Wintersteel by Will Wight
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Cradle (Book #8 of 12)
Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia
Published: 6th October 2020 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)
Wintersteel was yet another immensely addictive, fun and fantastic continuation in the Cradle series, which just keeps getting more epic with each book.
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Uncrowned by Will Wight
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Cradle (Book #7 of 12)
Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia
Published: 26th September 2019 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)
The Cradle series has been relentlessly fun and tremendously addictive, and Uncrowned might be its best yet if not for the rather abrupt ending.
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ARC received from the publisher, Tor.com, in exchange for an honest review.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, wuxia, novella, Asian-inspired
Published: 23 June 2020 by Tor.com Publishing
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a Malaysian-based fantasy with a semi-wuxia flavour that was an absolutely delightful slice of home.
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ARC provided by the publisher—Harper Voyager—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover Illustration by: JungShan
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Poppy War Trilogy (Book #3 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Military Fantasy
Pages: 640 pages
Published: 26th November 2020 by Harper Voyager (UK) and 17th November 2020 by Harper Voyager (US)
Bursting with violence, devastation, death, and profound emotions. The Burning God is by far the best book R.F. Kuang has written in her career so far. …
ARC provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.
Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Steel Crow Saga (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Asian-inspired Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 528 pages (US hardback edition)
Published: 26th September 2019 by Gollancz (UK) & 24th September 2019 by Del Rey (US)
Multi-cultural, diverse characters & superbly character-driven narrative; Steel Crow Saga is a brilliant Asian/anime-inspired fantasy.
As an Asian who loves watching anime and reading mangas and SFF novels, Steel Crow Saga is a novel that felt as if it was written for me. Steel Crow Saga has been published for more than a month now, and I feel like I’ve sinned—Sloth—for postponing reading this book. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of my favorite anime of all time (seriously, watch the anime if you haven’t) and I also love Pokemon and Avatar: The Last Airbender; these three are the most dominant anime inspirations imbued into Steel Crow Saga. I REALLY would’ve read this book months ago, and I did have the chance to do that because I received the eARC from Gollancz in August. But here’s the thing, the eARC I received was so terribly formatted—it didn’t even include the entire prologue, for one—that I had to give up reading through it 15% in. Thankfully, what I’ve read so far back then was enough to solidify my decision to wait and read the finished copy instead. I’m super pleased that I made this decision; the wait was worth it because this is an amazing Anime/Asian-inspired fantasy book that’s worth reading without any hindrance.
“All the books in the world will never convey the technical realities of a procedure.”
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
My rating: 6 of 5 stars
I am so incredibly thankful to have made some wonderful book friends, and to be able to blog with those friends about the books we read. Whether we love the book or hate it, we’re going to share our opinions with each other. Often we polish up our opinion and make it as tactful as possible before sharing it with the world through our reviews, but behind the scenes we get to share exactly how we feel with each other, no matter how raw our viewpoint. Because of these backstage experiences, I know when a book truly blows one of my friends away, what book makes them struggle for words strong enough to express the love they have for it. The Sword of Kaigen is one of the best examples of this, and not one but three of my co-bloggers absolutely adored it with their entire being, so much so that they had trouble finding the words. I can’t think of a stronger endorsement than that. And I’m thrilled that their love for this book is now one more thing that we share.
“Better to die sharp in war than rust through a time of peace.”
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Series: The Poppy War (Book 1)
Genre: Fantasy, military fantasy
First published: 1st May 2018 by Harper Voyager (US) & 3rd May 2018 by Harper Voyager (UK)
I wanted to love The Poppy War quite desperately given its inspiration (and gorgeous cover).
The Poppy War is firstly a welcome change to the standard western Europe medieval setting and secondly, it is an allegory to the history of China. The narrative casts a harsh light on the brutal history of early 20th century China, specifically the genocide of the Nanjing Massacre. The mythology and culture present in the story are also so closely depicted that the novel almost reads like historical fiction, albeit in a secondary world.
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Jade City by Fonda Lee
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Fantasy readers have been calling out for more diversity and Jade City is a resoundingly good response.
The urban fantasy setting that heavily evoked Chinese gangster/crime syndicate movies, which I’ve grown up on, is a paradoxical breath of fresh air that carried the scent of nostalgia. All that was needed to make it even cooler and awesome was magic and martial arts.
I will not rehash the plot since the blurb said it all without spoilers. I found the world-building both refreshing and familiar. The island of Kekon in my mind was a vibrant blend of Hong Kong and Shanghai where both the seedy and sophisticated sat side by side, controlled and protected by powerful clans in exchange for tribute money.
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The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
My rating: 6 of 5 stars
Simply phenomenal. A true masterpiece. The Sword of Kaigen is a stunning achievement of empathetic and masterful storytelling.
Every once in a while, a book comes along that sinks its hooks and claws into your very soul. It transcends beyond what a 5-star book usually means to me. It is a book that I will plead, beg and maybe even force everyone to read, so that they can experience the same awe and emotions as I did. Thus far, I have not gone down the road of awarding 6 stars to some of my favourites, but there are several that I could easily place in that category. Namely The Stormlight Archive, a few titles from Malazan Book of the Fallen, and Heir of Novron, the final omnibus of The Riyria Revelations. Now, this extraordinary stand-alone fantasy novel, which is a rarity in itself, has earned itself a well-deserved spot among these masterpieces.
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Underlord by Will Wight
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Such insane power. Such insane fun. That, in a nutshell, is the Cradle series, and Underlord is its current pinnacle.
Underlord was everything that its title promised adoring fans (including yours truly), and so much more. The Prologue was so ridiculously epic it gave me goosebumps, and all the awesomeness that was the Cradle series came crashing down on me again. I tried to prolong the enjoyment by keeping myself occupied with things to do, to avoid finishing the book too quickly. Alas, it barely lasted 36 hours from the time I received the download from my pre-order.
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