Sonia

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Sonia is Currently Reading

Sonia is currently reading

The Caretaker

by Marcus Kliewer (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: male, mystery-thriller-horror, north-american, currently-reading

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— May 13, 2026 04:57PM

May 07, 2026 07:27PM

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El laberinto de los espíritus (El cementerio de los libros olvidados #4)

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

bookshelves: spanish, series-finished, male, classics, currently-reading

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— 18 hours, 32 min ago

May 13, 2026 09:13AM

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The Veiled Throne (The Dandelion Dynasty Book 3)

by Ken Liu (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: fantasy, male, north-american, series-finished, auto-buy-authors, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2024

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Sonia said: " 4.5 stars

I came into this book feeling more than a bit apprehensive, partly because of the size, partly because I had just been burnt by another anticipated book (the Bone Shard Emperor). I needn't have worried.

Just like the Wall of Storms, this book 4.5 stars

I came into this book feeling more than a bit apprehensive, partly because of the size, partly because I had just been burnt by another anticipated book (the Bone Shard Emperor). I needn't have worried.

Just like the Wall of Storms, this book has been an emotional rollercoaster, especially the first half of the book. I haven't been this emotionally invested for ages (since the Wall of Storms really lol). The emotional investment made me want to keep reading because I had to find out what happened. This is a massive tome but I finished it in less than a week. That alone tells you how much I enjoyed it. Ken Liu's writing also flowed nicely for me that I found it both accessible and profound at the same time. I had no idea he trained as a lawyer but it makes sense from his writing.

The world got even bigger as we're now also introduced to the Agons too. While they had similar cultures as the Lyucus, their history and conflicts with the Lyucus were properly explored in this book. We were also introduced to their (shared with Lyucu) creation myths, which made the world even richer.

This book also followed different characters in different parts of this world. A lot of times, we jumped between storylines between chapters. I'm frankly glad for this choice because some of the storylines were so heavy/dark/infuriating that I don't think I could read more than one chapter of it before I explode in rage. But Ken Liu is so good at writing loveable, hatable, and complicated characters that I don't think any character left me feeling meh. To my surprise, Jia is actually turning out to be one of my favourite characters in the series. Don't get me wrong. I don't love her by any means. Some of her decisions really made me angry. But she was such a complex, well-realised, and well-written character that I could not help but like her as a character.

This book also brought up so many interesting points on culture, politics, society, etc that I find myself thinking about the themes of the book as I read all the time. More will be discussed in the spoiler section.

On to the more negative side (albeit minor), I still don't see the importance of the gods in the series. So far, they really haven't played a big enough parts to the plot to justify their existence. But I suspect this will change in Speaking Bones.

The last part of the book was, well, unexpected. While I did appreciate certain parts of it (it was lighter with lower stakes, which was a welcome reprieve in a way; it had some important clues for the next book and the big battles about to come; it had some critical character developments), I did feel that it was maybe a tad too long. For a (view spoiler) to take 50% of the book is a bit much for me. As a result, it dragged the book down a tad. I can understand that because this book really is part 1 of the finale. So the end of the book isn't really an ending. So I won't fault it too much. But I can't wait to read Speaking Bones and see how this whole series end. This series is shaping up to be a favourite so far. Now onto the spoilers and my random thoughts.

(view spoiler)[The book is divided into 4 parts. Part 1 is actually a backstory about a new character Goztan Ryoto that took place before the events of the Wall of Storms. I was a tad confused at first because of the time but it soon cleared up when Tanvanaki showed up as a little girl. Goztan was one of the Lyucu girls who pretended to serve the Daras under Tenryo's order. She met Oga, Zomi's dad there, who helped her and the Lyucus escape unjust punishment from Admiral Krita. Her relationship with Oga became much more important later. But even then, her complicated feelings towards Oga showed us a glimpse of what was to come when it comes to those two conflicting cultures and the many blood debts between the two.

Part 2 switch to Thera and Takval with their crew the Dissolver of Sorrows on their journey to find the Agons. They soon got into a fight with the Lyucu ship pursuing them with some epic battle scenes. Ken Liu really showed his creativity when it comes to battles where he used so many different yet equally ingenious engineering marvels to find a way for the underdogs to even their odds. We got to see basically a movie and a submarine used in the battle! Then there was Tana the garinafin! I'm not okay! I wish she had at least taken Razutana, a scholar who talked more than he walked, with her. What really broke my heart was how curious and trusting she was that when Razutana dropped the bomb on her, all she did was to investigate. Poor baby. But even after everything, her last act was to save Toof and Radia because they treated her with kindness and basically raised her. I hated Razutana so much that I wished Tana had take him with her. But later when Thera and the crew settled down with the Agons in Kiri Valley, a couple of scenes of Razutana at the winter festival humanised him enough that I didn't actually want him dead, which was impressive character writing.

