A Palace Near the Wind starts Natural
Engines series (duology?) set in a unique secondary world. Liu Lufeng is fighting the windmills
of modernity that threaten to destroy the habitat and way of life of her Feng
(wind) people. It’s an uphill struggle on the home front too, as many of her
people have left the habitat for the palace of the king for easier life and
human technology.
To keep the king’s constructions at bay, one
member of Lufeng’s family is sent to the palace every year to marry the king.
Now it’s her turn, after which only her youngest sister is left. She’s determined
to save her, so the only option is to kill the king.
At the palace, Lufeng, a creature of
branches and leaves, has to adjust to wearing clothes, sleeping in a bed,
travelling by engine powered contraptions, and eating meat. But she endures, so
that when the marriage ceremony takes place, she can kill the king.
But the marriage isn’t what she believes, the king
turns out to be not who she expected, and he’s not the enemy she thought. There’s a
place of even more destructive technology beyond the palace, and those in
charge there aren’t above cruel atrocities.
Killing the king would be useless, so Lufeng’s
entire family has to flee. Easier said than done, when some of them are
perfectly happy where they are, and others need to stay in place for the safety
of the rest. But she’s not about to give up. With the help of a couple of
friends she’s made, she acts on a hastily concocted plan. The book ends before
we learn how that’ll turn out.
This was a short, straightforward story
with a couple of twists to keep things interesting. The pace was fast, with no
time wasted on secondary plots, character development, or worldbuilding, which
was mostly a collection of interesting concepts.
I was especially disappointed
in the Feng. As a plant-based life-form, they were such an interesting idea,
but then the unique physiology didn’t play any role in the story. Even their
element turned out to be wind, which I found really odd. I didn’t particularly
like Lufeng either, but it would be interesting to see where she ends up from
here.
I received a free copy from the NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book in the Shadow of
the Leviathan series. It’s set in a wonderfully unique secondary world where
the centuries old emperor, the last remnant of the original people, rule over a
population modified with blood from humongous sea creatures who once a year
make to the land, destroying everything. The entire empire is harnessed to
either fight the leviathans or to make use of them.
This time, we follow the investigative duo,
Dinios Kol, the narrator, and his superior officer in the law department, Ana
Dolabra, outside the empire to Yarrowdale, a small seaside kingdom that the
empire has rented for a century for its practical geography. The dead
leviathans are floated there to The Shroud, a secret facility where everything
useful is extracted of them. It’s dangerous work, as the leviathan blood
mutates everything around it instantly, but necessary. Now the century is up
and the empire is trying to negotiate a new contract with the king.
One of the negotiators has been killed in a
bizarre fashion and the body disappeared from inside a locked, upper-floor
room. Ana and Din have arrived to investigate. Well, Din investigates and Ana
stays in her room to avoid overpowering herself with too much stimulus like
always. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take her long to figure out how it was done.
That turns out to be the easiest part of the case.
A conspiracy against the empire seems to be
afoot, and the perpetrator is not only capable of changing their appearances,
but highly intelligent too, thanks to illegal modifications. Poor Din has his
hands full as he hunts the killer through swamps to king’s court and even to
The Shroud itself, all the while risking his life to instant mutation by
leviathan blood stolen by the killer who has made it into a weapon.
Even Ana seems stumped, her behaviour
turning more bizarre by the day. But nothing escapes her, and in the end, the truth
turns out to be fairly simple and, as she says, banal. She’s very disappointed.
Reader is less so. I sort of guessed where the case was headed to, but allowed
myself to be distracted by the false leads. And even if the killer’s
motivations were fairly simple in the end, the case was entertaining.
Murder wasn’t the only crime committed. Ana
learns that the officers working for the empire at the Shroud have misused
their power and illegally modified the workers. All in the name of greater
good. In the end, the only arrest she’s able to make are these people. But it’s
a lesson for Din as well, about the importance of the work they’re doing for
the empire and the meaning of justice.
The greatness of the series is in the
characters. Din, the engraver with perfect memory, thanks to his mods, has
personal troubles. His father’s debts are his to pay, and the bank is doubling
the payments, now that he’s working in such a high-risk area. He has difficulty
sleeping, so he finds willing bed-fellows, men and women, where ever he goes to
avoid his own bed. He dreams of joining the legion to fight the leviathans, and
returning to the man he left behind, but he knows that the bank will never
allow that.
With the amount of sleep he got in this
book, it’s a wonder he’s able to function through it, let alone have several
sword fights. But he’s ever curious and able to detect the smallest details,
thanks to his modifications. And in the end, after several talks with Ana, he’s
even able to make up his mind about the legion.
There was maybe a character discrepancy with
the previous book though. I don’t remember well, but I seem to recall Din had
trouble reading, which was only once referenced to in this book when letters
danced in his eyes. Yet he seemed to be able to read well throughout the book. Maybe
I misremember, but it caught my eye.
