booksthatburn's Reviews (1.46k)

This has a storybook style with Shahrazad narrating events in her past. There are stories with in the story as well. Some stories are told completely, while one long one is begun and then finished over the course of the novel, but the middle of it is partly summarized since it's the story that is told over many nights. 

The story is very character-based, with the worldbuilding kept fairly sparse. Enough cultural details are given to place it generally in the world and even more loosely in time. Shahrayar and his brother, Shazaman, are rulers who are each betrayed by their wives (who are then killed). Shahrayar's wife curses him to never trust again. Shahrayar's reaction to this unfathomable breach is to declare that he will marry a new woman each month and then kill her in the morning, thus ensuring his continued access to marriage without the possibility that any of his sequential brides would get close enough to him to betray him. Shahrazad is the daughter of the storyteller, wife of the vizier, who grows up to be a storyteller herself. When she learns Shahrayar's plan she conspires with her father and sister to become the first of the planned brides and stay alive by telling a long and interesting story. This basic starting point continues in a simple but compelling manner, as Shahrayar and Shahrazad both have to learn to understand themselves. 

I like how neither Shahrayar nor Shahrazad is positioned as the hero above the other. They're both essential to this turning out well, and they both have to learn similar lessons in order to fix the ruinous situation. There are additional twists and deceptions, keeping this engaging even though it's slow-paced for such a short book.

NIGHT OF THE DRAGON is the heart-wrenching conclusion to a fantastic trilogy. Full of action, intensely personal moments, and just the right amount of heartbreak.

I love all the characters, particularly Daisuke and Yumeko. The antagonists are well-written, and the reveal of the big bad was foreshadowed since at least the second book (with some minor hints in the first). Even though their villainous identity and plan aren't revealed until the almost the end of the trilogy, that plan makes sense in the context of the world, and their villainous motivations are consistent with what's known about them so far. The style of the foreshadowing means that most of the protagonists weren't in a good position to even guess at their identity or plan, but to the audience it should be a suitably satisfying reveal.

The worldbuilding is expanded a little, but it's mostly building on what the first two books established. I remain particularly devastated (in the best possible way) by the final battles, specifically how Okame (the ronin) and Daisuke (the noble) are handled. I love their storyline and their resolution is completely appropriate to them as characters. Yumeko and Hakaimono/Tatsumi also got very full storylines, but I feel like Reika is a bit sidelined in this book. She was needed more in SOUL OF THE SWORD to get to their destination, but in NIGHT OF THE DRAGON she feels less important to the plot. This is a very character-driven series, and she definitely matters to the group's overall dynamic, but being the odd one out with two couples (each a very different kind of slow burn) means she doesn't have as many moments that stand out to me. Even Suki, a ghost that doesn't even meet up with them until the second half, feels nearly as intertwined with the party because of her connection to Daisuke. 

As a sequel (and the final book in the trilogy), this wraps up many things which were left over from the previous books. It addresses the melding of Hakaimono and Tatsumi, gives resolutions to everyone in the party, follows up on all those promises to die together in glorious battle, and gives a taste of the path forward for the region after the Wish. This is a new phase of the storyline, now that it's too late to prevent the scroll from falling into the wrong hangs, the party tries to stop the dragon from being summoned and the Wish being spoken. I don't think there's a major thing that's both introduced and resolved, but it's the final book so it doesn't need to start anything new to feel complete. 

Generally the narrators feel consistent with the previous book. The trio of audiobook narrators continue their stellar performance, the audiobook is a delight. The combined person of Hakaimono and Tatsumi is distinct from when either of them was the main one in control (Tatsumi in SHADOW OF THE FOX, and Hakaimono in SOUL OF THE SWORD). I love books which alter the narrator in some fundamental way which affects how they behave, but has a continuity of person which makes that changed version distinct from just being a different character together. This is an excellent example of that, and I'm pleased with how that narrative is handled. 

It would not make sense to start here, as this is the final volume of a very character-driven trilogy. While the basic plot might make sense, the driving emotions and motivations were set up in previous books and wouldn't have nearly the intended impact if this is read without any reference to the rest of the series. 

I love this book and I'm extremely satisfied with this ending to the trilogy. Read this series for lovable (but possibly doomed) heroes on a quest where the stakes are the fate of the next thousand years.

Not a fan of infodumping as character intros. 

SOUL OF THE SWORD picks up where SHADOW OF THE FOX left off, with Yumeko and her remaining party traveling to the Steel Feather temple, and the demon Hakaimono taking Kage Tatsumi's body far away in pursuing its own aims. 

