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draconan's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
rixx's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is an epic poem – or rather, a collection of poems telling one epic story: The protagonist Xau is the king's fourth son, and upon his death, is sent to the mountain to be presented to the king-choosing dragon, who has rejected (and killed) his older brothers first. He is the classical good/unassuming/stable-boy-type king, and is chosen because he doesn't want the crown. He repeatedly wows people by bowing to them, in an inversion that goes from lame to funny to deep at least twice over the course of the book. He saves everybody. He is always fair and good, even when dealing with his enemies, and in dealing with each of his two wives and all of his children. All evil is naturally evil, all good good-if-misguided. Xau is capital-g Good.
I'm not sure what I think of the repetitions and the black-and-white storytelling – on the one hand, I can see how it'd be annoying, objectively, on the other hand, it's all very in tone for this kind of work. In the end, I had too much fun to be overly critical.
The poems differ in perspective and style – the majority is narrative from an omniscient narrator, but some are from specific people – advisors, townsfolk, enemy soldiers, the cleaning woman he forms a friendship with, and best of all the palace cat (“Likewise, the palace is hers, / though she condescends / to share her territory / with the king.”, “Permissible that the king pauses, / pushes away paper and brush, / bends down to stroke / behind her ears. / Later, she will inspect his desk. / Items may need to be rearranged.”) –, or tales told after the fact, or rhyming poems for special circumstances (mostly evil. Evil rhymes.)
There is one poem that details how King Donal, not very scholarly, learns the language of Xau, and I just enjoyed it *so* much:
<blockquote>
Donal, the Red King,<br>
red-haired and red-handed in war,<br>
battles behind him, restless in peace,<br>
decided to learn Meqingese<br>
in proof of friendship.<br><br>
Cut his temper against erudite tutors:<br>
raged, roared, railed,<br>
without retaining the rudiments<br>
of pitch and tone.<br>
Regrouped. Reconsidered.<br>
Rented a mixed-race whore.<br><br>
Practiced basics in the bedroom:<br>
between, beneath, belt, button,<br>
strap, skirt, shirt, silk, satin,<br>
open, closed, finger, thumb;<br>
the rising, falling, dipping tones<br>
of woman, man, mouth, lips, hips, ribs,<br>
breast, buttock, belly, balls,<br>
hot, heat, hand, hold, hard;<br>
repetition and variation:<br>
standing, lying, table, chair,<br>
front, back, over, under,<br>
in, in, in.<br><br>
Then wine, honey cakes,<br>
a master class of pillow talk.<br><br>
Months later,<br>
speaking Meqingese to Xau<br>
for the first time,<br>
Donal, flustered,<br>
complimented Xau’s clothes,<br>
his hair, the fineness of his eyes,<br>
while Xau, perplexed,<br>
inquired how heavily<br>
Donal had been drinking.
</blockquote>
Getting to know the other characters, especially the nine guards, over the course of the book was *really* well done, as were the two *very* different wives, the advisors, the other kings. There's much more character in this than you'd expect knowing it's a fairytale black-and-white *epos*. I liked it a lot.
Also, the author seems cool: Proceeds from 2020 (pandemic) sales were split between Doctors Without Borders, a local-to-her food bank, and the Trevor Project. The book is named after a book shop she loved as a child. She got a mathematics degree at Cambridge and her previous book, Elemental Haiku, contains one haiku for every element of the periodic table.
I'm not sure what I think of the repetitions and the black-and-white storytelling – on the one hand, I can see how it'd be annoying, objectively, on the other hand, it's all very in tone for this kind of work. In the end, I had too much fun to be overly critical.
The poems differ in perspective and style – the majority is narrative from an omniscient narrator, but some are from specific people – advisors, townsfolk, enemy soldiers, the cleaning woman he forms a friendship with, and best of all the palace cat (“Likewise, the palace is hers, / though she condescends / to share her territory / with the king.”, “Permissible that the king pauses, / pushes away paper and brush, / bends down to stroke / behind her ears. / Later, she will inspect his desk. / Items may need to be rearranged.”) –, or tales told after the fact, or rhyming poems for special circumstances (mostly evil. Evil rhymes.)