Din was joined in his investigation by a
new side-kick, Malo. She’s a warden, a local working for the empire with a modified
sense of smell and sight. Her job is to track and fight smugglers in the swamps.
She’s a fun, rough character and not a love-interest or bed-fellow, which I
found refreshing. The end saw her needing to change her life, and maybe we’ll
see her in later books too.
The most interesting character is, like before,
Ana. She starts as her usual cantankerous, highly intelligent, and easily
distracted self. But as the case progresses, she morphs into something else,
and some of it is clearly deliberate. Din doesn’t know what to make of it, and
she won’t talk. It could even be that she can’t talk about what kinds of modifications
she has. She can hint though, and what Din learns through his investigation is
so mind-boggling he refuses to believe it.
This was another great book. It retained
the cozy feel despite the gruesome mutations and sword fights, the world
remained intriguing, even if this one didn’t have mushroom houses, and the
case, despite the banal ending, was good. I’m very eager to read more of Din
and Ana’s investigations.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Here’s another recap of a busy reading
month. I read and reviewed 35 items in March, 31 of which were mangas. Almost
half of that was The Apothecary Diaries by Nekokurage and Natsu Hyuuga, 13
volumes so far. Well, 14, but the last one isn't out yet officially. I’ve been reading it on Manga Up!, the publisher’s official
site, chapter at a time, and even though I’ve tried to pace myself, I ended up reading
it all. Now I have to wait for the next chapters to be published at the end of
this month.
If you haven’t read it, it’s a wonderful story
set in maybe 19th century China, based on references to western cultures. It
follows Maomao, an apothecary who is abducted and sold as a servant to the
inner court of the imperial palace. She saves the life of an infant princess
and gets to work as a food taster for the concubine, her dream job. The stories
consist of mysteries she solves, tasked by the head eunuch with secrets of his
own. Maomao is a delightful character with penchant for poisons and Sir Jinshi
makes for a great romantic lead—even if after 14 volumes there’s still no
romance. There’s also anime series on Crunchyroll and coming to Netflix soon.
I reviewed eleven mangas for NetGalley and
Edelweiss. Gunsmith Cats Omnibus Volume 1 by Sonoda Kenichi is a reissue from
the 90s and follows two bounty hunter women. It’s action-packed and fun. Dead Rock 1
by Hiro Mashima is a fun story about a school for demons. Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo is a collection of Endo’s
older stories. They weren’t good. 23:45 by Ohana is a lovely story of a young
college student who lets a ghost of a young man to move in with him.
Soul Taker by Jeannine Acheson and Thomas
E. Sniegoski is a contemporary horror/fantasy of a woman who has lived for
centuries hunted by the Church. Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Heir: White Rabbit and the Prince of Beasts, Vol. 1 by Yu Tomofuji is a spinoff
of the original Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Heir series, a cute
story of a little prince needing to find his magic and courage. Veil vol 1 by
Kotteri is a rather odd, artistic comic of a woman who can’t see and a police
officer helping her. Not much of a story, but very beautiful art.
I read two novels I had ARCs for, both
books that I would’ve read anyway. The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison,
book 3 in the Cemeteries of Amalo series, was as wonderful as the other books.
It has a feel of the last volume and a start of a new arc.
The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal is book 4 in the Lady Astronaut
series. It was good, but not as interesting as the earlier books.
Three of the manhwas I reviewed I’d
actually read earlier, but they were officially published last month so I added
them on Goodreads as read. Technically I could leave them out of the count, but
since I haven’t counted them in the month that I read them, here they are.
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint vol 6 by singNsong.
The story is in early stages yet here, as this volume reaches about episode 60
of 250 or so. I’ve been reading this one on Webtoons and am almost finished. Solo Leveling Vol. 11 by
Chugong and Dubu I’d read earlier too, on Tappytoons. I’ve now finished the
series there, but I’ll review them on GR when they come out in print, which will
take a while yet. And lastly, the first volume of Shutline, a very
graphic BL I’m reading on Lezhin where it’s ongoing, about a car mechanic and a
gangster. It was recently added on GR when the Korean edition was published
in print, so I added it too. No English version in print yet.
And then, finally, my favourite comfort read:
Mr. Villain's Day Off vol. 6 by Yuu Morikawa. The evil (or not so evil) general
enjoying pandas and ice cream is such a delight. And it’s an anime too! On
Crunchyroll. I’ve only watched one episode so far (I’m watching The Apothecary
Diaries first), but it’s equally delightful, with the added delight of being in
colour.
So, there it is, my insane reading month.
On top of this, I started a couple of books in my favourite series, but had to put aside
to make room for other reading. I’ll finish those later. And I prepared my own
book for publication and read it a couple of times, but that’s work and doesn’t
count.