The worldbuilding uses what was established in SHADOW OF THE FOX and builds on it, generally explaining things as they come up rather than trying to extemporize. Some things aren't explained but just implied because the other characters have social contexts that Yumeko doesn't, which allows some things to build undisturbed because Yumeko doesn't disrupt them by asking about them. There's one relationship in particular that Yumeko mostly discovers by accident and leaves to develop on its own once she gets an inkling that it exists. The relationships between the characters and the delicate balances of loyalties, promises, and honor-bound obligations which bind them together and propel their journey is just stunning. Each combination of characters has their own dynamic which shifts (usually subtly though sometimes dramatically) as things progress. 

I'm so happy about the dynamic between Yumeko, Kage Tatsumi, and Hakaimono. It's not always great for the characters involved, but it's very well written and gains nuance here that wasn't available when Hakaimono was only a disruptive thought in Kage Tatsumi's head. Hakaimono gets to be a much fuller character while Kage Tatsumi fades mostly into the background, reversing their positions from the first book (but this time with the benefit of having experienced Kage Tatsumi's perspective). I'm excited for the novel possibilities opened up by their status at the end of this book, but I have no idea whether it'll actually turn out well for them.

As a sequel, this begins right where the first book left off, with some refreshers of who everyone is, but it continues the action almost straight away. It wraps up the question of what happened next to Hakaimono/Kage Tatsumi after the finale, and also gives more information on a relationship which had glimmers of something more intimate showing by the end of SHADOW OF THE FOX. The new main storyline revolves around rescuing the person who actually knows where the temple they need is, and journeying to the temple to bring together the first and second parts of the scroll. I'm not sure if anything major is introduced and resolved which wasn't present before, since this is part two of a quest they intended to complete in the first book but were unable to. Also, most things which appeared here for the first time clearly will have some continuation and resolution in the final book. This leaves several things for later, some relationships, some internal struggles, and several quest-related items. The main characters are the same, even the audiobook narrators for each character continued as before (one for Yumeko, one for Hakaimono/Kage Tatsumi, and one for Suki the ghost plus any other perspectives as needed). 

I don't think this would make sense if someone tried to start here and hadn't read the first book. This is a very character-driven book, with the relationships (and occasional tensions) between the members of the group forming the heart of the story. A lot of their interpersonal dynamics play off of the history of why, how, and when they began traveling together. One very dramatic scene between the noble and the ronin (possibly my favorite) has a depth of emotion and tension which relies on the second half of the first book in addition to most of the second up to that point in order to have its full impact. The plot is a journey story, with the characters traveling to find out a particular location then going on a multi-stage quest to actually reach it, then their arrival prompts a series of conflicts as their pursuers catch up. 

I love this series and I'm excited to get to the end, since this really is one giant story split into thirds and I need to know the conclusion.

Yumeko spends a lot of time hiding the fact that she's half kitsune, with repeated references to how she's averting her instinctual reaction of doing magic when she's in danger, and making sure to avoid reflections (e.g. water, mirrors) because her ears and tail will be visible in them. I love how Yumeko gradually collects people and decides to journey with them while Tatsumi only barely avoids constantly feeling frustrated because he has to keep from showing any emotions at all. It's a great grumpy/sunshine dynamic and I enjoyed it immensely. At first I was a bit frustrated by Tatsumi's "no emotions" routine, but gradually it becomes apparent that he isn't actually emotionless and that the Shadow Clan conditioning him to be this way is actually a combination of emotional abuse and literal torture. He carries a demon-possessed sword which will take him over if it can get a strong emotional reaction from him (and it can do some damage with even mild emotions). 

The worldbuilding is gradual, with Yumeko often serving as the mouthpiece because she's excited to explain whatever now-relevant thing the monks had taught her. Having two main characters with occasional other points of view for brief stretches allows for a lot of worldbuilding conveyed through the different ways they view what's happening. Occasionally when the perspective switches there will be an overlap in the scenes to convey at least what the second narrator thought about what happened, with only minor duplications when describing the events. 

A few minor characters are portrayed in frustrating ways, such as in an early incident where a canonically fat character describes a (now dead) yōkai as the only one who ever loved him. He’s then almost immediately killed. I think his size was supposed to indicate that he used his wealth to hoard resources, especially when a later section comments on how farmers often starve for at least part of each winter, but it comes across as fatphobic when combined with his lament.

The three narrators for the audiobook work well, with one narrator each for Yumeko's and Kage Tatsumi's perspectives, then the third narrator for other points of view. The plot follows their travels from one temple to another, and the battles they fight along the way. By the time they get there, several events have created a new goal for them which I assume is the subject of the next book. The overarching goal of the trilogy as previewed here is to keep anyone from using a scroll (which was split into pieces and hidden at several temples) to summon the Kami dragon. I'm very interested in where this goes next, I enjoyed the characters and the cliffhanger ending promises answers which I very much want.

