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sidewayslatte 's review for:
Steel Crow Saga
by Paul Krueger
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Steel Crow Saga feels like Pokemon for big kids - magical realism where people shadepact with the souls of creatures, who they can later summon for help. It is a super fun story of adventure, intrigue, and tiny bits of romance set in gorgeous, sprawling world. There are complex political rivalries, and each nation has an awesome unique culture and international relations.
The story follows four main characters across this broad world. Xiulan is a Shang princess turned detective, a bookworm who’s taking a step out into the real world and finds herself over her head. Lee is a hilarious thief who starts the story on death row, and manipulates and woos her way across the continent. Tala is a complex, haunted, sweet bodyguard/ soldier who struggles with what loyalty and duty actually mean. Jimuro is the Iron Prince of Tomoda, set on justice and peace but worried that his mother’s crown may be a little too large for him to carry.
There are great questions of moral ambiguity - is it ok to bind your soul to another creature if you can give it orders? Is it ok to sort of maybe fall for somebody if your countries are rivals and you are working for very different goals? What does it mean to be worthy of a throne? Mixed with some great humor, some adorable (and not overwhelming) romantic subplots, this story checked all my boxes. Great characters. Great relationships. Great world. Great story.
I loved reading this book, and I will definitely pick up all of the next ones in the series (and I’m hoping it’s a long series, because there is tons of room for more stories in this world!).
My only complaint - the world is enormous and complex, and I loved it, but the story Paul Krueger set up is so huge it took a while for the different threads to come together. The first half of the book is woven together somewhat slowly, whereas once those pieces are in place, the second half moves a lot more quickly.
Steel Crow Saga feels like Pokemon for big kids - magical realism where people shadepact with the souls of creatures, who they can later summon for help. It is a super fun story of adventure, intrigue, and tiny bits of romance set in gorgeous, sprawling world. There are complex political rivalries, and each nation has an awesome unique culture and international relations.
The story follows four main characters across this broad world. Xiulan is a Shang princess turned detective, a bookworm who’s taking a step out into the real world and finds herself over her head. Lee is a hilarious thief who starts the story on death row, and manipulates and woos her way across the continent. Tala is a complex, haunted, sweet bodyguard/ soldier who struggles with what loyalty and duty actually mean. Jimuro is the Iron Prince of Tomoda, set on justice and peace but worried that his mother’s crown may be a little too large for him to carry.
There are great questions of moral ambiguity - is it ok to bind your soul to another creature if you can give it orders? Is it ok to sort of maybe fall for somebody if your countries are rivals and you are working for very different goals? What does it mean to be worthy of a throne? Mixed with some great humor, some adorable (and not overwhelming) romantic subplots, this story checked all my boxes. Great characters. Great relationships. Great world. Great story.
I loved reading this book, and I will definitely pick up all of the next ones in the series (and I’m hoping it’s a long series, because there is tons of room for more stories in this world!).
My only complaint - the world is enormous and complex, and I loved it, but the story Paul Krueger set up is so huge it took a while for the different threads to come together. The first half of the book is woven together somewhat slowly, whereas once those pieces are in place, the second half moves a lot more quickly.