Part 3 took place 8 years into the 10-year peace treaty between Dara and Lyucu, also 2.5 years before the next opening of the Wall of Storms when Cudyu, Tanvanaki's brother, could send more armies into Dara. It covered all the places and storylines, from Jia, Zomi, and Phyro in Dara, to Timu and Tanvanaki in Ukyu-Taasa/Unredeemed Dara, to Thera and Takval in Kiri Valley. This part was where I became seriously invested and traumatised emotionally.

On the Dara side, Jia still ruled even though Phyro was the emperor. While Phyro wanted war with Ukyu-Taasa to reclaim Unredeemed Dara, Jia wanted peace. So Phryo left Ginpin to build his own secret army base with a secret garinafin. Jia, on the other hand, wanted to win it a different way. I have to be honest, her motivations regarding Lyucus were not all completely clear to me. (Why did she leak the time of the opening of the Wall of Storms to Tanvanaki if she wanted to keep the peace?) She did hold a lot of her thoughts back, which I assume would become clear in Speaking Bones. But she wanted to destabilise Ukyu-Taasa, even at the price of the sufferings of the Daras there. She was also cultivating plants so she could make strong narcotics. Her experimentations first on the bunnies and then on human prisoners were cruel and not the easiest to read. Despite all that, Ken Liu really humanised her in this book. I really liked Jia in the Grace of Kings but hated her in the Wall of Storms, even though I agreed with her ideas about how a country should be run by a system, not dependent on a ruler. Here, her struggle with her inner conscience and her haunted dreams by those who she wronged made her human. Her discussion with Zomi on reform of the Grand Examination in Chapter 29 really changed my view on Jia. Her points are so valid that I was engrossed in her argument. Zomi's character also felt so relevant to today's society, as a well-meaning yet overly naive and somewhat out of touch progressive liberal. She thought her reform was fight for the under-priviledged without actually asking them if they wanted her reform. So they ended up resenting her reform more than anyone. Jia, on the other hand, not only understood Zomi and her motivations, she also knew human nature and how inherently unfair this world was. What impressed me the most about her was how she didn't barge in to interfere. Nor did she berate Zomi. Instead, she patiently explained her point like the best mentor to get Zomi to arrive at the conclusion herself. It reminded me of the Jia in the Grace of Kings and I could not help but like her for that.

On the Ukyu-Taasa, Timu was emperor and co-rulers in names only, although he did manage to persuade Tanvanaki to relax the harsh treatment of Daras a little so Lyucus and Daras could somewhat co-exist. Goztan was now Tanvanaki's right hand woman and supported Timu's integration effort. Her son Savo Ryoto (Kinri) grew up in Ukyu-Taasa believing in Lyucu propaganda history. He did have a Dara tutor that he saw in secret to learn about Dara culture and history. But none of this is really important because here we met my most hated character ever bar none: Cutanrovo.

Chapter 23 was so difficult to read that I had to skip some parts. I hope Cutanrovo dies a most prolonged and painful death humanly possible. Fuck her backstory. I won't shed a single tear if her whole family dies the same way. Honestly, I can't believe I'm this emotionally invested (I was crying: leave the baby alone the whole chapter)! Timu's bravery (teeth on the board) surprised me and made me feel sympathy towards him for the first time. In some ways, he was like Razutana, stickler for the rules, noses buried in the books and lofty ideals, no experience in real life. But one thing soft Timu did have was courage. His silence was never the result of cowardice but rather concern for others. It was even more heartbreaking that Jia set him up and sacrificed him to cause chaos in Ukyu-Taasa, even though he was her first born son and favourite child. The result was a complete disaster with Cutanrovo taking over. Man I hate this woman's gut! The scary part was that she was not stupid. She might be fanatical but she also grasped the political situation faster than even Tanvanaki, which was why Tanvanaki didn't kill her even though she serious contemplated the option and had the assassin ready to do the job.

