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caseythecanadianlesbrarian's review against another edition
3.0
A solid blend of magical realism and historical fiction with an ample dose of feminism and a dash of queerness. Full review on my blog!
nini23's review against another edition
4.0
The publisher really did a disservice to the author by having such a short non-descriptive blurb. By marketing, I think it could become a big hit in fantasy circles like Ken Liu's Dandelion Dynasty series or Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven. I found it under the 'Literature' section of my library but to be more specific, its tags would include 'Chinese historical fiction', 'fantasy' and 'wuxia/xianxia.'
I really liked that the author had put a lot of thought into the character, season and place names and uses chinese characters/pictograms beside the english names. Qilan, which in mandarin chinese means 'unique orchid,' is known as Sister Orchid in the temple. Xie, which can mean 'thankfulness' or 'evil' depending on the tonal pronunciation, is possessed by a demon God of Literature. Gui, which means ghost, is the demon.
A large part of the story is based in Chang'an, which was an important ancient Chinese capital in the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties. 7th century China is the time period and there are many actual important historical places mentioned such as Taijigong (Imperial Palace) and Da Ci'en Monastery.
Important persons of the Tang Dynasty are also featured such as Emperor Li Zhi and renowned Abbot Xuanzhang, credited with bringing Buddhist scriptures from India to China and translating them to spread among the masses.
All these richly textured background historical details provides a fascinating culturally authentic back-drop to the main story-line. Ling (meaning 'spirit' or) is a special young girl who is rescued by Qilan from a slave auction and trains under her mentorship at the temple to develop her powers. Meanwhile, Abbot Xuanzhang struggles to translate the Tripitaka Scriptures in ill health while recounting his ordeals with demons and deciphering the mystery of a magical turtle scroll. The empress, who is really ruling the empire in the emperor's stead, schemes to get a hold of the all-powerful oracle bone with the help of the demon Gui who has possessed the body of Xie, Qilan's father. Qilan plots to free her father from the demon's clutches by enticing it with the oracle bone.
There are elements of wuxia with sword fights, flying with qing gong, poisons and 'dian xue' (pressure point) immobilization. Daoism/taoism and powers such as changing of forms with high-ranking practitioners such as Qilan may also put it into the xianxia category but I'm not certain about this. I was also delighted by mention of the qilin, which is a East Asian mythological chimera creature often depicted in dragon dances. There are also quotes from Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), a rich literary text of Chinese mythology. The forest of Illusion was also interesting.
The prose is a mix of straight-forward with some poetic passages. Stylistically there is a east/west blend similar to Ken Liu. My initial review had some speculation on the writer's background but all is revealed in the back pages of the book including all the research the book derived from. The author has also published a book of poetry and passages from the poet Tao Yuan Ming are quoted and used as a revolving ruminative point.
The resolving of the climax and ending seemed a bit abrupt. All in all, a beautifully written book which has been woefully under-hyped. I also feel enriched after reading the book on learning some Chinese culture, I had to look up a lot of reference points for this review and it is obvious the author herself also put a lot of work into making it a culturally authentic yet original fictional historical fantasy work.
I really liked that the author had put a lot of thought into the character, season and place names and uses chinese characters/pictograms beside the english names. Qilan, which in mandarin chinese means 'unique orchid,' is known as Sister Orchid in the temple. Xie, which can mean 'thankfulness' or 'evil' depending on the tonal pronunciation, is possessed by a demon God of Literature. Gui, which means ghost, is the demon.
A large part of the story is based in Chang'an, which was an important ancient Chinese capital in the Han, Sui and Tang dynasties. 7th century China is the time period and there are many actual important historical places mentioned such as Taijigong (Imperial Palace) and Da Ci'en Monastery.
Important persons of the Tang Dynasty are also featured such as Emperor Li Zhi and renowned Abbot Xuanzhang, credited with bringing Buddhist scriptures from India to China and translating them to spread among the masses.
All these richly textured background historical details provides a fascinating culturally authentic back-drop to the main story-line. Ling (meaning 'spirit' or) is a special young girl who is rescued by Qilan from a slave auction and trains under her mentorship at the temple to develop her powers. Meanwhile, Abbot Xuanzhang struggles to translate the Tripitaka Scriptures in ill health while recounting his ordeals with demons and deciphering the mystery of a magical turtle scroll. The empress, who is really ruling the empire in the emperor's stead, schemes to get a hold of the all-powerful oracle bone with the help of the demon Gui who has possessed the body of Xie, Qilan's father. Qilan plots to free her father from the demon's clutches by enticing it with the oracle bone.
There are elements of wuxia with sword fights, flying with qing gong, poisons and 'dian xue' (pressure point) immobilization. Daoism/taoism and powers such as changing of forms with high-ranking practitioners such as Qilan may also put it into the xianxia category but I'm not certain about this. I was also delighted by mention of the qilin, which is a East Asian mythological chimera creature often depicted in dragon dances. There are also quotes from Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), a rich literary text of Chinese mythology. The forest of Illusion was also interesting.
The prose is a mix of straight-forward with some poetic passages. Stylistically there is a east/west blend similar to Ken Liu. My initial review had some speculation on the writer's background but all is revealed in the back pages of the book including all the research the book derived from. The author has also published a book of poetry and passages from the poet Tao Yuan Ming are quoted and used as a revolving ruminative point.
The resolving of the climax and ending seemed a bit abrupt. All in all, a beautifully written book which has been woefully under-hyped. I also feel enriched after reading the book on learning some Chinese culture, I had to look up a lot of reference points for this review and it is obvious the author herself also put a lot of work into making it a culturally authentic yet original fictional historical fantasy work.
grey_reads's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
mandkips's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
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