A Snake Among Swans is a tough novel for me to rate. With Godkiller, also written by Hannah Kaner, being one of my favorite fantasy novels ever, my expectations were high for a new world and cast of characters from the same author. Like Godkiller, A Snake Among Swans has a complex cast of characters with differing motives, an interesting enough magic system, and a high stakes political setting. […]
From the title, I expected a feminist take on The Princess Bride. What I got instead—as the author’s note later confirmed—was a Celtic-medieval fantasy version of Legally Blonde that takes itself seriously. It’s an inspired premise, but unfortunately it didn’t quite resonate with me as much as I would have liked. The Princess Knight follows Princess Clía, who, after being jilted by her betrothed, Prince Domhnall, sets out to […]
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution (or Babel for short), is very much the novel that R.F. Kuang was born to write. Compiling her background as a translator, a student at Oxford, and her own studies on diaspora, as well as her plethora of personal experiences, Babel is an important work that doesn’t shy away from the subjects of colonialism, racism, […]
I’m not going to lie, The Burning God took me weeks to read—longer than any other novel this year. I had so much trouble making any progress through this novel, despite liking its predecessors, The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic. But I am so glad I made it through The Burning God, despite being bored by Rin’s usual poor decision-making and countless military battles because I freaking loved the […]
After multiple disappointing reads in a row, The Poppy War was what I needed to turn my streak around! I loved the main character, the serious themes and moral gray areas, as well as world-building that’s inspired by the historical backdrop of 20th century China. Most of all, I reveled in the lore of the novel, complete with the summoning of chaotic and destructive gods. “You’re a war orphan. […]