There is one poem that details how King Donal, not very scholarly, learns the language of Xau, and I just enjoyed it *so* much:
<blockquote>
Donal, the Red King,<br>
red-haired and red-handed in war,<br>
battles behind him, restless in peace,<br>
decided to learn Meqingese<br>
in proof of friendship.<br><br>
Cut his temper against erudite tutors:<br>
raged, roared, railed,<br>
without retaining the rudiments<br>
of pitch and tone.<br>
Regrouped. Reconsidered.<br>
Rented a mixed-race whore.<br><br>
Practiced basics in the bedroom:<br>
between, beneath, belt, button,<br>
strap, skirt, shirt, silk, satin,<br>
open, closed, finger, thumb;<br>
the rising, falling, dipping tones<br>
of woman, man, mouth, lips, hips, ribs,<br>
breast, buttock, belly, balls,<br>
hot, heat, hand, hold, hard;<br>
repetition and variation:<br>
standing, lying, table, chair,<br>
front, back, over, under,<br>
in, in, in.<br><br>
Then wine, honey cakes,<br>
a master class of pillow talk.<br><br>
Months later,<br>
speaking Meqingese to Xau<br>
for the first time,<br>
Donal, flustered,<br>
complimented Xau’s clothes,<br>
his hair, the fineness of his eyes,<br>
while Xau, perplexed,<br>
inquired how heavily<br>
Donal had been drinking.
</blockquote>
Getting to know the other characters, especially the nine guards, over the course of the book was *really* well done, as were the two *very* different wives, the advisors, the other kings. There's much more character in this than you'd expect knowing it's a fairytale black-and-white *epos*. I liked it a lot.
Also, the author seems cool: Proceeds from 2020 (pandemic) sales were split between Doctors Without Borders, a local-to-her food bank, and the Trevor Project. The book is named after a book shop she loved as a child. She got a mathematics degree at Cambridge and her previous book, Elemental Haiku, contains one haiku for every element of the periodic table.
jorrit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
silentrequiem's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was amazing. It's a fantasy epic told completely in verse. The scope is incredibly ambitious, and the execution is perfect. The story follows King Xau, the fourth son who was never meant to be -- or wanted to be -- king. He is innately good, to the point that if the book was in prose, it would have been unbelievable. But as linked poems, threaded throughout with his selfless goodness, it read like Xau was a mythical figure and his goodness was just as mythical. Even when the book gets dark (and boy does it get dark, violent, and gruesome) Xau shines through.
By rights, this should not have worked. The story spanned Xau's rule and included some major upheavals in the political status quo. There's an evil queen, and a dragon who eats unworthy princes, and a sadistic six-eyed creature. And then peppered throughout are the quiet moments, of Xau spending time with his family, or training with his guards, or just being. And those are some of the most memorable poems.
Hopepunk at its finest!
By rights, this should not have worked. The story spanned Xau's rule and included some major upheavals in the political status quo. There's an evil queen, and a dragon who eats unworthy princes, and a sadistic six-eyed creature. And then peppered throughout are the quiet moments, of Xau spending time with his family, or training with his guards, or just being. And those are some of the most memorable poems.
Hopepunk at its finest!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War, and Torture
tfrohock's review against another edition
5.0
Mary Soon Lee can craft a better chapter in verse than most authors can with 10,000 words. This is an absolutely stunning work that I will read and reread.
merrrry's review against another edition
adventurous
3.0
Some very strong sections, but failed to really captivate me as a whole (as you can tell from the 6 months it took me to fully read this).
I loved the idea of a begrudging king and I love Asian-inspired fantasy. And while I didn't mind that Xau was overwhelmingly noble, I did find the themes surrounding him to grow repetitive the further I got. There were also some poems that felt a bit too on-the-nose (such as when describing Xau's enemies) and some that just felt like someone was fangirling over Xau.
I will say that I just generally like really flawed characters and I'm not particularly moved by optimistic fantasy as a genre (at least not yet), so maybe this collection just wasn't for me. On a more positive note, I did enjoy some of the imagery and it is super commendable to have all the world-building, character development, and plot-writing done completely through poetry.
I loved the idea of a begrudging king and I love Asian-inspired fantasy. And while I didn't mind that Xau was overwhelmingly noble, I did find the themes surrounding him to grow repetitive the further I got. There were also some poems that felt a bit too on-the-nose (such as when describing Xau's enemies) and some that just felt like someone was fangirling over Xau.
I will say that I just generally like really flawed characters and I'm not particularly moved by optimistic fantasy as a genre (at least not yet), so maybe this collection just wasn't for me. On a more positive note, I did enjoy some of the imagery and it is super commendable to have all the world-building, character development, and plot-writing done completely through poetry.
tyrean's review against another edition
5.0
I discovered the author of this book when I read a short story of hers at Daily Science Fiction. So impressed by her work, I took the time to look her up at her website and I found this book. I bought it, read it and loved it all within 24 hours of reading one of this author's short stories. The epic fantasy, the action adventure, the sweeping world building of this novel which consists of beautiful poetry is amazing. I think it may be one of my new favorite books. Probably in the top 10.
I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, epic world building, and beautiful poetry.
I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, epic world building, and beautiful poetry.
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