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The Grave Robbers' Chronicles #4
Palace of Doom
Palace of Doom, the fourth volume of The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles, tightens its noose of suspense around the necks of its characters and provides more of the monstrous creatures that nightmares are made of in this claustrophobic, chilling Chinese saga.
It’s a grave-robbing reunion when Fats, Poker-face, Panzi, and Uncle Three’s long-suffering nephew find themselves on a train headed for a mysterious, mythical palace in a world of glaciers, avalanches, and blizzards. They have no idea why Uncle Three has sent the message that brought them all together again but they soon discover that they aren’t alone in their search. Their femme fatale adversary, Ning, is on the same trail, with a team of foreigners—and quite possibly a hostage—Uncle Three.
It’s a grave-robbing reunion when Fats, Poker-face, Panzi, and Uncle Three’s long-suffering nephew find themselves on a train headed for a mysterious, mythical palace in a world of glaciers, avalanches, and blizzards. They have no idea why Uncle Three has sent the message that brought them all together again but they soon discover that they aren’t alone in their search. Their femme fatale adversary, Ning, is on the same trail, with a team of foreigners—and quite possibly a hostage—Uncle Three.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2007
17 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 3, 2023
I was happy that the next installment in the Grave Robbers series, "Palace of Doom," brings back our friends Qilin, Panzi, and Fats. Once again our protagonist is whisked away before he's had a chance to catch his breath from the last adventure, in search of his mysteriously disappearing uncle, and trailed by the mysterious sinister Ning and company. The series is growing on me, but this volume doesn't add a lot that's particularly new.
November 14, 2025
Finally back to the main story line, pretty fun and scary, and it is a pretty well closing for my mental season one of this series.
March 22, 2024
3.5! I'm glad I took a bit of a break so I could come back to this series refreshed, the second half inside the tomb is a lot more fun to read about than the trek up the mountain (if this review was just about the second half I would be rating this 4 stars tbqh). This book is much better than 1-3 - though it also helps that I've completely committed to the fan-translation, which reads better and doesn't cut fun dialogue that actually lets you grow fond of the characters. It's nice that it felt more cohesive, and that the characters actually liked each other lol.
The Bronze Door appears! And we're finally getting some answers (opening up new questions, of course). Wu Xie has grown more in this book, which is nice to read (and he's so done with his uncle's shit lol but also can't leave him be). Also really fun to get a bit of a taste of how outsiders view Wu Xie - based on Ah Ning's group's reactions to Wu Xie, he's more capable than he gives himself credit for.
Side note, I didn't realize how little we see Xiao Ge! The drama has blinded me lol. That was a tad disappointing, since I'm eagerly awaiting the proper formation of the Iron Triangle. Right now it's just a V - Wu Xie and Pangzi have bonded, but Xiao Ge keeps running off and disappearing! Stick around for a second sir, these are your future best friends!
Little crit:
Not crit:
The Bronze Door appears! And we're finally getting some answers (opening up new questions, of course). Wu Xie has grown more in this book, which is nice to read (and he's so done with his uncle's shit lol but also can't leave him be). Also really fun to get a bit of a taste of how outsiders view Wu Xie - based on Ah Ning's group's reactions to Wu Xie, he's more capable than he gives himself credit for.
Side note, I didn't realize how little we see Xiao Ge! The drama has blinded me lol. That was a tad disappointing, since I'm eagerly awaiting the proper formation of the Iron Triangle. Right now it's just a V - Wu Xie and Pangzi have bonded, but Xiao Ge keeps running off and disappearing! Stick around for a second sir, these are your future best friends!
Little crit:
Not crit:
February 5, 2021
Uncle Three still missing but somehow Wu Xie received message from him which made him end up in Changbai Mountain, once again trying to solve Wang Changhai's Palace in The Clouds mystery.
This time he teamed up with grave robber living legend, Chen Ah-sih. They raced against well-equipped team lead by our lovely grave robber, Ning.
In the end of the book, they found Uncle Three, and once again Zhang Qilin embark on his own dangerous journey by entering the bronze door, a door which separated the living and the dead.
Plot thicken, Wu Xie got more questions than answer and could only wait for his uncle to wake up from his coma....
This time he teamed up with grave robber living legend, Chen Ah-sih. They raced against well-equipped team lead by our lovely grave robber, Ning.
In the end of the book, they found Uncle Three, and once again Zhang Qilin embark on his own dangerous journey by entering the bronze door, a door which separated the living and the dead.
Plot thicken, Wu Xie got more questions than answer and could only wait for his uncle to wake up from his coma....
August 3, 2021
Reviewing as a drama fan:
As this season is currently airing, it’s difficult to make comparison at this point. The book itself was fun, however. We have a bigger cast in contrast to the previous book and it’s interesting to see Wu Xie’s dynamics with them as he continues to get his feet wet in the world of grave robbing. I found this book to be more fast paced and entertaining than its predecessors.
As this season is currently airing, it’s difficult to make comparison at this point. The book itself was fun, however. We have a bigger cast in contrast to the previous book and it’s interesting to see Wu Xie’s dynamics with them as he continues to get his feet wet in the world of grave robbing. I found this book to be more fast paced and entertaining than its predecessors.
March 8, 2022
I'm really liking the combination of tomb raiding chaos and longer plot elements like "wtf is up with Zhang Qilin/Uncle Three/Wu Xie's bug repellent blood/everything really?" Fun stuff. I'm glad Zhang Qilin and Fats were back for this one.
Also loved the last chapter:
Wu Xie: he's plotting something
Nurse: ... he's in a coma?
Wu Xie: I meant what I said
Wu Xie: *leaves the room for two minutes and the patient disappears* WHAT DID I SAY
Also loved the last chapter:
Wu Xie: he's plotting something
Nurse: ... he's in a coma?
Wu Xie: I meant what I said
Wu Xie: *leaves the room for two minutes and the patient disappears* WHAT DID I SAY
April 23, 2020
A fantastic addition to the series. New characters are added and favourites return. Some lingering questions are finally answered while others wait to be discovered. The book has a great balance of humour and horror and keeps you turning the page. Every book in this series gets better than the last. Cant wait to read what's next
May 28, 2024
Another solid entry into the series, and one that wrapped up several mysteries of the previous books.... only to introduce even more mysteries. But that's to be expected with Daomu Biji. I love these characters so much, and I cannot wait to see what lies in store for all of them in the installment.
July 12, 2020
Great
It was good to have the team back together again. I can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully get some answers.
It was good to have the team back together again. I can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully get some answers.
October 3, 2020
why is everyone always yelling at each other im so tired
December 7, 2020
I liked it but I think some characters were dealt with way to easily... and I hope we'll know exactly what happened to Qilin in the future!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews