/lit/ - Literature

The Grace of Kings, The Dandelion Dynasty #1 - Ken Liu (2015)
Ken Liu is an author whose short fiction I've consistently enjoyed. Considering that almost everything he's been involved with has been science fiction, it's curious that his debut novel is fantasy. Because I've often not liked the novels of my preferred short fiction writers and due to my disappointment with The Three-Body Problem I was concerned that it would be the case with this as well. It was not.
Oftentimes it seems that how much we'll overlook the flaws of what we're engaging with is a primary determinant of how much we'll be able to enjoy ourselves. Make no mistake, this book is ridiculous in an amazing way with its over-the-top heroics, warfare, and sentiment. Characters are constantly dying, allying, betraying, slaughtering, rebuilding, and carrying out unconventional stratagems. There's a lot that happens in relatively short time. Many fantasy authors probably would have stretched out this novel into a trilogy on its own, as it has three distinct arcs in five parts. 40% of the novel is over the course of a single year, though the overall narrative covers much more time.

Although this is a fantasy novel there's a considerable amount of explaining how and why things are that is more reminiscent of science fiction, primarily about technology used which may otherwise seem out of place for the setting. The fantasy element is that there are gods who meddle in mortal affairs, which in terms of the story is why various events occur that often alter the proceedings in slight ways but lead to drastically different outcomes. The gods don't have qualms about appearing in person to directly give their chosen mortals orders either. Humans are the proxies of the gods attempting to exert their influence over each other.

There is a large cast of characters, 40 are listed as major characters, and there are several POVs. I was amused by all of it as many of the secondary and tertiary characters are well-done. The two primary characters are a shiftless rogue and a disgraced noble, the former wanting their society to become what it never has been before and the latter for it to return to what it never was. That's how it becomes anyway, but their stories start far differently. Kuni Garu, the rogue, is described as "a bit of floating duckweed, just drifting through life, good for nothing" until he meets Jia Matiza, a love of his life, and decides it's time to assume the responsibilities that come with being an adult. Mata Zyndu is eight-foot tall and as musclebound as they come. He's been lectured and trained from birth that he exists to avenge and restore his noble lineage. As far as he's concerned there's almost nothing that can't be solved with brute force and overwhelming violence.

Any complaints I may have are irrelevant relative to how pleased I am. I'll gladly read the sequel and the rest of the series as it releases. It appeals greatly to my taste, but perhaps not yours.
Rating: 5/5