bad the third question about the snails is unanswered - because it's what happened to her family. They go fix the dispute and Rendi asks Peiyi about Mr. Shan. Remember how Rendi got mad at the well? Well, he tried to break it apart but couldn't. Later, Rendi and Mr. Shan are there and he breaks it with his hands (Mr. Shan, not Rendi). How is he so strong? That will come into it later. So they're talking about Mr. Shan (p131), and Peiyi says he came back for the first time without his book and now he's acting lost. Why? Because the book is the same one the sage and the mountain had on p64 - it's the Book of Fortune; and Mr. Shan is the Old Man of the Moon . . . maybe the same moon that got moved from the Village of Clear Sky!
On p132, Peiyi points out to Rendi this was the first time he's shown concern for someone else and Rendi smiles. This is kind of the turning point of the story where Rendi starts to change, becoming less like his father and more like a human being
MAJOR SPOILERS. This review is only for people who have already read it and want to know more about how this story ties into the first book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
It all starts with Rendi, son of Nobody and his wife Nothing. Wait no that's Mara.
So Rendi arrives at the Village of Clear Sky (not to get mixed up with the Village of the Moon Rain), and all we know about him is that he's running away (like Minli!) and that he's wealthy (not like Minli) (p20 - not used to chores. p21 - scoffs the "best room in the inn" bc it's not even as good as his father's servants' rooms). But as he stays longer and longer and learns more and more, he starts sounding awfully familiar . . .
Take, for example, on p73-75, he gets very angry at the well and only stops when he sees how much he looks like his father. Sound familiar? Then, keep going a few pages forward and on p78 Rendi tells a story about Magistrate Tiger . . . from the point of view of the son. After that, on p96, Madame Chang tells a story about the Wang Yi's wife swallowing a pill story and how she turns into a toad and jumps to the moon. That will come into it later. A few pages after, Rendi is going to the well again when he runs into Mr. Shan, looking into the well. Mr. Shan breaks the partition of the well's wall and tells Rendi not to jump in . . . and Rendi thinks it's funny but Mr. Shan looks at him and Rendi becomes serious. So Mr. Shan leaves and Rendi looks at the well (p107) and he suddenly has a vision of someone, something - a dark green blur - leaping into the gaping hole of the well, angry roars echoing upward.
Suddenly, he had a vision of someone, something - a dark green blur - leaping into the gaping hole of the well, angry roars echoing upward. Rendi shivered.Does that sound familiar? Well it should, because in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Da-A-Fu trick the Magistrate Tiger (MT) into jumping in the well after his "son" (the reflection). Mr. Shan is warning Rendi not to become (just going to say it for you) his father, MT. Because Rendi is the one who's going to kick his father out of the City of Bright Moonlight (C of BM).
Then turn the page at 108 and Rendi is in his room, gathering his stuff so he can head out, and the last item is a smooth, blue-and-white rice bowl. Coincidence? I think not. (I'll explain soon.)
The second story he tells, on p110, is also about MT bc it's always smart to tell stories about something you have first-hand experience with, right? So he tells a story where MT steals the answers to three riddles from his children - except they don't know the third, so he only gets two prizes: one is a blue and white rice bowl. It is an amazing prize because the first emperors ate from it. So why did Minli have it? Because the emperor gave it to her parents when she was born. Well, the second prize is an enormous gang, which is really a tub, it's so huge - a whole person could fit in it < remember that when you read the third book in the series ;)
So he finishes his story and Peiyi says too bad the third question about the snails is unanswered - because it's what happened to her family. They go fix the dispute and Rendi asks Peiyi about Mr. Shan. Remember how Rendi got mad at the well? Well, he tried to break it apart but couldn't. Later, Rendi and Mr. Shan are there and he breaks it with his hands (Mr. Shan, not Rendi). How is he so strong? That will come into it later. So they're talking about Mr. Shan (p131), and Peiyi says he came back for the first time without his book and now he's acting lost. Why? Because the book is the same one the sage and the mountain had on p64 - it's the Book of Fortune; and Mr. Shan is the Old Man of the Moon . . . maybe the same moon that got moved from the Village of Clear Sky!
On p132, Peiyi points out to Rendi this was the first time he's shown concern for someone else and Rendi smiles. This is kind of the turning point of the story where Rendi starts to change, becoming less like his father and more like a human being