Speaking Bones (4) (The Dandelion Dynasty)

Author: Ken Liu

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The battle continues in this silkpunk fantasy as science and destiny collide against the will of the gods in this final installment in the epic Dandelion Dynasty series from the “genius” (Elizabeth Bear, Hugo Award–winning author of the Eternal Sky series) Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winning author Ken Liu.

The concluding book of The Dandelion Dynasty begins immediately after the events of The Veiled Throne, in the middle of two wars on two lands among three people separated by an ocean yet held together by the invisible strands of love. Harried by Lyucu pursuers, Princess Théra and Pékyu Takval try to reestablish an ancestral dream even as their hearts grow in doubt. The people of Dara continue to struggle against the genocidal Lyucu as both nations vacillate between starkly contrasting visions for their futures.

Even the gods cannot see through the Wall of Storms, for only mortal hearts can decide mortal fates. Award-winning author Ken Liu fulfills the covenants first laid out a decade ago in a series delving deep into the connection between national myths and national constitutions in this “magnificent fantasy epic” (NPR).

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Shawn Berry • May 10

Sometimes as a book reviewer, your eyes get a little bigger than your metaphorical book-digesting stomach, and you sign yourself up for an unwieldy amount of ARCs. Sometimes that person is me. I have signed up to read too many books. ALAS! I will prevail, but it does mean that my reading schedule for the next six months or so is fairly set.
Some of those books I need to get to are published by the lovely people who run this website, and I am very excited for those, but it also means that there are many a book on my physical shelf that need to be on the back burner for a while. I will try to sprinkle them in between these review copies, but I imagine the big-boy fantasy books on my list are going to be late 2026 projects at best. (With that said, my wife and I are trying to figure out how we can go to Dragonsteel Nexus this year, and I would like to finish up The Stormlight Archive before/if we go).
Anyway, here are some books I would love to get to sometime soon, and some that I will definitely get to before the end of the year:

• Speaking Bones by Ken Liu: I have been slowly making my way through the Dandelion Dynasty for the past four years or so, and frankly, the only reason I haven't finished it yet is because I don't want it to end. I maintain that Ken Liu is operating at a level so much higher than other authors that reading him feels like eating caviar or some other food that you only bring out for special occasions. As much as I love Sanderson and the like, Liu's world that he has built with these books is so infinitely fascinating and detailed that it's hard for me to really see anything else in the same light. These books are no easy task (see the insane list of characters that only grows bigger as the books go on), but they are among the best pieces of literature I've ever consumed, and I suggest you get on them as soon as possible. I've been on the Ken Liu train for a long time now, and it seems that others are finally catching on. Genius in motion.
• Children of Dune by Frank Herbert: In an effort to get up to speed before Denis Villenueve's Dune Part 3 comes out later this year, I have been making my way through the novels that have inspired the films. I finished Dune Messiah early this year and came away feeling like I could read all six of these bad boys. Children of Dune has been sitting by my bedside ready for me to dig into it for a couple of months now, but I probably won't get around to it until the end of the year comes closer. An absolutely lovely phenomenon it is when both the source material and adaptations are excellent.
• The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I know almost nothing about this book, BUT, the guy who wrote it lives in my general vicinity and one of my coworkers has raved about it so I have it on a suspended hold at the library. I'm a massive fan of Station Eleven, so if this book is even remotely like S11, I know I'm in for a treat.
  There are MANY more books I would love to get into sometime soon, but these ARCs are standing in the way (for now).
• A Compliment of Scoundrels by S.V. Lockwood
• Buzzard by Inez Ray
• Tales from the Territory by Travis Baldree
• As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers

I am also trying like hell to get my hands on the new Ken Liu short story collection, The Passing of the Dragon, as well as book three in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, A Trade of Blood.
Anywho, what are you all reading? What catches your eye on the upcoming release schedule? Let me know.