Rose lives in the Edge, a low-magic zone between the Broken (no magic) and the Weird (full magic). She's spent the last several years fighting off attempted kidnappers after she showed the strength of her Flash at her graduation. Rose is barely an adult, raising her two brothers with the help of her grandmother after being abandoned by her parents. There's a lot of focus on her providing for the boys, and the tension between various needs and wants when just simply having more money available would solve most of it. Then in comes Declan, a noble who has a mission in the Edge. Even then, he's paying her in currency from the Weird, so what is to Rose an enormous amount of money must even then be converted into Broken currency, anchoring that fantasy with her ongoing reality that if she stumps Declan in the challenges and he leaves, this shower of funds is going to disappear. Rose and Declan's relationship begins with a major misunderstanding, but because of the way it happens it doesn't feel like a standard misunderstanding narrative. The trajectory of their relationship fits them as people and I'm very happy with the ending.

The worldbuilding is generally well done (with one major exception that I'll discuss next). The people of the Edge, in particular, are described in ways that explain this community as a tumultuous whole. The way the magic works, the little we know of the Weird, why people would live in the Edge, and how they interact with the Broken all make sense a choices that groups and individuals would make given the broader context. 

There's a worldbuilding detail that many things which happened in the Broken happened in an opposite manner in the weird, and this includes one instance of which continent invaded the other. In the Weird, the indigenous people of what we would call the North and South America were the ones which invaded what we could call Europe (and possibly other continents, but it's hard to tell from the text). Then a thing happened as a result of their magic gone wrong which almost completely wiped them out, and when the not-technically-Europeans eventually found their continent they were much less advanced than they had been. As a worldbuilding detail it feels like a complicated way to use the idea of indigenous people without actually having them be present, and I find it troubling. Because the people in the Weird know about the Broken and a fair bit of (our) history, it means that even their telling of this story in that fictional universe has the context of what happened in our reality. The end result is that the indigenous people mostly gone and literally primitive when the not-Europeans show up, having lost a lot of their own previous knowledge, making our reality's settler propaganda real in this fictional setting.

Ultimately, I do recommend this book, despite that worldbuilding issue. The characters are well-written, I adore the boys, and Georgie's storyline has stayed with me for years. Jack's existence shows what William's situation could have been, and what it ought to be in the Weird for changelings. 

The intense focus on the talents and their hereditary nature is frustrating, and I'm having trouble getting into the story. I don't like either of the main characters.

THE MAGNOLIA SWORD follows Mulan, trained by her father in the sword so she can fight in a duel against the person whose family holds the companion to her own sword.

The opening chapter is gripping, launching immediately into actions determined before the story opened. That intense start brought me fully into Mulan's perspective as a character, making it feel like I understood her very quickly even before the main plot kicked off. The initial fight is itself important to the story, being one of several fights between Mulan and the person whom she has known for years she must duel.

Mulan is anguished when she learns a secret which upends her understanding of her family's past. Over the course of the story she returns to the revelation intermittently, grappling with it and its implications. It has the potential to change or destroy her relationship with someone in her family, but she has a long time in the story before she has to confront one consequence of this information. It's shown in enough detail to convey its importance and emotional intensity for Mulan, but it leaves room for other parts of the story to flourish, and I'm very pleased with how that balance turned out.

I love the rapport between Mulan and the princeling, as well as between them and the rest of their close-knit team as they travel long distances. There's comradery and affection between them as they trust each other to guard their backs. 

Often I get frustrated when a character spends a long time just not realizing an extremely obvious coincidence is actually happening, e.g. that the swordsman she's been dueling in preparation for their big duel is also another named character who she meets later and ends up knowing much better. I was pleasantly surprised that Mulan's immediate reaction was to ponder this same thing, and so I was able to enjoy her trying to figure out if she was right, like we were both solving this mystery. It fit her character that she would have this curiosity and the tenacity to not let the thought go until she was able to determine the answer one way or another. 

Mulan's relationship with her father has been filled with uncertainty on her end as to whether her father loves her and sees her as a person. He has her dress as a boy and use her dead twin brother's name in public, so thoroughly that anyone outside the family would think the she, the sister, had died instead. This is part of why her deception when conscripted worked so thoroughly, the official census still indicated the boy was alive and could answer when the family needed to present a male to the army. 

The audiobook narrator is excellent, acting the voices distinctly and in an engaging manner appropriate to the story. There are several distinct plot threads which complement each other beautifully: the duel and Mulan's family's past; Mulan as a fighter and the invasion she was conscripted to fight, and Mulan's relationships with the princeling and their fellow soldiers. Many events work towards more than one of these threads, making them almost too close to pull apart at all. 

Vividly describes every shift and bit of physicality in ordinary movements.

Frustrating amounts of fatphobia and body shaming that seem unconnected to the premise.