Thera and Takval didn't fare much better. Despite all their success with growing Kiri valley, their rebellion was discovered by the Lyucus and they were ambushed during the Winter Festival celebration. The sacrifices they had to make, the crew of the Dissolver of Sorrows and the Agon warriors, including Takval's pacifist mum, staying behind to fight to death so Thera and Takval and the children could escape, really broke my heart. Thera's discussion with the shaman about writing vs dancing shed light on another important point: how to introduce change and progress without erasing the local culture, tradition, and identity. I was happy to see Thera acknowledging the Agon's perspective. The cultural exchange and differences is one of the major themes in the book and something that we can use in today's increasingly polarised society.

With all those threads unfinished, we moved on to Part 4, which was probably my least favourite. Not that it wasn't good. While the main story of this part was about the cooking competition between the Splendid Urn and the Treasure Chest in Ginpin with the help of the Blossom Gang, there were some odd chapters about the other storylines. Chapter 29 was about the Grand Examination in Ginpin, which I enjoyed. Then there was the hateful Cutanrovo and her atrocities. I hated her so much that I searched her on Google, hoping that I'd know if she would die in a most painful death in the end. Just as I was hating Cutanrovo, chapter 31 happened! Toof and Radia just "betrayed" Thera and Takval and the Agons. I mean I wasn't surprised that it was Volyu who leaked their plan to Cudyu but Thera and Takval took Toof and Radia in and trusted them even though they were Lyucus. Did they really just take a garinafin of Agon children back to the Lyucus?! Seriously?! Are there no decent human beings amongst the Lyucus?

Fortunately, Vocu Firna and Goztan restored my faith in the Lyucus and humanity somewhat. Both of them risked their lives and positions to do the right thing, Vocu by saving the history and culture of Dara and Goztan by saving the lives of the defenceless Dara prisoners so they would not be used as preys for Lyucu children's hunting practice. The downside was of course more Cutanrovo. Honestly, can somebody kill her and be done with it? Can't the gods do anything to stop this monstrosity? The problem is that I hate Cutanrovo so much that I need the Lyucus to fail, even though I know that there are good Lyucus. Their fate no longer matter to me. I actually wanted Kinri/Savo to die because he might help the Lyucus, even though I liked Kinri and wanted to see how he could grow as a character.

Then I found out that Toof and Radia only pretended to betray Thera and Takval so they could steal more garinafins as the one garinafin would not be enough to transport all the children and would only slow Thera and Takval down. It was also gratifying to see Volyu get his comeuppance. Cudyu had his qualities.

Now onto the cooking competitions. To be fair, they were quite entertaining and low stake enough that I enjoyed the change of pace. Even though I didn't think I would, I still got invested, mostly thanks to the odious Tiphan Huto. But the best part of the competition and the Blossom Gang, Dandelion (Fara) and Kinri's trip to the Last Bite was the character development of Fara and Kinri. I'm still not sure about their romance but I've grown to like both of them (more in the case of Fara since I've always liked her). I did feel for Kinri. What are you supposed to do when the ones you love and the love you are part of a genocidal group? Even though Goztan was one of the best Lyucus and suffered at the hands of Dara captains, she also had her fair share of sins. Yet she had loved Kinri with all her heart. She also cared for Oga enough to let him instead of her 5 husbands be Kinri's father. I can't believe I didn't see that coming. What was Kinri supposed to do? He also made the good point where it was not so much about which sides you were from. Human is just terrible. I have a pretty cynical view on human nature, especially collectively. So I agree with him. I will say that Kuni's "manipulation" was nothing compared to the atrocities committed by Lyucus because cultures do matter and make a difference. But I can understand Kinri because he was after all Lyucu. Out of everyone, Fara was the only one who understood him. Even though she also assumed the superiority of the Dara and completely ignore Kinri's love for his mother and Lyucu, she did see from Kinri's perspective once he explained it to her and helped him.

So the book really didn't wrap any of the storylines. Everyone's fate was left hanging and not in a good place (except maybe Phyro since the Blossom Gang had decided to join him). But then there is Speaking Bones so I'll keep all my fingers and toes crossed. (hide spoiler)]

I think this might be my longest review ever. But I honestly haven't felt the need to write all my thoughts down as much as I did with this book! ...more "

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(page 882 of 1210)
— 18 hours, 31 min ago

Apr 12, 2025 10:33AM · see review