Hi friends,
April was a great month for reading and our family. I read The Dandelion Dynasty trilogy, and it was excellent along with a few really good nonfiction books.
Our family enjoyed our Easter celebrations and celebrated my birthday at the end of the month.
Let me know if you have any recommendations for further reading and what you think of these books.
Cheers,
Tonya
The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty #1) by Ken Liu
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recommendation: yes, for any fantasy lovers
Review: This Chinese-inspired epic fantasy series ticked all the boxes for me. It’s character-focused political fantasy with the fantastical elements mostly limited to machines and creatures. Liu describes the world as “silk punk,” which seems accurate. In this first installment, Liu sets the stage for the rest of the series. The plot is pretty straightforward, and Liu does an excellent job with the “overthrowing a dying empire” trope. Our two main characters. Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu --- respectively a previously homeless conman with a big heart and a fearless giant of a warrior --- team up to overthrow the empire, and then evolve into political rivals in the aftermath. They are excellent foils and really fun to read. There’s a fair amount of epic battles and cool inventions. The main characters all make mistakes, and there’s not really an evil villain as all the characters make poor choices at different points and have to deal with the consequences. The biggest negative to this one was the lack of female main characters and points-of-view, an issue that gets resolved in the later volumes of the series. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a unique and refreshing take on some classic fantasy tropes and characters.
The Wall of Storms (Dandelion Dynasty #2) by Ken Liu
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recommendation: yes, a great sequel to the first
Review: The political intrigue is taken to a whole new level in this second installment of The Dandelion Dynasty series. This book continues with all my favorite characters from the first installment and adds some sorely needed female points-of-view. The focus gradually shifts from Kuni Garu and his generation to their children. The first half of the book is a slow burn focusing on the internal political struggles of Kuni and his wives and kingdom. His first wife, Jia, emerges as an amoral villain as she’s willing to do anything to achieve what she believes to be best for the kingdom and her family. In the second half, her scheming is interrupted by an external threat in the form of the Lyuccu, a people loosely modeled after the Mongols. Watching Kuni and his children respond to this threat is fun as they show how military need drives technological development. The character work is brilliant again, and we get a diversity of points-of-view that helps the reader empathize with all the different parties in the story. Themes of family, loyalty, and sacrifice are beautifully conveyed against this backdrop as the story swells to a thrilling climax that left me immediately wanting to read the next one. This is one second book that I liked more than the first.
The Veiled Throne (Dandelion Dynasty #3) by Ken Liu
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Recommendation: yes, even better than the first two
Review: This is the third of a promised four-book series, and Liu justifies the change from the originally planned trilogy. In this one, our characters are spread out across the world and new characters come into the spotlight. Liu focuses a lot on the theme of culture clash and imperialism as the Lyuccu and Dara cultures interact across the world. Liu is an amazing story teller and at times will tell stories-within-stories-within-stories that reveal more of the lore and culture of the dynamic world that he’s created. It’s a great storytelling technique that avoids bland exposition and data-dumps and allows him to write in several different voices. My favorite part about this book though was the surprising climax that didn’t resolve with a large military battle but with a cooking contest between two restaurants. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it before in a fantasy novel, and I loved it! The stakes and tension felt just as high as a military battle, and instead of killing off thousands of people and main characters, our protagonists got to focus on the culinary and entertainment arts. So cool! I also loved the new point-of-view characters and how they learned and grew as their real-world experience clashed with the propaganda they’d been taught their whole lives. There’s so much in this series that I can’t touch on a part of it, but I highly recommend for anyone looking for a compelling and unique story. Can’t wait for the fourth one due out in a few months!
Tell Everyone on This Train That I Love Them by Maeve Higgins
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recommendation: kind of
Review: Higgins is a panelist on my favorite podcast, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. She’s also a stand-up comedian and hilarious entertainer. I read this book because I thought it would be funny, and from that angle, I was disappointed. This is a collection of rather serious and thoughtful essays about all of the biggest problems facing America: immigration, racism, and the removal or not of Confederate monuments, among others. The essays are well-written and more hopeful than pessimistic, but these are difficult subjects. All in all, it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I liked it anyway. Higgins is a gifted and thoughtful writer, and it was interesting to get the perspective of an Irish comic on these hot-button issues.
The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Sage #1) by John Gwynne
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recommendation: yes, for epic fantasy readers
Review: This Viking-inspired epic fantasy came highly recommended from Book Tube, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story follows three very different characters, but my favorite was Orka, the former warrior, now wife and mother who finds herself thrown back into a life she was trying to escape in a bid to solve a mystery and save her family. I wasn’t super happy with what happened to her husband. It kind of felt like the old “fridging” trope, but I think there were some differences. Still, I saw that coming from the beginning of the book. I loved that she got to be a mother, wife, and a fearsome warrior without any stereotypes. I also really enjoyed Varg’s character and seeing him learn about friendship and loyalty. The monsters are epic and the setting is equally grand. I have to say something about the action too because it was really well written and there was a lot of it. Who can’t get behind Vikings fighting trolls? Can’t wait to read the second installment, which was just released.
Seek and Hide: The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy by Amy Gajda
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recommendation: for those interested in the right of privacy and how it’s changed over the years
Review: Gajda traces the history of the sometimes contradictory rights of privacy and freedom of the press throughout the history of the United States. The first part of the book focuses on the historic development of the right of privacy and emphasizes how it seemed to be predominantly used by powerful people to conceal aspects of their personal lives that would have made them look really bad if revealed. She talks specifically about President Grover Cleaveland and his amorous affairs, including a possible illegitimate child, that were all kept from the view of the public and press by his assertion of the right to privacy. No such right is provided in the Constitution, but over a century of judicial rulings, and in some cases, legislation, have shaped this right. The later part of the book focuses more on modern day issues such as data privacy rights and social media. It was most interesting to me to see how the right to privacy has changed almost entirely based on how the courts have ruled. They were much more privacy-protecting it seemed around the late 1800s and early 20th Century, but then a shift happens and the freedom of the press triumphs over privacy for several decades. Finally, in the 21st century, we’ve seen courts begin to rule more in favor of privacy again. Gajda doesn’t really explore why this shift happens, but it’s interesting to consider. Although I found it a bit dry and repetitive in places and thought that the historical review could have been abbreviated, I found this book really informative and would recommend. |
| Maya has a pretty amazing fashion sense. |
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| Happy Easter! With dresses from Grandma. |
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| Dan makes me a beautiful and delicious cake for my birthday. This one only lasted 5 days. |
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| Chloe has taken to writing us notes when she's upset or wants something. This one says, "You are super nice." |
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| And this one says "You are super rude." |
