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A review by yevolem
The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu
5.0
Each book in this series has been considerably different than the one that came before. Will the fourth be as well? Seems likely. Unlike the first two books, there's no war, or really even much combat at all. Instead, this entry focuses on a theme that's relatively common in Liu's short fiction, the immigrant experience. The clash of cultures is shown from both sides. A particular point of contention for the parents in either country is how the native culture seems to have a greater influence on their children than their parenting. As is to be expected these days for immigrants, there are also many refugees, who take boats and mostly drown. They're escaping ethnic cleansing and servitude, yet most end up indefinitely held in detainment camps with squalid conditions.
There's considerable discussion on the limitations of writing and reading, which is strongly reminiscent of Ted Chiang's "The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feelings". Liu notes at the end of his story, "Single-Bit Error", "Because this story addresses themes similar to those explored in Ted Chiang’s story, I sought and obtained Chiang’s permission before publication." So that may well be the case here as well, though it's not necessarily so. As with the second book, there's also discussion about educational reform. Alongside this is an exploration of how ostensibly well-meaning reformers may think they know best for some marginalized group of people, but are oblivious to the feelings of those same people. There's a lot more contemporary politics and lecturing than I remember from the first two books, which may bother some, but I don't mind at all when I'm enjoying it.
For me Part One is the weakest, because it both takes place in the past and outside of Dara. All the chapters outside of Dara interest me less, though I still enjoy them quite a bit. It took me a lot longer than I thought it'd take for me to really get into it. Part Four, the final part, is when I really started enjoying myself. Until then I had been thinking that I may have to rate it as only being very good, or maybe even just good, rather than great. The parts aren't equal though. Part Four is 46% of the book, which is roughly 500 pages. A large part of this final part is a cooking contest between two restaurants to determine who is the best in town. The contest involves more than just cooking and is an exhibition of silkpunk, which is what Liu calls this series. This was a case of "I didn't know I wanted this" and was the best part of the book for me.
There's considerable discussion on the limitations of writing and reading, which is strongly reminiscent of Ted Chiang's "The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feelings". Liu notes at the end of his story, "Single-Bit Error", "Because this story addresses themes similar to those explored in Ted Chiang’s story, I sought and obtained Chiang’s permission before publication." So that may well be the case here as well, though it's not necessarily so. As with the second book, there's also discussion about educational reform. Alongside this is an exploration of how ostensibly well-meaning reformers may think they know best for some marginalized group of people, but are oblivious to the feelings of those same people. There's a lot more contemporary politics and lecturing than I remember from the first two books, which may bother some, but I don't mind at all when I'm enjoying it.
For me Part One is the weakest, because it both takes place in the past and outside of Dara. All the chapters outside of Dara interest me less, though I still enjoy them quite a bit. It took me a lot longer than I thought it'd take for me to really get into it. Part Four, the final part, is when I really started enjoying myself. Until then I had been thinking that I may have to rate it as only being very good, or maybe even just good, rather than great. The parts aren't equal though. Part Four is 46% of the book, which is roughly 500 pages. A large part of this final part is a cooking contest between two restaurants to determine who is the best in town. The contest involves more than just cooking and is an exhibition of silkpunk, which is what Liu calls this series. This was a case of "I didn't know I wanted this" and was the best part of the book for me.