A home at the end of the world. The bonds that shape a family. The sacrifices demanded by love.

Aili Fallon has spent three hundred years of her unexpected immortality building a safe place for all those she cares about – her phoenix lover; their dragon son; their renegade demon daughter; and the shape-shifting spiritual creatures who come to Aili to learn the sword. She’s determined to protect them from human captivity and demonic corruption.

But the patterns of the natural world, the source of spiritual power, are inexplicably failing. When Aili’s lover is attacked, her phoenix healing disappears. A curse killing dragons targets their son, while growing demonic power threatens to destroy their daughter. 

And hidden deep, a traitor is waiting.

Piece by piece, a long-laid plot of vengeance, betrayal, and cruelty is tightening around Aili and her family. The home that’s been a sanctuary is now a trap, and Aili will risk everything she’s built, and everything she is, to break them free.

Everything will not be enough.

I’d previously read and loved The Crane Moon Cycle which is a queer cultivation fantasy duology by this author and had loved it. When I saw this kickstarter, and the author shared the early chapters in her newsletter and asked me if I wanted to be an early reader, I was like fuck yeah!

And!

This book! This amazing, brilliant, masterpiece of a book!

The story takes place 300 years after the end of the duology, and there are not many references to the earlier series, so readers who haven’t read it can also read this and enjoy it, but me, I re-read the duology and cried a lot yet again before starting this.

Let me just say that if your book makes me cry, it’s gonna be my comfort read for all time. I love books that makes me feel, that makes me cry so much I have to stop reading because I can’t see the words anymore.

So, on to the review for The Seaglass Blade.

300 years after the end of The Crane Moon Cycle, Aili and Liu Chenguang are still married, still in love, but living apart. Aili runs a Sect for spiritual creatures, teaching them cultivation, while Liu Chenguang spends her time in Easterly, being a doctor. Yisue, the dragon child they had adopted is all grown up now, and they have also adopted a demon child called Sanmer who wanted to escape her demonic roots, to be able to love, to find peace, to cultivate spiritual energy instead of corrupted one.

Liu Chenguang is coming home and Aili is eager to see her, but everything goes haywire when demons attack Liu Chenguang just outside the wards of the new Crane Moon Sect and stabs her with a crystal dagger that vanishes but Liu Chenguang doesn’t heal. Searching for answers, Yisue goes to visit Beilong, and learns that there’s a demonic spell targeting dragons. A Cat spirit called Majen helps Yisue despite being a demonic spy. Aili accepts Majen as a disciple, and with the information from Majen, Zhu Guiren is able to create a counterspell that wakes Liu Chenguang and heals her.

But when Yisue learns he may be the only dragon left, and Tainu and Liu Chenguang comes up with a risky counterspell to the demonic one, it’s only the start of events that cascade to tear apart the lives of everyone in Crabe Moon.

Fuck, I loved Yisue in this, and I loved his dynamic with Majen too. Majen is pretty much a cinnamon roll, and I adore him. Zhu Guiren is still my favouite though Yisue comes close now! Aili and Liu Chenguang and their love for each other is transcending everything once again, and I loved how everything resolved for them.

And Sanmer! Omg, her character arc had me in tears, and I don’t want to spoil things, but her last conversation with Majen had me tear up. I want to see more of her, and I hope we get a book that’s focussed on her next.

At many times, I had to stop reading because I was getting so anxious for the characters and was tempted to ask the author for spoilers, lol.

This is queer cultivation fantasy at its finest and is both heart wrenching and gut churning.

Go read it! You won’t regret it AT ALL.

You can find the Kickstarter here!

You can read my review of The Phoenix and the Sword here!