The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)

Okay, this was a re-read in anticipation for the third book being released next month, but I originally read this before I had ever reviewed anything and didn't have anywhere to unload my thoughts.

I found my first time through this book a bit difficult, because I was expecting something different. By the end, I found it one of the most thought-provoking and enjoyable things I'd ever read. And that's a big problem with this book, I think, because this low rating is ludicrous. It's marketed as an Asian Game of Thrones essentially, and it is absolutely not that. Comparing this to Martin is an insult to both Martin and Liu, both fantastic writers interested in telling stories very differently.

My first time, I was pretty new to adult fantasy-only having read A Song of Ice and Fire and American Gods before. And I may have DNF'd this book in the first 150 pages due to expecting it to be like them. Liu introduces a bunch of characters in a very clinical, matter-of-fact way near the beginning and many of them are killed after a chapter or two. I was a novice, and I was frustrated- who are the main characters!? What is this guy doing?! I kept going for one reason, and that was because as a teenager, I had read and loved Romance of the Three Kingdoms a lot. I had read it three times minimum by the time I graduated middle school. I lived and breathed ancient China. And while it is not best for easy marketing, the two books that The Grace of Kings most easily relate to are Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Illiad. Liu's prose reads like a blend of the epic poetry associated with Homer's tales (and, in an obvious homage, the only bit of “fantasy” in this book is a pantheon of Gods overlooking the characters and intervening on behalf of their favorites) and with the clinical, birds-eye view sweeping history style of ROT3K.

This style won't be for everyone, but Liu's prose is wonderful, gorgeous and thought-provoking, and if you give it a chance to get you into the flow of the story, the payoff is well worth it. The second time through, the main characters were immediately obvious to me- I struggled to understand how I couldn't have known who the focus was on in my naive first time. Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu are both introduced in the first two chapters and get large expository background setting scenes.

The Grace of Kings is a retelling of the fall of the Qin dynasty and of the Chu-Han contention. Kuni Garu is our Liu Bang, Mata Zyndu is our Xiang Yu, even down to his double pupils, and nearly every military, political, history, or background scene is essentially a recreation of something that happened in history (with some exceptions-I'll get to that in a minute). I could give you a summary of this book and a summary of the fall of Qin, blank out the names and they'd hit all the same major points. I've seen some reviews point this out as a gotcha moment: Liu is just writing out a history book! It's uncreative! Blah blah blah! This is dumb and I can't take you seriously if you think this way. A story is in its telling, and what Liu chooses to focus on, what to change, what to highlight, how to characterize these larger-than-life people (there's a reason it makes for good “fantasy”: These people are so legendary that they feel like fantasy characters), and how he chooses to blend philosophy, politics, idealism, poetry, invention, economics, sexism, and imperialism together into this story is promised to always give you something to think about.

You can tell what he's interested in by the way he writes the military scenes: despite most of this book being about a series of rebellions and wars, there are almost no “fight” scenes. The action is told in a clinical, by-the-books way: “X moved here, and attacked here, Y did so-so maneuver and won.” It is NOT the most interesting way to write war, but what Liu is focusing on are the characters, the ideals behind why these people are choosing which side, how each battle affects the world, political situation, and characters around it. Every line of this book seems riddled with subtext. Having read Liu's short stories, I know that the man thinks through every word and that no sentence is wasted. I particularly loved the two characters Dafiro and Ratho-brothers who occupy a type of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz relationship to the main plot.

I've seen Liu state that he wanted The Grace of Kings to feel like a history of a nation, and it really does, but in the most modern way imaginable. For one thing, the way he involves the female characters should really show historical fiction writers that their excuses run thin. So much historical fiction reduces any and all women as tangential to the male leads, citing that's how it was back then. It does take Liu more than half the novel to work the female characters in (besides Kuni's wife Jia, a standout character), but once he does, they are varied and integral. My favorite secondary character is Gin Mazoti-a gender-swapped Han Xin, one of the greatest Chinese strategists. Mazoti is introduced quite late in the book but has a large presence. This is reminiscent of ROT3k again- that book introduces characters the moment they are needed and never beforehand. Anyway, Liu states his intention was to have GoK feel like a history to a more modern-style in Wall of Storms. Having started WoS already, I can immediately see what he means-his style is very different. This reminds me of the Wheel of Time and how Robert Jordan first did a giant homage to his influences before branching off and doing the stuff he really wanted to get to.

All of my ranting aside, I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what I can talk about with this one. More of you should read it, so I can talk about it. If my giant novel can't convince you, what can?
I'll end with a quote that explains, somewhat, the title of the series, and is also one of my favorite moments:

“You'd compare yourself to a weed?” He asked.
“Not just any weed. A dandelion is a strong but misunderstood flower. It cannot be defeated: just when a gardener thinks he has won and eradicated it from his lawn, a rain would bring the yellow florets right back. Yet it's never arrogant: its color and fragrance never overwhelm those of another. Immensely practical, its leaves are delicious and medicinal, while its roots loosen hand soils, so that it acts as a pioneer for other more delicate flowers. Best of all, it's a flower that lives in the soil but dreams of the skies. When it seeds take to the wind, it will go farther and see more than any pampered rose, tulip, or marigold.”